"I'm New York City born and raised...  But now days I'm lost between two shores...
... LA's fine but it ain't home...  NY's home but it ain't mine no more."    (Lyrics by Neil Diamond)

November 3^rd.  New York City Marathon. The theme for the event, no doubt the product of some over priced Madison Avenue advertising agency, was "Love It".  And yes, painful as it was, I did love it.  Running marathons is not tough.  It's only the last half hour of the race that really hurts.  Plus the day after, and the day after that …  So why did a self professed cycling junkie decide to spend four plus hours of his Sunday afternoon touring the boroughs of New York City on foot? 

I guess several reasons.  I wanted to set a goal.  Something to shoot for and a reason to train.

I spent most of my childhood and adult life in New York and although I go back there somewhat regularly, I could always use another excuse to return to my "roots".   My son is a college student at NYU, so also a good excuse to visit him as well.  Truth is that I was a runner long before I ever straddled a mountain bike.  I was co-captain of the high school track team and have always had a recreational interest in running.  I actually love the solitude of running alone and being able to just let my mind wander all over the place - replaying the events of the day in vivid detail, or dreaming about events yet to unfold.  People say I'm a quiet person, but they are not privy to the non-stop conversations circling within my mind as I log mile after mile.  I'm not a fast or even a competitive runner, but I truly do love the time I spend doing it.  I enter a few races here and there and have actually run four marathons prior to this one.  So signing myself up for this event actually was not all that much out of character for me.

I can bicycle when it's hot - that's not a problem.  But running is a whole different ballgame.  The only way to do a decent training program was to become best friends with my alarm clock, which five days a week would be programmed to orgasm at 4:15 AM.  It's actually a great time of the day in these parts, as I soon made friends with lots of dog walkers, night beat cops, and the occasional drunk driver.  Actually amazing how many people are out running and walking at this early hour.  Very impressed with the guy I'd see every morning doing a "power-walk" with a miners lamp strapped to his head so he could read the morning paper.  

So fast forward 4 months and > 500 miles of training and boom - here I am getting off the plane at LaGuardia airport.  Weather is crisp (i.e. cool, cold, freezing) but forecast for a dry race weekend.  After the worlds most expensive cab ride, I meet up with my son in Greenwich Village just in time to put on the costumes that I brought along from the attic and get down to the Halloween Parade.

No room to write details here, but note to all readers - you need to spend a Halloween in Greenwich Village some day.  What an experience.  And the amazing thing is that some of the freakiest looking people you're not really sure of they are wearing a costume or not.  What followed was two days of the usual pre-race crap.  Pick up number, hydrate, buy more warm clothes, etc.  Before I know it, it's Sunday morning already and I'm sitting there freezing my ass off at the marathon staging area on Staten Island.  I must say however, that staging an event of this magnitude that traverses one of the busiest cities in the world is a task of epic proportions and these guys (NY Roadrunners Club) do an awesome job.  They use 12,000 race day volunteers - that's 1 volunteer for every 3 runners.  There is a reason this city wants to host the 2012 Olympics - and by God, I believe they could do a first class job of it.  At about 10 minutes before race time, they started to get everyone organized and moved up onto the Varrazanno Bridge starting line.  It was at this point that all nervousness vanished from my body and I actually became somewhat emotional.  Firstly emotional that I had gotten to this point - made a commitment, stuck with my training plan, and here I was about to embark on an epic journey.  But my emotions swelled even further as we sung the Star Spangled Banner while taking in one of the most spectacular views imaginable of Manhattan Island off across the harbor.  A Manhattan skyline sadly missing her two great towers.  Even the French guys next to me and the Germans behind, proudly sang our anthem with tears in all of our eyes.  Then just like a slap from a cold shower it was BANG and the mass of humanity began shuffling along.  It took a good 3-4 minutes for things to thin out a bit and settle into racing pace.  

Now, a little history and geography for those who still think the East Coast is part of the British Empire.  This was the 33^rd running of the NY Marathon.  Originally the race consisted of 4 loops around Central Park.  The first year it attracted 157 entrants.  The field steadily grew over the years as the popularity of distance running took off in this country.  In 1976, the New York Road Runners Club, who run this event, proposed moving it out onto the city streets and create a route that traversed all five boroughs of New York City.  The marathon has been a smashing success ever since and now is capped at a field of 35,000 runners each year.  More than 50,000 apply for the entry lottery.  

New York City is more than just midtown Manhattan.  It's a giant mega-megalopolis consisting of five boroughs and the surrounding counties such as Westchester, Fairfield, Rockland, and Long Island.  And there are huge waterways that separate everything into big and small islands connected by bridges and tunnels.  George Washington Bridge, Lincoln and Holland tunnels cross over and under the Hudson River to connect Manhattan to New Jersey.  The Varazanno Bridge (once the longest suspension bridge in the world) spans the mouth of NY Harbor connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn, which in turn is connected to downtown Manhattan by the famous Brooklyn Bridge and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.  The boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens are joined by the Polaski Bridge.  The 59^th Street Bridge ("Slow down you move too fast"  ala Simon & Garfunkel) crosses the East River to connect Queens and Midtown Manhattan.  The Willis Avenue Bridge takes you from Harlem into The Bronx.  You can check out the official course map HERE.   The course itself takes you from the starting line over the massive Varazanno Bridge into Brooklyn for an amazing trip up Fourth Avenue and through some of the Italian and Jewish ethnic neighborhoods before crossing into Queens near the mid-race point.  Most the while the skyline of Manhattan is visible on your left as you cross the Polaski Bridge into Queens and later cross the 59^th Street Bridge into Manhattan.  A huge celebration awaits at Mile 16 as you come off the bridge onto 1^st Avenue.  Then it's straight up 1^st Avenue and into The Bronx at Mile 19 before circling back across the East River and into Harlem at Mile 22.  An amazing sight as you then head down the famous Fifth Avenue amongst the tree lined parks and museums.  24 Mile mark and a quick right turn at 90^th Street into Central Park.  Beautiful fall colors and in a scant 2 miles you cross the finish line at Tavern On The Green just off Central Park West.  Sounds easy, doesn't it?  

For me, race day started at 7 am with a bus ride from Midtown at the NY Public Library to the staging area on the Staten Island side of NY Harbor.  It was pretty cold at the start, about 42 degrees, so I decided to wear long sleeves and tights.  The first mile over the Varazanno Bridge is quite splendid with the views of NY Harbor and Manhatten to your left and at this point everyone looks like a serious marathoner with the pack basically moving as one.  Yeah, I know up front the Kenyans are already starting to click off 4:50 miles but back here in the pack it's pretty relaxed.  I start to find my pace at about mile two and settle in with groups of runners of similar ability.  Of course you get some sprinter flying by and some others stopping to talk to the spectators.  To each his own.  As we turn onto 4^th Avenue in Brooklyn the sight of spectators lining the course 4 and 5 deep for as far as the eye can see is just amazing.  In addition to the food and drink aid stations every 2 miles, many of the spectators have prepared offerings for the runners and at times the route is lined like a food festival.  One onlooker was holding a large serving tray offering candy apples!  I have no idea why any runner would eat a candy apple, but it's the thought that counts.  And then there was this little old Italian lady with a platter of meatballs on toothpicks.  I actually took one because I felt so touched that she had probably gotten up early just to prepare this treat for the runners.  I was also amazed how many people knew my name.  Seems every few seconds one of the spectators was yelling "Come on Dave, you're looking good".  How do these people know me?  Just then I got passed on the right by a guy wearing a shirt with DAVE written on it in big block letters.  "Good luck Dave, see you at the finish".

Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn

The sights, smells, and sounds of Brooklyn were just incredible and I felt truly blessed to be there.  Lots of bands and musicians of all walks of life and genre of music.  I hit the 10k mark at 0:55 - right on pace, and for the first time I actually started to think about this as a "race", albeit a personal one only.   The question in my mind at this point (and also on the minds of about 35,000 other runners) was how hard to push.  Better to hold something back because it was still a long, long way to Central Park - or better to put in some quicker miles now because I knew I would tire at the end?  I did pick up the pace just a bit as the route folded its way past the Brooklyn Gas building and up Lafayette Street through some of the Jewish neighborhoods.  Imagine the spectacle of this huge throng of people winding their way through the streets while at the same time residents in traditional long black coats and top hats go about their daily routines.  Almost tempted to pinch myself to see if it was a dream.  I took Gatorade every 4 miles and at mile 10 took my first Gu.  But I was starting to feel a strange rubbing in my left shoe because one of the protective band-aids that I always apply to my 1^st and 3^rd toes for very long runs was coming off.  I had to stop, remove it,  and re-apply Vasoline which put me behind pace a little bit.  But no big deal.  Soon enough I was up and over the Polaski Bridge and hit the halfway mark at 2:05.  My first goal (breaking 4 hours) was not going to be realized on this day.  But I was pretty sure that I had accomplished my second goal, which was to hit the halfway point before the winner finished.  Isn't that sick - the winner actually covered this whole damn course in 2:08.  Nearly twice as fast as me.  Consolation is that I bet he didn't have as much fun as I was having.  That's also pretty sick.  

Two boroughs down, three to go.  After a brief meander through Queens came one of the real highlights of the race.  That being the trip over the 59^th Street Bridge which brings you smack dab into the middle of Manhattan and out onto First Avenue.  The view from the bridge itself is incredible but the real choker is the emotional rush you get when you first set foot on the most famous island in the world - Manhattan.  I was honestly wiping tears from my cheeks as this marvelous sight unfolded in front of me.   The 16 mile mark, the NY skyline within grasp and thousands and thousands of people lining the streets.  More people line 1^st Avenue to watch the NY Marathon than line 5^th Avenue to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  That's a fact.  It's a strange feeling at this point in the race.  I was so overcome to have reached this juncture that I honestly could have dropped out right then and there and it still would have been one hell of a day.  But at the same time you also start to get the rush that says, "Damn it I've come this far and I know I can finish this thing."  So it’s on up 1^st Avenue through a constant gauntlet of cheering spectators.  Flat as a pancake until I made the small rise over the Willis Street Bridge into The Bronx.   

The course only goes about 2 miles through The Bronx before returning to Manhattan, but this is really quite a sight to see.  This isn’t the Bronx Zoo or Botanical Gardens part of borough.  This is a hard core South Bronx slum.  The kind of area you would never think of visiting.  But yet on this day it was a huge celebration.  I'm sure many of those cheering us along through these run down slums during this day would be crack addicts, hookers, and muggers once the sun set.  But it didn't matter - it's all just part of the NYC fabric and on this glorious day it was all beautiful.  That is, all beautiful except for the tightness that was slowly creeping into my quads.  I hit the 30k at 3:10 but I could feel my stride shortening and actually stopped to stretch a bit.  The 20 mile mark is sometimes called "The Wall".  But I still had no doubts about finishing.  10k to the finish line - a distance that I had run many, many times during my training.  But how often do you a 32k warm up before it?   Coming back into Manhattan from the Bronx is like hitting the home stretch, but not too many of the faces around me on the course looked like they had much of a finishing kick in them.  This part of the city is commonly called "Harlem" and again the sights and sounds were just incredible.  I would have liked to take more of it in, but my quads kept getting tighter and all I wanted to do was finish.   

Finally at 22 miles the course makes sharp right and BAM, you are heading straight down 5^th Avenue.  And what a marvelous sight this is.  Tree lined on both sides forming a perfect "frame" for the sight of the Empire State Building standing tall and proud directly in front of you in the distance.  Crowds began to swell again as I slowly ticked off cross streets.  110^th Street, 109^th  108^th, …  Soon the walls that enclose the north end of Central Park appear on the right.   

As I think back on those last painful miles, I can not visualize the route very well anymore.  Every other part of the course is etched vividly into my photo-memory, but not the last two miles.  I do remember the turn onto Central Park South and the shadows of the Time-Warner building and for the first time since Staten Island I had a chill.  But it was soon past Columbus Circle and back into the park as the sight of the 26 mile marker loomed a few hundred yards ahead of me.  Again I became very choked up with emotion as the banners of the finish line first came into view.  Although I am anything but a religious person, it struck me that life is full of unknowns and I may never get the chance to do this again.  So I thanked God for allowing me this opportunity.  The opportunity to follow through on my commitment and the opportunity to once again be at one with the city I so love … and miss so much.   Crossing the Finish Line was almost an anti-climax compared to all that had transpired in the preceding hours.  

I met up with my son, who had watched the race from the 59^th Street Bridge and we treated ourselves to Cheesesteak sandwiches at the Gramercy Diner and then went to see the movie "JackAss".  Yes, it was totally stupid, but I never laughed harder in my life.  My belly hurt almost as much as my legs.  

Dave (November 2002)