Race Report: New York Marathon

Let me start by saying that there is no place like New York.  I have not traveled extensively, but I have certainly seen a good part of the world and New York holds a very special place in my heart.  Being selected to run the New York Marathon (after two lottery attempts) it was one of the highlights of my running life.  Of all the lotteries you can win, this may not be the preferred one, but it ain't bad either.

We arrived the Thursday before the Marathon with plenty of time to go to pick up the race package at the (very large) expo and take a couple of days to do some sightseeing before the race.

By far one of the highlights of the trip was the visit to Ellis Island.  A place that we never have visited before despite of our multiple trips to New York in the first few years of our marriage.  Ellis Island is a must visit location and I'd dare to say that renting the audio tour is also a must.  The stories of hope and despair told (often first person accounts of immigrants that came through Ellis Island) are nothing shorts of amazing.  

Also worth noting from our sobering visit was the 9/11 Memorial and our (accidental) and very brief visit to the Occupy Wall Street gang, both pictured below.

New 9/11 Memorial

Occupy Wall Street protester

And now let's get back to the business of the race report.  Let me tell you... this guys really know how to throw a party.  Getting there took some time, but I think that added to the excitement.  The 47,000 participants were broken into three or four waves.  I was part of the second one starting at 10:10 AM.  To get there I left the apartment at 6:45 AM and walked to the subway, took the subway for about 30 minutes to the Staten Island Ferry, where I boarded the Ferry for about 25 minutes and then took a bus to the starting "villages."

Runners walking into the Staten Island Ferry Terminal

These villages are very appropriately named given their significant size.  They have music, security and a contingent of UPS trucks taking the participant bags with clothes for after the race.  The mood was great.  Lots of smiles, people listening to music or simply laying in the sun waiting for their wave to start.  I didn't plan for such a long commute to get there, so I was rather late to drop my bag (at least based on the recommended time).  

The organizers did an awesome job setting things up.  There were port-potties everywhere (including inside the corrals).  I gave in to my nerves and visited three or four times before the start.  

John F Kennedy, the name of our ferry

When the time came to get started, I was trying really hard to play it cool.  I mean, my best runs are never races, but training runs.  So, as much as possible, I am trying to ignore everything around me.  Just think of it as another run close to home.  The last of wave one starts while we are still in the corral and we hear the national anthem being sang for them.  I am still cool.  Then it is our turn.  We get America the Beautiful and I am still cool.  As soon as the horn sounds and we start running, they blast New York, New York through the speakers.  And I could not possibly ignore that.  At that point I was running way to fast ad with a big smile on my face.  This was no training run.  Get used to it.  The theme repeated throughout the race.  So many cool sights that it was nearly impossible to ignore that I was running one of the coolest races of my life.   

At the ferry on the way to the start

We start crossing the bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn.  Since we are running on the lower deck, my GPS loses its satellite signal almost immediately.  I don't get it back until mile 10 (resulting in a strange route on the Garmin site).  I don't care much.  I can calculate my pace by looking at the watch at every mile marker.  I know I am going too fast, but I am having fun.  There will be plenty of time to regret it later.

Wave two corral, right before the start

The temperature on the lower deck of the bridge is a good 15 degrees cooler than on the streets.  I also noticed much lower temperatures in Manhattan than in Brooklyn and Queens.  I can't really say much for Staten Island and the Bronx since you leave the former immediately after the race starts and are in the latter for less than a mile.

A small portion of the 47,000 runners

Two and a half million people are lining the streets of the course and they are loud.  Several times during the race I have to stop my iPod because I can't hear anything coming from it anyway.  The running crowd is large, but never so bad that requires a lot of zig-zagging.  All and all it doe snot get in the ay of a good race.

I finish in 4:06:19.  As usual I would have liked to break four hours again, but am happy with this time.  I take with me a medal (not particularly pretty) and a few good memories including these:

• Along with the several bands playing Rock & Roll, I saw at least two groups of people playing bag pipes (very cool)
  
• Running the long Queensboro Bridge, again on the lower deck ;-( is tough.  This is almost at mile 16.  The temperature is cold under the bridge.  I am getting tired.  There are no people cheering on the bridge.  Seems lonely even among all these runners.  Then at the end of the bridge there are three signs: 1) If 10 miles to go seems easier... 2) Then welcome to easier 3) Welcome to Manhattan.  That puts a smile on my face.

• Manhattan really welcomes you.  From run on the empty, cold bridge, you appear on 1st Ave, which is packed, and I mean packed with people, three and four thick on the sides of the road.  They are loud too.  That gives me a second wind.
  
• Lots of police on the median while running through the six lane avenues in Brooklyn.  Several clapping, high-fiving and cheering, but all very attentive and visible on guard.
  
• Cool signs along the road including:
• Worst Parade Ever! (seen that one before, but it always makes me smile)
• You are the Sh*t! (far cooler when there are 15 or 20 people together holding these signs) 
• And my favorite, a guy holding large sign the read Way to Go Complete Stranger!
  
• As well organize as the race was, they made the very poor decision of having a picture wall right after the finish line.  They managed to get 47,000 people running without making it feel crowded until everybody wants to have their picture taken right afar the finish line.  Not very clever.
  
• And, by far, my favorite memory.  After crossing the finish line we are handed thermal blankets with the word Finisher on the back (still have mine).  Then we have to walk almost a mile (I checked it out on Google maps, it was exactly .9) to pick up our clothes.  The sun is out, but we are all a bit cold from the run.  We all walk in the same direction following the instructions of the organizers sitting on high chairs and talking into the megaphones (You guys are beautiful!  You guys made it!  Please keep moving, you are almost there!).  Some are limping, some are clearly in pain, but most are quietly walking and wondering how much longer it will be.  I took the picture below to remember that feeling forever.

Finishers walking to get their bags
Note the woman with the megaphone sitting on the high chair