The anticlimactic, maddeningly truncated video is finally up! See below:

Ramsey,

This is the greeting you deserved some twenty-odd years ago from the Wellesley girls. It doesn’t seem fair that you never experienced it; that you never got to run Boston. My measly 3:15 doesn’t hold a candle to your 3:01. But back in the day, qualifying standards were much tougher. And regrettably, injury now prevents you from running this storied race. Doubly unfair.

This may be a trivial surrogate for the real Boston experience. But accept it as a token of friendship and thanks for the miles we’ve run together and the counsel you’ve given. I’d say thanks for the ab class, but my abs are not ready to forgive.

Most of my readers don’t know you. Though I may underestimate your social networking skills, which are prodigiously advanced. I can’t recall running together without a handful of people greeting you, whether on foot, in cars, riding, working or otherwise. Those few who don’t know you would be happier if they did.

I hope this in some small way this gesture assuages any disappointment you may have felt at missing Boston. At least let it show that investments in friendship always reap dividends.

– Dean

The Video!


(NOTE: What on earth is that runner doing at the far end of the sign in the video?)

Unfortunately, the final cut of the video contains less than half of the event. Here’s the whole encounter:

DEAN
(Stops at the craziest bunch of Wellesley Girls)
Hey! Hold this for me and…

WELLESLEY GIRLS
(Not a breath lost, they immediately unroll the sign with great enthusiasm. No reason is requested.)

DEAN
Okay, this is for Ramsey. I swear this is not me. It’s really for someone else.
(Takes several photos)

WELLESLEY GIRLS
(incoherent screaming continues)

DEAN
(Assuming the Camera is now capturing the scene on video)
On the count of three yell, “We love you Ramsey”

WELLESLEY GIRLS
(immediately)
WE LOVE YOU RAMSEY!
(more screams)

DEAN
(laughing)
Let him have it! Tell…
(Filming actually begins)
.. him you love him! YEAH!

WELLESLEY GIRLS
(more screaming)

DEAN
alright!
(filming stops)

Ah well, the best laid plans often go awry. At least we got a bit of it. Ramsey, somewhere in Wellesley, the girls have your sign. Hopefully they’ll check out the site!

– Dean

Photo: Boston.com – Dana Giuliana

I’m finally on my way to Boston. Oh yeah, I’ll continue to post daily. Here’s the official itinerary:

TODAY
I’m closing out fifty-nine thousand details before traveling to Raleigh.

SATURDAY
Angie and I will fly into Manchester, New Hampshire. We’ll head right to the Marathon Expo. I’ll offer a detailed, on-the-scene expo report (with a frank assessment of the shirt). Later, we’ll dine with the painaholic Kestrou at Antico Forno in Boston’s North end.

SUNDAY
We’ll attend the Women’s Olympic Trials in the morning, then spend time sightseeing. We plan to enjoy the Freedom Trail, Newberry Street, and the Commons. Later, we’ll retire to our lodging outside Hopkinton.

MONDAY
I will blog live from the Boston Marathon on Monday. I can only offer text updates from the course this year, but I promise video by Monday evening. Think Wellesley, Scream Tunnel, and an event some twenty years overdue.

– Dean