It was a race the likes of which Kelowna's Malindi Elmore had never experienced before.
Elmore was in Boston Monday for the 126th running of the fabled Boston Marathon and, along with thousands of competitors, Elmore says the entire city seemed to be out lining the course.
Monday's Boston Marathon was the first in three years after races in both 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to COVID-19.
"It's literally 26 miles of people cheering you the whole way," Elmore told Castanet News following the race.
"It's unbelievable. There's nothing like it."
It was the first time she has competed in Boston.
Elmore finished 11th overall among women competitors and second in the masters in a time of two hours, 27 minutes and 58 seconds.
The time was a world championship standard, according to a social media post from Athletics Canada.
She finished a little further back than she had hoped. The goal going in was Top 10 or higher.
But, overall, not a bad day considering she says she wasn't feeling her best.
"It was a pretty challenging day. Very difficult course, and I didn't feel quite as good as I had hoped."
The race was run under ideal conditions, sunny and cool, but not cold.
This is the first marathon Elmore has run since her ninth place finish at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
With competitions ramping up as much of the world opens up again, Elmore will have her pick of events over the coming months.
However, she says at the moment she hasn't decided on a schedule or when she may compete again.
Her goal is still to compete in one more Olympics, the 2024 games in Paris.
