On November 2, 2008 the New York City Marathon was held and two Memorial Milers, Jim Hanson and John Lynch (that’s me) went the distance. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, excellent running conditions for all of us “non-elite” runners.
NYC is the world’s largest marathon, with nearly 40,000 entrants this year, about one-quarter of which are from other nations.
The marathon distance is (always) 26.2 miles and the NYC Marathon takes runners through all five boroughs, starting in Staten Island, heading over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Brooklyn, through Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge to Mahnattan, up First Avenue and into the Bronx, and then back to Manhattan, down Fifth Avenue, and ending at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
This year’s race was different as it was the first time the New York Road Runners instituted a “wave start.” This means they have different groups of runners start at different times – this year there were three groups and we were sorted by color. Runners with green bibs started at 9:40 AM, runners with blue bibs started at 10:00 AM and runners with orange bibs started at 10:20 AM. They did this to prevent overcrowding at the start and it worked very well. In past years you could wait 15 minutes to reach the starting line after the official gun went off, this year I made it to the line about one minute after my 10:00 AM start. What’s also nice is that using the electronic chip you tie to your sneaker, they send email updates every time you pass a checkpoint, which is great for friends and family so they know when to look for you on the course and can track how well you’re doing. This year, they tracked us every 3 miles through mile 16 and then every mile after that, which was really great, and a big upgrade from past years.
Jim Hanson has run more marathons than he can count and was excited that he was able to run this year for the first time with one of his three daughters. They ran the entire race together and had a great time. I’ve run the NYC marathon five times, and although this year wasn’t my personal best in terms of finishing, it was still a lot of fun. Traveling to the start is always an adventure – this year I took the subway to the Staten Island Ferry to a bus to the start, and everyone was friendly and a little bit nervous. Bottom line is, most runners do not do any training runs that are 26.2 miles long (my longest this year was 18, though I have done up to 21 miles before). So you know that, at some point in the race, you will be going farther than your longest training run, and if it’s your first marathon, then somewhere around mile 20, in the Bronx, you will be running farther than you’ve ever gone in your life!!! That, plus all the training and expectations, make for a nervous, exciting and ultimately exhilarating time before, during and after the race.
As always, the crowd support during each and every mile was phenomenal, which is what makes the NYC Marathon so special.
Finally, I was able to get all my Memorial Miles for the entire month of November finished in one day!!!!!
NYC is the world’s largest marathon, with nearly 40,000 entrants this year, about one-quarter of which are from other nations.The marathon distance is (always) 26.2 miles and the NYC Marathon takes runners through all five boroughs, starting in Staten Island, heading over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Brooklyn, through Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge to Mahnattan, up First Avenue and into the Bronx, and then back to Manhattan, down Fifth Avenue, and ending at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
This year’s race was different as it was the first time the New York Road Runners instituted a “wave start.” This means they have different groups of runners start at different times – this year there were three groups and we were sorted by color. Runners with green bibs started at 9:40 AM, runners with blue bibs started at 10:00 AM and runners with orange bibs started at 10:20 AM. They did this to prevent overcrowding at the start and it worked very well. In past years you could wait 15 minutes to reach the starting line after the official gun went off, this year I made it to the line about one minute after my 10:00 AM start. What’s also nice is that using the electronic chip you tie to your sneaker, they send email updates every time you pass a checkpoint, which is great for friends and family so they know when to look for you on the course and can track how well you’re doing. This year, they tracked us every 3 miles through mile 16 and then every mile after that, which was really great, and a big upgrade from past years.
Jim Hanson has run more marathons than he can count and was excited that he was able to run this year for the first time with one of his three daughters. They ran the entire race together and had a great time. I’ve run the NYC marathon five times, and although this year wasn’t my personal best in terms of finishing, it was still a lot of fun. Traveling to the start is always an adventure – this year I took the subway to the Staten Island Ferry to a bus to the start, and everyone was friendly and a little bit nervous. Bottom line is, most runners do not do any training runs that are 26.2 miles long (my longest this year was 18, though I have done up to 21 miles before). So you know that, at some point in the race, you will be going farther than your longest training run, and if it’s your first marathon, then somewhere around mile 20, in the Bronx, you will be running farther than you’ve ever gone in your life!!! That, plus all the training and expectations, make for a nervous, exciting and ultimately exhilarating time before, during and after the race.As always, the crowd support during each and every mile was phenomenal, which is what makes the NYC Marathon so special.
Finally, I was able to get all my Memorial Miles for the entire month of November finished in one day!!!!!
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