Perhaps that's because I was very close to death.

The crowd is unbelievable. That's what keeps you going.

To be perfectly honest. I'm not so sure about this one. Yes, the swarming crowds yell themselves hoarse encouraging you, and it's heartening to know that all those people are turning out to watch you suffer.

But the hundreds of thousands of spectators lining all 26 miles of the course were more of a hindrance than a help to me. That is not true for most runners, perhaps. But for me, the marathon was an intensely personal experience that forced me to look deep into my body and ask, "How fast can I run? Can I continue?"

While waiting for my body to answer, I found it distracting and even painful listening to people respond for me. "Pick it up!" they yelled. "You can do it! There's beer only six miles away!"

There's no better feeling than the thrill of crossing the finish line of the Marathon.

Probably the thrill would have been bigger if I could actually feel anything except pain. Nonethless, it was good pain.

It was not the pain that I had felt when I tried to scale Heartbreak Hill. It was not the pain that I had felt when I was running past Boston College, with the Prudential Center only a blip on the horizon.

No, the pain I felt crossing the finish line was the satisfying pain that I had been waiting to feel for a good part of my life.

The Boston Marathon is the greatest running event in the world.

Absolutely.