The hardest part about this marathon is getting in. I was fortunate enough to have gotten a lottery entry on my first try this year. This is the largest marathon with over 43,000 runners this year from all over the world, and approximately 2 million spectators spawn the course that starts in Staten Island, travels through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, briefly through the Bronx and finishes in Central Park. course map
The weather forecast for today is low to mid 50s and overcast. Perfect weather to run a marathon!
This race consist of 3 events: the pre-race staging area, the race itself, and the post race walk.
Pre Race Staging Area
Mom and I are staying in Times Square which is pretty centered in the city. I left the hotel at 5:45 to take the subway down to the Staten Island Ferry. The organization of this race and transportation logistics cannot be an easy task for a race of this magnitude. Runners arrive to the start via bus, ferry, taxi or private vehicle. I was assigned to the 7:00am ferry but got there just as they were loading the 6:30 group. I'm still half asleep but chatted with the guy sitting next to me from St. Louis. The ferry passes by the Statue of Liberty, and I take the time to enjoy the sights.
I had read that celebrities Ed Norton, Anthony Edwards and Alanis Morissette would be running this race. I was never an ER fan and had no idea who Anthony Edwards is. Apparently he was also Goose in Top Gun. They are all running for charity which is pretty cool.
It is about a 25 minute ride on the ferry, and then we have to get on one of the many buses lined up to take us to Ft. Wadsworthville. As we are loading onto the bus, someone calls out, "You're almost there. Only 30 more miles to go." New Yorkers are funny. Once we get off the bus, as I am walking through the hoards of people to get to the start village, a guy behind me taps me on the shoulder and tells me there is a wasp in my bag. That's just weird. I free the little stowaway and proceed to the start village. It is now 8:00. Hurry up and wait seems to be the theme of this stage of the race.
Now, I think it is pretty nifty how they have this whole pre race staging area set up. There are 3 start areas (blue, orange, and green). Within each color there are 3 waves, with 20 minutes between the start of each wave (start times of 9:40, 10:00, and 10:20). Within each wave there are 7 corrals (A - G) based on actual and estimated time of finish. All of this information can be found on the race bib.
I'm in the Blue start, wave 2, Corral C, so I follow the signs to join my fellow Blue people. I grab some coffee and some power bars and walk around to check things out. I have 2 hours to kill until my wave start. There are lines and lines of port-o-potties everywhere. I think there are more port-o-potties in this village than there are in the entire city of Tampa Bay. I kid you not. I never had to wait long to use one, but I am also grateful that I brought my own toilet paper. TMI right.
It was a little wet and muddy from the rain the night before. I brought a garbage bag and picked a dry spot on the grass and sat down for a bit and just watched people. Some people have tents and sleeping bags. Someone described this as a "goodwill fashion show"; everyone showcasing their throw away warm up clothes all of which will be donated to charity. There are people from all over the world. The number of international runners far outnumber the Americans.
There are also some crazy costume here. Halloween was last night, so why not wear your costume in a marathon the next day. There was some guy dressed as an Eiffel tower. I would not want to know what it's like to run 26.2 miles in this outfit.
Around 9:15 or so, I dropped off my bag at the UPS trucks and headed towards my corral. They had just started announcing for Wave 2 runners to start staging as I was walking up to my corral. We had to wait outside a fence for the race volunteer to let us into the staging area. More and more people were showing up and we waited and waited and waited. They wouldn't let us in for whatever reason. It was so crowded that I couldn't move at all. I was pretty miserable. The feeling of a sardine comes to mind. This lasted for about 35 minutes, and we were all starting to get punchy and wondering WTF was going on because it didn't look like we were going to make it for the 10:00 start. Some people were climbing the 8ft fence. This was nuts! By the time they let us in, wave 2 had already left, and we had to start with wave 3. Enough people complained that the race officials let us move up to the back of Coral A.
I'm a little annoyed but I try to shake it off and not let it get to me. To get here so early and miss your start is so frustrating. It is what it is. I'm here now. It's all good. Did I seriously think that everything was going to go smoothly? I read after the race that a lot of the corrals in the different waves had issues getting in and starting on time. With 3 different starts times 3 waves times 7 corrals... that's 63 starts that NYRR has to manage. Multiply that by 43,000 runners, and well, you have chaos!
The Race!
As we run across the start line, Frank Sinatra's "New York New York" is blaring through the speakers to send us off.
Blue starts on the right side of the upper deck of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Orange is on the left, and Green is on the lower deck. Once across the bridge, each color has a slightly different route through some of the narrower streets, until at mile 8 we all merge and run the same course.The view from the top of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge was amazing. It was extremely windy, and this was the time to run behind a crowd. This was a tough way to start the race. Up the bridge and into the wind. It just felt so good to FINALLY run after all the waiting around.
By the way, I wasn't the only geek here sporting the big ol' Garmin gps watch on my wrist. They were everywhere. I was going to try and run with a pace group, but since I didn't start in the right wave, I was on my own. So, my Garmin would be my pacer today.
Here are my mile splits: splits I also hit the lap button at the 5K, 10K, 15K and the half mark. I don't know why. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. That's why there are 30 splits vs. 26.
Brooklyn
The first half of the marathon is through Brooklyn where crowds of Brooklynites cheered us on. Through here was a cornucopia of ethnic neighborhoods and culture. Spectators were handing out anything from towels, cookies, bananas to water. There were gospel singers, choirs, jazz musicians, accordion players and many more to entertain us on our journey through Brooklyn.
Aside from the bridge at the start, most of this course was pretty flat so far. I had plenty of space to run until we all merged at mile 8. I also caught up to the back of wave 2. From this point on, it was very crowded and hard to get around people.
Somewhere before mile 3, I took my sweatshirt off. I had taken my sweatpants off at the start and was now running in shorts and a short sleeved shirt. The weather was perfect. It was very breezy and cooler in some sections, but for the most part felt great.
Starting at mile 3, there are aid stations at every mile. Going through some of these aid stations was tricky with so many people. I wasn't prepared as I was approaching one of the stations and was fumbling with my electrolytes and ended up running down the middle. I couldn't get over to either side. I couldn't stop, or I'd get trampled. I would just have to wait until the next one. Lesson learned. BE PREPARED!Half way there!
The half way point is over the Pulaski bridge that leads to Queens. I was running pretty strong and clocked a 1:56.26 for 13.1 miles. I was thinking that I may have started off a bit too fast, and it might be hard to maintain this pace for another 13.1 miles especially since the second half of the course had the most hills.
Queens
Nothing much to report in Queens. It was mostly industrial and quiet compared to the rest of the course. At 15 miles, was bridge #3, the Queensboro bridge. This is one of the toughest climbs of the course. It was quiet and tight going through this bridge, and all I can hear is the shuffling of feet. The bottom of my right foot had been hurting for the past several miles, and I just ignored it up to now since there was so much to distract me. Because it was so quiet, I had time to think too much and was like "Hey, my foot hurts. This sucks". I really wanted to go back to ignoring it. A big part of this really is mental.
This one is for you Andrea:
Manhattan Part 1
At mile 16, we enter 5th Avenue in Manhattan, and the spectators are INSANE here. Getting off that bridge, I needed the motivation, and the crowds here really picked me up. I heard the infamous "You're almost there" chant. 10 miles is not almost there. It is less than half the distance, yes, but it is nowhere near there. It is a long long way from "almost there." Bless the spectators for trying to be motivating. Around mile 18 or 19, I just wanted to stop and walk. I walked briefly through an aid station, and that was all I needed.
The Bronx
Around Mile 19.5, we go over the Willis Avenue bridge into the Bronx. We did not spend a lot of time in the Bronx. You're in, you're out. There is probably a good reason for that given its reputation. We were not lacking for support here though. As I am leaving the Bronx I hear someone yell out "You're almost there!" *groan*
Mile 21 is over the 5th and final bridge back to Manhattan with a brief run through Harlem.
We continue up 1st Avenue where there are tons of spectators roaring. The road is pretty wide, but it is still crowded and hard to move around people. Many more people were walking and hitting the infamous 'wall', and I almost knocked over many people that were walking, talking on the phone or texting. The phone thing was rather annoying. I know people wanted to let others know how they are doing, but at least move over to the side.
This street is an uphill climb, and the crowd is helping me keep moving. My pace feels like I am going faster, but when I look down at my watch, I am close to 10 minute miles. Ugh. At this rate, I am not going to make 4hrs. It's survival mode now. Chip had told me the night before to not worry about time here and just enjoy the experience. I tried to keep that in mind throughout the day.
As I am taking a gel out of my spi belt (that sounds like something out of a James Bond movie. It is basically a race belt with a pouch to hold stuff), my pill holder drops out and immediately gets trampled on by a runner. There's no going back for that unless I want to become road kill. Dear pill holder, it's been nice knowing you. Enjoy your new home on the streets of NYC.
At mile 23, Central Park was on the right, and the crowds intensified. It just boggles my mind why so many people would come out to watch a marathon, but I was glad they were there. I immediately noticed the beautiful foliage on the trees. I don't get to experience Fall in Florida and savored the view.
These last few miles, as scenic as it was with the intense crowd support, was difficult. There were rolling hills up to around mile 25. At this point, a spectator called out that this was the last hill. "Oh, thank God." I thought to myself because there is only one mile left. I picked up my pace, or so it felt like I did. It's all relative. That last mile seemed like 3 miles.
There were signs to let you know when there was .5 miles left, 300 yds, 200 yds, 100 yds....FINISH!
I finished in 4:01.58
My goal was 4:00 hrs. I'm ok with the extra 2 minutes. I don't run a lot of marathons, but my best time prior to this race was 4:45 at Blue Angel 7 years ago. I have come a long way since then.
My Final Stats:
572 out of 2509 in Age Group
3280 out of 15119 Females
15868 out of 43430 Overall Finishers
Post Race Shuffle
It feels good to stop, and I am dying for something to drink. We have to keep walking for awhile, and along the way, I grab a medal, a Mylar blanket and a food bag. In the bag is a bottle of water, a bottle of Gatorade, power bar, bagel, bag of nuts and, of course, an apple.
It is about a mile or so to get to the UPS trucks to pick up our bags and exit the park. The guy next to me bumps into me and apologizes. It didn't even faze me. I told him don't worry about it. This is not the time to worry about balance and coordination.
I had my cell phone with me and called my Mom to tell her I had finished, and it would be awhile before I got by bag and through the exit. I had told her to not worry about trying to find me in the race and to enjoy the city today. Turns out she was at the finish line, and some nice people let her into the stands. She still managed to miss me cross the finish line. There was no way we were going to be able to find each other, so we agreed to meet back at the hotel.
My legs are completely trashed and have been for several days. I am more sore after this than I was after an ironman. Even my knees hurt from running the down hills.
After getting my bag and putting some warm clothes on, I just aimlessly wander around looking for a metro stop. They are letting runners ride the metro for free today which means that they are jam packed. I am sure the locals are loving this today. After this, I have had my fill of crowds.
I will have to say that I was very impressed with the organization of this race. As you have read, the logistics are complicated, and there is a lot of waiting around. The real only complaint I had was the corral start. Other than that, everything else went pretty smoothly. The crowds and long waits are something you just have to deal with if you plan on doing this race.
Here are my pictures from the race. I'm wearing a bright blue shirt and white hat. Of course, I had to do the goofy wave my arms in the air pose. race pictures
Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support. Special thanks to Mom for sitting in Central Park for hours in the cold, dealing with people screaming in her ears at the finish line.
I was telling Chip the other day that during the race, specifically during the last 10 miles, I was thinking "Why do I do this to myself?" Now, that it's over, I am anxiously looking for my next race. What can I say. It's a sickness.
