NYC Marathon Race Report

Four years after my first application to NYC I finally got in. The more exciting part is that Joe and Ryan knew I was guarenteed entrance this year so they qualified to get in as well so we could ensure that all of us did it together! The only problem with NYC this year is that it was 3 months after the Ironman. The first month after Ironman I took very lightly when it comes to running. The next month and a 1/2 were slow but good and then I got strep throat and was done for two weeks. The longest run before NYC was 13.5 miles. Going in, I knew where I was when it comes to being in running shape.

We left on Friday to go to the Bronx. Saturday we woke up, had breakfast and then headed into lower Manhattan where we were going to spend the night. The expo was crowded and we didn't spend a lot of time there which now, looking back at it, I am a little disappointed that we didn't spend more time there. We did check in, get our bib numbers, and our shirts (they only had large and extra large left so I have a massive shirt that says NYC marathon on it). The slogan on a lot of the shirts was "Hell and back" which I wasn't thrilled with so we didn't buy anything else. We went to dinner in Chelsea and then went back to the hotel to settle in.

The morning of the race, Joe and Ryan were off at around 5 am and I didn't get up until 6:15am - ahh, I actually got to sleep in on race day! I got up, piled on my clothing since it was 38 degrees out, and then packed my bags so I could check out of the hotel. I left the hotel around 6:45 am to go to the Starbucks a few blocks from the hotel. The Starbucks employee came to the door and told me that the person who was opening the store wasn't there yet but she could give me what I wanted on the house since I had to go and run. Such a good start to the day - free breakfast - I kept saying it must have been a good omen for the day! I went to the Staten Island Ferry building in lower Manhattan early and found a mass of people trying to get onto the ferry. It was my first experience with the insane amount of people who would be doing the race - WOW!!

Statan Island - On the ferry, I got to see the Statue of Liberty as close as I have ever been to it. How beautiful!! Then I got to see the garbage on Statan Island - not so beautiful. We were then herded to the bus to get to the "starting villages". The villages made it even more clear how many people were doing this race. The first wave was already in the corrals and getting ready to take off when I got there. The speaker system was broadcasting in at least 6 different languages. They were telling me over and over that I had 10 minutes to check my clothes though. Oh no!!! Found the green village, took off my checked clothing and piled on the throwaways. I had my second breakfast here - a bagel and tea with honey. I got to watch the beginning of the 1st wave and was in awe of the spectacular size of this event. It was being covered by 4 different helicopters!!!

Again the loud speakers told me to go to my start area. I moved in the massive village area to my starting area, saw the second wave go off and realized how much fun this was - who cares that you have to run 26.2 miles - this is amazing!!! I ended up standing next to a woman from Saranac Lake who I have talked to in the past which was so random and then we were off!! The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was cold and windy but, even though it is one of the steepest bridges and there are thousands of people on it, it never felt super crowded or steep! I could hear the bridge moving with the thousands of feet that were traversing it. This was the beginning of my saying out loud how amazing this experience was. I was surrounded by people from all over the world taking pictures, being happy and excited!! How often do you get to be a part of something this big! By the way, the mounds of throwaway clothing was amazing as well.

Brooklyn!!! We were in Brooklyn forever! I saw some amazing things though - hundreds of people out to watch - excited about the people running the race. I saw neighborhood churches having their community breakfasts and lunches outside so that they could be together and cheer for the runners, a woman who was cooking brought the police officers food since they had been there for such a long time, and the police officers smiling, cheering and excited to be there instead of angry to be working this event. These miles felt great and adrenaline was flowing high.

Queens - I kept saying if I got to mile 14 I would have someone cheering for me. I didn't see him there but I did see someone with a sign saying "Go Kelly" and that drove me forward a little further. Only a short time in Queens but that was good since you want to take the run burough to burough and at this point, I am already in unchartered territory from my training. In Queens I figured out that I was running near Jared from Subway because all I could hear from the spectators saying was "Hey, its Jared from Subway - GO JARED!!"

Manhattan - going over the Queensboro Bridge I tripped over a joint in the bridge and fell down. My first reaction was "Get up before you get trampled". One of the people near me picked me up so quickly that I didn't know what happened. Then another person asked me if I was ok so I asked her "If my fall was graceful?" She said "definetly" so it was ok. Jared was still around at this point too. Running down the middle of 1st avenue was amazing! I had made a deal with myself that I had to run to mile 18 without walking and then I could walk/run or just walk depending on how I felt. I was noticing a change in my legs after mile 16 - again, I haven't run this far continuously during training. I was getting nutrition and water but not doing a great job of it. The worst was that the aid stations were so slippery with liquid on the ground, cups, and bananas and peels (yes, those are really slippery).

Bronx - wait, we went through the Bronx!!! This mile of the race was slow and I was in run/walk mode. Still hearing "Go Jared, Go!"

Manhattan - the last stretch and my body spoke up vehemently "NO"!!!!! All of a sudden my legs decided they were done. I walked an entire mile - and it was slow since I couldn't get my legs moving - 18 mins - ugh!! I lost Jared - no more "Go Jared, go". I felt bad. At mile 24 though, I decided I wanted to be done so I sucked it up and started running. I was looking for Joe in the crowd although that seems stupid in retrospect since he couldn't have gotten that far away from the finishing area easily. The finish was amazing. What a huge crowd. I was preparing for my finishing line picture, smiling, being happy, and not looking at my watch and when I crossed the finish line the man next to me puked!!! I started laughing because of the craziness of how I prepared for my photo for the first time ever since both of my Ironman finishing photos are of me pressing my watch and then he puked again. (He was immediately attended to by the American Red Cross people so it wasn't like I was just ignoring him.) Can't wait to see that finishing picture though. What an end to a very unique experience. Hopefully, I can do it again sometime (no puking man at the finish line next time though and more training please).

End note: Joe and Ryan did well (Joe 3 hrs 12 min 21 sec and Ryan 3 hrs 18 min). We all loved the experience. The next few days for me proved to be pretty painful - between the fall and the run I had pains in many places. I am super excited that my year of activity is over and I get to rest and recover completely. Having done 4 marathons, 2 Ironmans, 3 1/2 Ironmans, 2 century rides, and countless 1/2 marathons since April of 2007 has allowed me to feel like I need a break. Next year is my year of speed and I have placed a limit of 1.2 miles of swimming, 13.1 miles of running, and 56 miles of biking as my longest distances I am allowing my body to enduring at one time - no 1/2 Ironmans or Ironmans for me next year, only sprint and olympic distance triathlons for me and a couple of 1/2 marathons. I am looking forward to the rest and recovery!