New York Marathon

We arrived in New York City (La Guardia) and took a Uber to our hotel.  It was our first experience with Uber and it was about half the cost of a taxi from the airport and very clean.

Once we got settled in to the room, we took the subway (MTA) to the Jacob Javits Convention Center for the race packet pick-up.  The building took up an entire square block and was ultra-modern, with a lot of glass.  We had to go through security to enter the center.

Once we made it into the main hall, we began to realize just how big this race is, it was organized very similar to the Peachtree Road Race packet pick-up, but the runners here were all for a marathon!.  The numbers on the wall were to guide you to the proper table to pick up your packet.  All numbers are preassigned and you must have proper identification and NYRR forms completed to retrieve your number.  There were 51,750 registered participants for this marathon, making it the largest in the world.  I was assigned bib 60701, so that was where we picked up my bib.  Once we received my number, we proceeded to the T-Shirts sign at the end of this hall to get sized for my shirt. After confirming the shirt size, we went to the right to pick up my race shirt, Start Villages bag and wristband (necessary to exit the (very secure) finish area).  Next, we moved into another very large adjoining room where the event vendors were setup and race seminars were being held.  We did attend a course description seminar, which was very informative, warning us of the hills near the finish area.

Notice the MEB (Keflezighi) sign to the right, at the Skechers booth.  This would be Meb’s 26th and last Marathon as a professional.  He has run the NYC 11 times and is the only runner in history to have won the NYC Marathon, the Boston Marathon and an Olympic silver medal.

Here is a picture of Meb from 2014.  He ran the July 4th Peachtree for charity (Meb is on the right).

Spoiler alert!  Meb at the finish (11th place overall).

I received my number and did the obligatory pose in front of a large photo of the crowd.

I noticed a group of runners from Peru (it said”Peru Running” on their shirts) and asked them if there are any good runs near Cusco, as we intend to travel to Machu Picchu in the near future.  One of the men gave me his card.  He happened to be the City Manager of Cusco and operates a company called “Go! Running Tours” in Cusco and Lima.  What is the chance of that?  Now I have a contact.

After getting up at 04:00 and preparing for the run, I took the MTA to Grand Central Station to join 51,750 friends for a day of fun.  I met a young man from Atlanta-Midtown on the MTA,  I would see many more on the course throughout the day. The buses parked here at the terminal exit were for the “Elite” runners who were staying downtown.

The rest of us common folk had to walk to the New York Public Library, about four blocks away. Our buses were lined up on the left side of this street for as far as you could see, several blocks from the loading area at the library.

It was pitch dark when I arrived and stepped into the line for bus boarding.  The line went for a block one way, then turned and went another block, then turned and went another block, then passed through a security checkpoint, then turned again and then once more before ending up in the final que. It was like a line for the big ride a Disney, but on steroids.

I boarded the bus as the sun was rising at 06:26 (my scheduled bus time was 06:30) and had a good conversation with several other runners during the 90 minute ride to the Start Villages.  I met one young lady that ran the Anchorage Marathon last year (I also ran that) and the Alaska Mile Championships (which I also did), it really is a pretty small world. I also talked with a young (Canadian) man who was wearing a 2017 Quebec Marathon shirt that I also have. We both participated in that event earlier this year. In the photo below, the library is on the right and we are approaching, then boarding on the buses to the left, albeit four minutes early!

About 90 minutes later, we arrived at the Start Villages on Staten Island, located at the end of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, near Revolutionary War-era Fort Wadsworth. There was a large Coast Guard cutter and multiple NY police boats patrolling the waters below the bridge.  The security was very tight, they had sand trucks lined up for a far as you could see, protecting the runners’ buses.

You can see the presence of the National Guard in the back with Highway Patrol, State Police and NYC Police in the foreground.

Here are more sand trucks protecting the entrance to the Runners Villages.  We had to be scanned and passed through metal detectors before entering the area.  The use of bomb detector dogs was very apparent.

Once inside the Villages, it was about a mile walk back to the Blue Village, where my start corral was located.

I finally made it to the Blue Village staging area at about 08:30, allowing me a couple of hours to stretch and relax.  I could count as many as four NYPD helicopters overhead at the same time, then a large Coast Guard helicopter joined them.  Again, security was very tight.  The helicopters were flying so low we were in their rotor wash.

Last call for entrance into the blue corrals was at 10:45.  There were three different Runners Villages, the Green village, the Orange village and the Blue village.  Each “village” had up to six different start corrals. I was checked again while entering the blue corrals staging area and again while entering my assigned “F” corral.  We were not allowed into a corral if we did not have the matching documentation on our number bibs.  Pro Wheelchairs started at 08:30, Pro Women at 09:20, Wave 1 including Pro Men at 09:50, Wave 2 at 10:15, Wave 3 at 10:40, and Wave 4 (knuckleheads, including me) at 11:00. I actually held back to be the last to start, crossing the start line at 11:08.  I was taking pictures on the bridge and noticed that the clean-up truck was following me so I have to pick it my pace!  I ran about 10+ miles before stopping again to take some pictures and enjoy the event.

While walking from the corral to the start line we passed more examples of the security. They parked just about every type of equipment they could in the roadways to keep it secure.

This is before the start of the run, near the start line.  I am not tired…yet.

After a short walk from the corral, we reached the actual start line, at the entrance to the bridge.  Actually, there is another start line on the other side of a concrete divider. Several large groups started together and merged about eight miles into the run.  You can see officials and officers on the tops of protective buses on the right and the police had an elevated view module on the left.

This is the same view, but from the bridge side of the start line.  (This is just one corral out of many,  it took over two and a half hours to get everyone started).

Here we are heading onto the bridge.  I started with the group on the right lane (you can’t see the left lanes yet).  As soon as we started on the bridge, the crosswind picked up to about 15 mph and the rain started.  Go figure!  When we reached the other end of this bridge, we were at mile two of the race!  You can see the two running lanes in the second bridge photo.

This is the group in the left lanes.  We joined several miles into the run as they started physically hundreds of yards ahead of us and had to run a little different route to make up the distance on the other side of the bridge.

After merging the groups at about mile 8, we ran together for the rest of the race. This is in Queens, near Jackson St., at mile 13/14.

Midtown Manhattan, miles 16/17.  This is where I first hit “the wall” and started to fade.

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1st street, on the border of Midtown East and the Upper East Side near miles 17/18.  We are all soaking wet and cold here.  As you can see, from starting dead last I did manage to pass at least some runners.

I don’t quite remember where this photography bridge was located.

More security. Every intersection was closed and blocked with fire engines, sand trucks, snowplows, buses, police cars, etc.  There were officers at every intersection and at least four additional officers spread along the streets, in the middle, and on the sides on every block, plus plainclothes officers that we didn’t see.  We felt safe at all times.  There were police boats under and around every bridge and every time we were near water.

There were water and Gatorade stops every mile.  The cups were disintegrating in the rain making it very slippery to navigate.  Here, we are leaving the aid station at mile 19 on 1st Avenue, near 116th Street.  The sweepers could not keep up with the cups.

Entering the Bronx via the Willis Avenue Bridge, mile 20 and the infamous “Wall” is directly across the East River .

 

I ran to the unoccupied right lane and saw this boat protecting the area.

Exiting the bridge and heading for the “wall”, a couple of blocks down course.

Crossing the river again, entering Upper Manhattan/Harlem, near mile 21.  We crossed the river several times during the run.  I really didn’t know where I was, I was just following the group in front of me.

You can see whats left of the race line (blue), turning right, onto 5th Avenue, the rain and the thousands of runners were quickly eroding it from view.   I stopped and talked for a moment with the man wearing the white hat at the right of this shot, he was from Atlanta.  There were a lot of people, throughout the course, cheering us on from the Atlanta area.  Central Park is coming up!

This is the turn from Fifth Avenue entering Central Park at mile 24.  It is starting to get dark and it is still raining!  We had only 2.2 miles to go at this point.  We ran the entire length and width of the park.

Turning right in the park. At this point we are on a bicycle/walking path that is deep within the park and not as well illuminated as the streets.

Finally, I am in the finish chute, approaching the finish line.

Crossing the finish line and totally exhausted.

After walking some “cool-down blocks” to the medal presentation area.  I was starting to get very dizzy here but continued on to the water/electrolyte replacement area.

This is what it is all about;  a shirt and a medal.

After crossing the finish line, it was a (long, couple of blocks) walk to receive a blanket and the medal.  I felt dizzy so I leaned up against a fence.  I was immediately surrounded by members of the emergency aid team.  In retrospect, I was fortunate they responded because I passed out and woke up in their aid tent (I guess I got a ride in the gator ambulance).  They used my cell phone to contact Cathy, who was a few miles upcourse and helped her get through security to meet me.  After an EKG, and several blood pressure checks, fluids and salt, I started feeling better.  (My BP was 120/80, AFTER the run.  The EMT took it twice because she could not believe the first reading, she thought she may have mis-read it!)  During the walk out, we saw several others that were receiving treatment from emergency personnel.   It was about a mile walk to the nearest MTA station and a long ride back to the hotel.

Memo to myself:  Eat more than one slice of cheese pizza in the 36 hours leading up to a marathon.  Even though the pizza was excellent, it just was not enough fuel and I just “ran out of gas” right at the finish.

Kudos to New York City and the NY Road Runners Club for their hospitality and putting on a well-organized event. There was tremendous crowd participation and energy, especially between the boroughs.   Everyone we met in the city was extremely nice, polite and helpful.  One resident New Yorker even helped us navigate through several train/level/terminal changes by staying with us until we got near our hotel.  We will be returning to NYC as it was far more enjoyable than we imagined.  There are a lot of areas we would like to see and the transit system is awesome.

Music, including bagpipes, a full Church Chorus (along Fourth Avenue), bands, disco, drums, lot of drums of all types, singers and dancers kept the runners entertained most of the way.  I have to go back to the Lafayette Ave / Williamsburg  area.  There was an abundance of “energy” on display from the people, crowding onto the street, cheering, dancing and partying.  In the rain!