Reading · Ali on the Run Newsletter

I always brace myself for the Tuesday after the Boston Marathon.

The live shows are done.

The race is run (and worked).

Everyone has packed up and shipped out.

And that’s usually when the comedown hits.

Last year, I was lucky, at least for a bit: I did the diabolical Boston-to-London double (for work; I ran neither), followed by a big birthday party with lots of loved ones, so I got to keep riding the high of it all. (Though, oof, reading those old newsletters back and reading “I think I have costochondritis” is…tough…)

Of course, the comedown came eventually, but that had less to do with the end of the spring marathon season and more to do with a fresh stage IV cancer diagnosis.

I’m writing this, as always, on Thursday evening. Annie is at dance class. I’m relatively unpacked from Boston. The laundry is done. I’ve recorded intros and ad reads, edited, and uploaded all three of my Boston live shows. I’ve recorded two Boston recap episodes — one with Chelsea Clinton, and one with Cousin Jackie — and will record my solo episode at some point Friday.

I’m OOO all next week for Annie’s April vacation week. (We’re going on a little trip just the two of us, which I think we could both use right now.) And I’m in pretty good shape re: the never-ending, ever-growing to-do list.

I’m sad Boston is over, of course, but I have yet to go through my photos and videos and really process it all. So I’m prolonging the high. I’m riding it, as long as I can.

Last year, for different reasons, the crash hit hard, it hit fast, and it was a disastrous whirlwind.

I did think — often — in Boston that if this were my last great weekend for a while, it was a great weekend.

I don’t think it was my last great weekend! But that’s how my brain works now.

I believe I’m in a new chapter. That the past year is the past year, and now I’m in a new place. A better place. A hopeful place. (I did also make a similar declaration last year, but this year I don’t have any “pesky chest pain!”)

Life won’t always be this sparkly. I know. That’s just reality.

But it’s also reality, I think, that the dark times won’t always stay dark.

So THANK YOU to everyone in Boston. My god, it was so good and so fun and so joyful. To the Boston Athletic Association. To New Balance. To WBUR CitySpace and to Shokz. To Amanda Vestri, Annie Frisbie, Claire Holt, Aisha Praught Leer, and Eric Jenkins. To the Citius Mag Marathon Relay team. To the world feed broadcast team. To the announcing team. To the runners. To all of you.

This Boston was one for the books in so many ways.

If this weekend will ultimately be my highest high of 2026, great! It was amazing, and I have little to no notes.

But I think the trajectory is headed upward.

I think there will be more.

What if we’re just getting started?

That was FUN!

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