While local runners were dodging hailstorms and sleet in Bangor on Monday, 2 North Down AC members joined almost 30000 other runners who were bussed from Boston to Hopkinton MA early in the morning on Patriots’ Day to the start line of one of the oldest and most iconic marathons in the world, the 128th edition of the Boston Marathon. In unseasonably warm conditions most athletes struggled to run close to their goal pace as they ran back towards Boston, up the famous (although not as steep or long as its name suggests) Heartbreak Hill at mile 20, eagerly awaiting the most famous directions on any marathon course, indicating that the finish line is only 2 turns away, “right on Hereford, left on Boylston!” Cliff completed the marathon in 5:48:27 and Noreen was close behind in 5:52:17. Their heat affected finish times only tell part of the story as the marathon finish line on Boylston Street marked Cliff and Noreen’s admission to the exclusive club of 6 star finishers of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Cliff and Noreen are a rare husband and wife team to have completed the London, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, New York and Boston Marathons. 
