NYC Marathon Race Report
I flew back late last night after spending Friday through Monday in NYC. The short summary... the NYC marathon was a spectacular event, but I got my butt kicked a little bit! The longer and probably boring story follows…
Some quick background. I ran Chicago 4 weeks ago and PR'd. It wasn't my intention to do both this year, but I was extremely fortunate in the drawings so what's a guy to do? I registered for Chicago last year when a number of people on here were planning to do that as a bit of a race meet. I was successful and got in. Then earlier this year, I told my wife that I'd love to run NYC at some point in my life. AND so I better start applying for it so that I can go ahead and get several rejections before finally getting selected. Welp... beginners luck I guess. I got my notification that I'd be doing NYC too. I was extremely excited and decided that Chicago would be my "A" race (unless something terrible happened with the weather) and NYC would be the fun race. Leading up to Chicago I had a tad of hip pain on my last long runs and it resurfaced again (more-so) after getting back from Chicago. So most of the time between Chicago and NY was spent in PT (learning to stretch and do some simple strength exercises which I hope to continue/increase moving forward) with much less running than normal. I just wanted to make sure that I felt good enough to do another marathon that quickly and that I wouldn’t do anything to cause a longer-term injury. Anyways, my hip was a non-issue my last 2-3 runs and felt perfect the entire marathon. So maybe stretching, strengthening, and stuff like that is a good thing... lol.
My wife and I landed pretty early on Friday and got to our hotel at 57th and Lexington around 9:15. After we dropped off our luggage, we decided we'd just start walking towards the Expo and decide whether we wanted to catch an Uber or other mode of transportation. It was a nice day so we ended up walking. Getting my bib was pretty easy and the expo was good. We took our time there but did not buy anything. I had already ordered a jacket but would not allow myself to wear it until Sunday after the race. At noon we took a bus tour that covered the course. It was pretty good, but with all the traffic the tour was really slow in some parts and I was ready for it to end when it did. Our bus started at the expo, but it did have to drive all the way to Staten Island to properly start. There was an NYRR guide on our bus that told us about different points of the course and provided some tips. I mostly chose to do this because I'd never been anywhere but midtown/lower Manhattan so it was good for me to see other areas, PLUS it was nice for my wife to get to see where all I'd be running. We were able to get off the bus at the finish line and chose to do that instead of riding back to the expo. Then we grabbed an early dinner and decided to check out the Parade of Nations Opening Ceremony at the finish line. Runners marched down a small stretch of the finish area with their flags, costumes, music, etc. At the end, there were fireworks. It was fun, and I'd recommend anyone doing the marathon to consider watching this. It really made me feel like I was part of something huge. The forecasted rain held off, and it was a nice way to kick-off the weekend.
Late Saturday morning, my wife and I went out to see where she could EASILY get to watch me on Sunday. We figured out she could get to the hairpin turn off of the Queensboro Bridge (~mile 16) and then again when I exited Central Park (5th & 59th) in the final mile. Afterwards we both did a little run in Central Park. Wow! What an amazing place to run. The energy on Saturday morning with so many people there doing shakeouts was fantastic. My wife (hoping to do her first marathon in January at WDW) commented that she felt like she could run forever there.
After eating a late breakfast, we decided to do some exploring. It probably wasn’t the best use of my legs, but I was in NY for the experience too. We walked down to the Empire State building checking out Grand Central along the way. We walked back up through Times Square and eventually made it our early dinner at Patsy’s for some pasta. I think we ended up hanging out a bit more in Central Park and probably stayed out later than normal looking at things, but with the late race time of NYC and the “fall back” time change I kept telling myself that I was still going to be off my feet
plenty of hours before the gun… lol.
Slept like a baby Saturday night and then did a little jog/walk to the buses (I was 6am) at the Library that take the midtown runners to the start. The bus ride was long, but warm and relaxing. The staging area at Fort Wadsworth was pretty well organized and they had free water, Gatorade, coffee, bagels, Dunkin Donut beanies, etc. It was a fairly comfortable morning to wait around in that area. I was in Wave 2 so my start time was some time around 10:15.
The course and crowd support were fantastic. Btw,
@Keels I wish I would’ve known where you’d be so I could’ve at least waved. Anyways as part of the Orange group, I got to run on the the upper level of the Verrazano Bridge and on the left side going across… so I had amazing views of NYC. In fact, I veered over and basically ran along the rail so that I could have unobstructed views even though there was a healthy crosswind on the bridge. I just couldn’t resist. The crowds in Brooklyn were great. Since I was in the Orange group, I was on the west side of fourth street, so I was running in the sun. I’m guessing a large number on the east side of the street (running in the shadows of the buildings in Bayridge, etc. wished they’d been in the sun too. However, I really like running “cold” so even though it was a beautiful 50F, I would’ve preferred to be on that side. It probably sucked a bit of energy out of me, but it was hard to slow down and the vibe was just great in Brooklyn. Signs, cheering spectators, musicians, etc. It was awesome.
Finally, we got to the point where all 3 groups converged, and it did get a bit tight. I recall one water stop in an area of maybe only 2 lanes and it was pretty bad. Basically, everyone stopped running, except for a handful of people who just charged through everyone knocking people. That’s really the only place it was unbearable for me crowd-wise. The water/Gatorade stops were frequent (every mile from 3 to finish), but they weren’t nearly as large or organized as Chicago. Chicago’s tables seem to run forever. New York’s varied in size and sometimes they seemed a bit too small. That’s really my only small criticism of the race. Otherwise the event is magical.
You don’t spend much time in Queens and then it was the very long Queensboro Bridge over to Manhattan. I think
@Wendy98 commented that his bridge went on forever and I’d agree. It was also the place my GPS went the most wonky. By this time, I’d already determined that I’d have to start feeling better quickly if I was going to run under 4 hours. I went through the halfway point in under 2, but I knew my effort was more than I liked so I started to slow some to see if I could get to feeling stronger. Oh… and it was during this stretch that I gave up on trying to pair my earbuds. Even though this race had tons of support, I like to have them on and occasionally get some music going to zone in. I needed to on Sunday (especially through Queens and over that Bridge) to see if I could settle in to comfortable pace, but later realized I accidentally brought an older pair of the same model that no longer worked. Makes sense now why they didn’t pair and gives me one more thing to check closer before my next race. I saw my wife coming off the bridge and then tossed her the ear buds and my Spibelt that I no longer wanted.
From this point on I did my best to keep feeling as good as possible. It became apparent to me somewhere on First Avenue that breaking 4 wasn’t going to happen. I think after mile 18, I started to walk at water stops. I really wish I had paced better early on because I could’ve enjoyed miles 16-24 much more. First and Fifth Avenues were really loud. I wanted to enjoy it more, but my head was probably hanging a bit. Just another reminder for me about how important pacing is.
Anyways, the short walk breaks felt pretty good, so I took an even longer walk across the bridge into the Bronx. This allowed me to recover a bit for Fifth Avenue. By this time, I decided that I’d like to 1) not walk any in Central Park, and 2) finish under 4:10. So I took my last little walk before the park and then I knew I just needed to power through the rest of the way. I had heard a lot about the rolling hills there late in the race (in the park too), but I honestly felt like there was more downhill than up late in the race. Maybe it was just me being a bit refreshed, determined, and overwhelmed by all the spectators encouraging everyone.
I got to see my wife again right when I exited the park and I knew I had much less than a mile to go so I started surging as much as I could. Finishing felt great. The finish line is a big production and it felt awesome to be a part of such an event. I came across in 4:07:53 and I was thrilled.
After the long march to receive my medal, nice heavy bag of snacks/recovery stuff, and post-race poncho, I finally met up with my wife and we made the trek back to the hotel. I quickly cleaned up and was able to hit a nearby pool to help my muscles recover a bit. Then we grabbed a quick early dinner and decided to head back to the finish line to watch the celebration for the final finishers. We stayed at least 2 hours. Apparently, the organizers make it a point to stick around at the finish line to let all the finishers get the hoopla they’ve earned. So even though the course is no longer “closed”, if you can find your way to the finish line you’ll be greeted with fans, announcers, a DJ, and plenty of festivities. It was very emotional and inspirational to watch the celebration of others crossing the finish line. Several elites had come to be a part of it too and I got to meet Meb. It was an awesome way to end the day for us. Between the Parade of Nations, my own race experience, and watching others crossing the line Sunday night, the NYC marathon was just an overall awesome experience. I highly recommend it to everyone.