BOSTON -- Huge piles of snow and treacherous black ice are testing participants in this year's Boston Marathon in frustrating new ways.
With race day less than two months away, the relentless winter is sending some runners indoors to basement treadmills and health clubs -- and driving others just plain nuts.
"Bam! Bam! Bam!" That's the sickening thud Becca Pizzi says runners make when they're out training and take a tumble.
"I was running on Heartbreak Hill and people were hitting the ground so hard they couldn't get up. You hear those 'bams!' and you're afraid they've broken something," said Pizzi, 34, a day care centre owner who's struggling to get in shape for her 15th Boston.
One of the blizzards that hit the city in rapid succession forced the Boston Athletic Association, which administers America's premier marathon, to cancel a training clinic. Though the worst of the winter seems past, there are only 48 days left until April 20, the 119th running of the 42.1-kilometre race.
That's not a lot of time to get legs and lungs in shape. And many streets and sidewalks remain slick, making it difficult and dangerous to share narrower-than-usual roads with drivers and log the 32-kilometre runs that are a staple of marathon training.
Thirty thousand runners from 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states will be represented.
Motivated by a desire to run a personal best or to raise money for charity, they're doing what they can to brave the elements or find creative training alternatives.
With marathoning as much about mental toughness as physical fitness, runners like Anthony Walsh of Dublin, Ireland, aren't just enduring the snow and cold -- they're embracing it in full Beast Mode.
Last weekend, the 31-year-old Harvard Medical School cancer researcher ran 38 kilometres on the Boston course in shorts and a T-shirt.
"Having the snow to fight against has been motivating," said Walsh, who's gunning to break his 2:36 personal best.
"Boston people are incredibly encouraging. They've been almost universally supportive," he said. "The worst they'll shout is, 'You're crazy,' but they say it with a smile. Bostonians understand running, even if they're not runners."
To avoid falling outside, some runners wear cross-country spikes or snap-on devices designed to provide traction.
Gary Circosta learned the hard way how lethal winter can be.
The 67-year-old dentist -- training for his 16th Boston Marathon -- fell hard late last year on black ice near his home in Massachusetts. Two broken ribs punctured and deflated a lung; another rib tore a hole in his diaphragm. He wound up in emergency surgery for septic shock and almost didn't survive.
"I have never run less," said Circosta, who's still determined to make it to the starting line.
