Race Report: NYC Marathon, Part II

With the first wave of runners now underway at 9:40, we were quickly moved down our corral system and into the general runner queue on top of the waiting bridge. Helicopters kept criss-crossing the sky, all vying for the best angle on the starting line action. I silently readied the chronograph feature on my watch and lifted my camera into the air, hoping to catch a snippet of the actual start on video. Not a moment later, the cannon sounded and Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" filled the air. We were off!

Now, the first mile of the marathon happens to be all uphill. The race begins at the base of the Verrazano Bridge and the end of Mile 1 is located just after the apex of the climb upward. Normally, I would think a slope such as this would affect the planned pace of runner. But not here. Off we went immediately throwing caution to the wind, just happy to be running in the greatest marathon in the world. Giddy like a schoolchild, I pulled out my camera and commenced snapping photos left and right, hoping to catch every nuance of the start as I could. I even stepped up onto the center median of the bridge to capture the site of Manhattan in the distance, and was pleasantly surprised to learn a news photographer had also captured me doing so. We found out on Monday that this photo made the front page of the NYC Times. I'm officially a celebrity. (I actually wouldn't have noticed its inclusion in the paper had it not been for my wife. As I scanned the page while standing in Times Square the next day, I exclaimed to her, "that's exactly what it looked like, and I was out there taking photos just like that guy there." To which she excited responded, "umm, hon, that's your blue sweatshirt—that IS you!!" A few tourists nearby perked up their heads at the mention…I wonder if I should have offered to autograph THEIR paper?)

Coming down the other side of the bridge, we quickly entered the southern region of Brooklyn. Exiting the main bridge highway, we zipped past the Mile 2 marker and were shuffled west onto 4th Avenue which roughly spanned miles 2-8 of the course. Laura and our friends had mentioned to me the night before, as they pored over subway and course maps, they would attempt to see me near the beginning and end of this section of the race. So I sidestepped a few runners and moved left to keep an eye open for my cheering crew. Now, finding only three people in a crowd of thousands is not easy. Fortunate for us, we took it upon ourselves to pick up a few kids blow-up toys: a blue Yankees baseball bat and a large pink butterfly. It it had not been for these, I know I would have surely missed them in the throng of spectators. Sure enough, they had successfully navigated the R Line and were patiently waiting for me as I blazed them by. Their screams of encouragement were loud and clear: keep going! I wasn't about to let them down, so onward I pressed.

Miles 3-8 were largely uneventful, other than the guy I noticed in front of me who had a bib pinned to his back which simply read "STREAKER". Come to find out later, this was one of only a handful of runners who had successfully completed NYCM for more than 20-some odd years in a row. What an accomplishment! Okay, I originally thought the guy was waiting for his most opportune moment to shed his running apparel and make a name for himself before course police yanked him down. No such luck. But I am glad.

Mile 9 saw us entering an interesting section of Brooklyn named Clinton Hill. Here, the streets narrowed a bit and the business fronts were replaced by actual neighborhoods filled with old and curious facades. I was feeling fairly well still by this time and hadn't yet decided to walk, even for the water stations that passed by every mile or so. My plan was to run as far as possible, likely until the 15-16 mile mark, before taking a quick breather. This is a mental-thing for me. I use it to continually push myself throughout a race, extending it where necessary to continally give myself goals throughout a course.

Miles 10-12 brought us through a variety of interesting neighborhoods, all rich with their own diversity. One that stood out for me was the Polish, or Polska, neighborhood. I am a quarter Polish myself, so this was truly a unique experience for me to see a little of my own heritage. So many little foods shops and restaurants dotted this area of the course, with little Polish children playing and plumb grandmothers walking to market everywhere. Such a wonderful area to see.

By Mile 13, I would have thought the crowd of marathon runners would have thinned some. But as I approached the halfway point, I was still literally elbow-to-elbow with my running comrades. And the crowds of well-wishing spectators were still as strong as ever. Truly amazing to be in a race where crowd support is so intense! Approaching the Pulaski Bridge, we prepared for our departure from Brooklyn and our grand entrance into Queens. Considered the largest in area and the second most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, Queens also happens to be the city's most diverse borough. Of course, experiencing it all would have to be for another day, as Miles 14-15 quickly passed by. Shortly after passing through the Queensboro Plaza and Mile 15, up ahead lay the infamous Queensboro Bridge.

Coming up...the last half!