How to Defeat the Boston Marathon Newton Hills | Learn from My Mistakes

I promised myself I wouldn’t walk the Boston Marathon Newton Hills. They might destroy me. They might end my race. But I wasn’t going to walk them.

The good: I never walked any of the Newton Hills of the 2022 Boston Marathon.

The bad: At the top of Heartbreak Hill, once the Hills had already done their damage, I walked.

This is the story of my time with the Newton Hills of the Boston Marathon and my advice to future Boston marathon runners so they don’t feel the same defeat I did.

Also, check out our other articles in the Boston Marathon Series

Table of Contents

What are the Newton Hills of the Boston Marathon?

The Boston Marathon Newton Hills are four hill climbs in the latter stages of the Boston Marathon roughly between miles 16 and 21.

The Newton Hills are primarily daunting due to their location within the race. If these hills were in the first half of the race similar to the California International Marathon, most marathon runners would handle them with relative ease due to fresh legs.

Newton Hills section of the Boston Marathon

But the Newton Hills location with the early part of the race being primarily downhill is a big shocker to the leg muscles.

The Boston Marathon Newton Hills tells the tale of how race day goes for most Boston Marathon participants.

Everything to Know About Heartbreak Hill

What Mile is Heartbreak Hill in the Boston Marathon?

The most notorious of the Newton Hills is Heartbreak Hill. It lies from about 20.25 miles to 21 miles.

To get a real idea of the pain and torture that Heartbreak Hill puts on people, I suggest watching about Heartbreak Hill.

How Far is Newton from Boston?

There are multiple ways to approach the running distance from Newton to Boston.

From the beginning of the four Newton Hills, Boston Marathon runners have about 10 miles to get to the finish line on Boylston Street.

From the end of the Newton Hills and specifically the top of Heartbreak Hill, there are roughly 5 to 5.5 miles to finish the Boston Marathon.

My Mistakes with the Boston Marathon Newton Hills

In the 2022 Boston Marathon, I had one overall goal. Finish with a respectable time.

Thankfully, I did so with a low 3:20’s time, which was far off my 2:58 CIM performance 4 months earlier.

Some of the mistakes I made in Boston were of my own doing and some were of the Colorado winter training variety.

Let’s break down my top mistakes with the Newton Hills:

Not Enough Hill Work in Training. I want to start by saying, this was not my coach’s fault. I’m not a winter runner, but if you’re wanting to run Boston, you have to become a winter runner. Well, there were a lot of excuses on my part for not hitting more hill work whether in the frigid temperatures outside or on the torture device called the treadmill. At the end of the day, I’m responsible for not putting enough work on the hills in the later stages of multiple long runs.
Hit the First Hill Too Hard. I remember thinking about Newton the 4-5 miles leading up to the first hill. I saw a sign that said something like “Now Entering Newton” and I knew it was on. I don’t know the exact building but I believe there was a hospital on my right. I began speaking to myself internally, “Your legs are built for this; you got this.” Then quickly, I began vocalizing this to no one but the running Gods. I yelled out loud to myself, “You’re stronger than these hills.” This backfired. I was too amped to tackle this first hill. I put too much energy into maintaining a steady pace. This bit me big time by the end of the third hill.
Didn’t Apply Stephen Mohring’s Advice. The day before the race, Stephen and Karen Howe were going over different aspects of the race with me. Everyone talks about Newton and Heartbreak, but few elaborate. Stephen was very clear. He said most people don’t emphasize the impact of the four hills in totality. Everyone says Heartbreak sucks which it did. However, my ignorance got the best of me and by the time I got to Heartbreak I had nothing left. Stephen had clearly said to take it easier and build up. I did the opposite.

These mistakes were preventable. In the next sections, I focus on how you can be better at me in tackling the Boston Marathon Newton Hills.

How to Train for the Boston Marathon Newton Hills

Defeating the Newton Hills starts months beforehand in marathon training.

The following are the steps I’d take to improve my Boston Marathon finish time and overall Newton Hills effort.

More Hill Work on the Backend of Long Runs. Where I live in Colorado, I actually have a few hills the distance and height within my regular long-run route. I would tackle these hard in repeat efforts at least 12-15 miles into training long runs.
More Speed Hill Work. At the end of my daily route, I have a roughly 50-foot climb to finish the run. I would implement more speed sessions of 30-60 seconds with recovery back down. This would carry over to the first bullet’s effort.
Work on Fueling in Later Long-Run Mileage While Implementing Long Runs. I didn’t feel comfortable with my fueling during Boston from 15-22. Nothing was working. I needed to figure out when to consume fluids and gels when hills were involved. Does my body like it on the downhill, the hill itself, right before the hill? I need to know this going in.

These are a few of the training tactics I would implement to have better results if (when) running Boston again.

What I Would Do Differently Race Day to Dominate the Boston Marathon Newton Hills

You can’t fix the past, but the past can help you improve the future.

I would definitely race the Boston Marathon Newton Hills differently today.

The following are my tips for tackling Newton on race day.

Slow Way Down Early in the Hills. I lose a ton more time on the back end when I go out too fast and the same can be applied to the Newton Hills. I’d much rather pull the reigns back to 30 seconds slower pace on the first Newton Hill and “earn” 3-5 seconds back each progressive hill. Heartbreak is hard no matter what. However, had I not gone all out at the first hill, I may have been able to stave off the walking post-Heartbreak longer.
Conserve and Cruise on the 2nd & 3rd Hills. These two hills seemed plenty manageable. However, my ignorance of the course and lack of experience didn’t allow me to properly accept that the 2nd and 3rd hills were not my enemy as much as the 1st and 4th.
Ease into Heartbreak. I knew Heartbreak was last so I gave every last bit of myself at the start of Heartbreak. However, it’s longer than it looks. I would slow down to almost 40-50 seconds below goal pace to start Heartbreak and try to earn it back as I climbed.

These may not be everything I could say about re-racing Newton.

However, at that point in the race, I think fewer things to focus on produce realistic results so I chose to stick with a few bullets.

Defeating the Boston Marathon Newton Hills

I don’t know that I could ever be perfectly prepared for the location and brevity of the Newton Hills. I do believe I could now approach them in a more intelligent way.

Assuming you read this whole post to implement a better approach to your race, my most impactful suggestion is to be more conservative earlier in the hills.

Good luck tackling the Boston Marathon Newton Hills!