NY Marathon Race Recap!

On Sunday, November 3rd I ran the NY Marathon.

It was my 2nd marathon of 2013, and my 4th lifetime marathon.  My legs kind of hurt just typing this.

I had three major goals for this race: finish.  don't get injured.  have a ton of fun.

Short story: Mission accomplished!

The background: I have been trying to run this marathon since the fall of 2009.  I have dutifully given $14 to NYRR every fall for entry into the lottery.  And every year I haven't been picked (sad face).  Good news for me - NYRR had a 3 fails = in policy!  This was my 4th year entering the lottery, so I had guaranteed entry.  I think I paid $266 to register, but considering I got a boat ride, a bus ride and a helicopter escort, totally worth it :)

The arrival: Mr Sharkie and I flew into LaGuardia on Friday evening.  We ordered drinks on the plane and weren't charged for them.  Yay! We took the M60 to the 4 train and checked into our hotel in the financial district.  Sharkie's hot tip: consider staying in the financial district if you're coming into town for the marathon.  It was super easy to get to the Staten Island Ferry in the morning, and super easy to get back after the marathon!

The carb loading:  In true pre-marathon tradition we spent Saturday morning watching EPL (CHELSEA!!) at an Irish bar.  I had the world's tiniest most disgusting bloody mary

Ladies and Gentleman.  The most disgusting Bloody Mary in the Universe

and a yuengling.  Also free.  It seems that it was free drinks weekend!  Lunch was Shake Shack (totally worth the wait, and the screaming children, I swear).  Dinner was at this phenom fancy pasta place called Scarpetta.  Then we hit up CVS for food for Staten Island and a throw-away hat.  Yep.  I was that chick sporting an elf hat on Staten Island.  What?  It was only $3.99!!

The expo: OMFG, what a cluster.  We got there at about noon on Sunday and the line to get your ID checked to enter packet pick-up was down a block, then down another block.  People were cutting like crazy.  The line did move pretty quickly, and packet pick up was pretty efficient.  I wanted to do some shopping, but I was hot and on the verge of a mass of people panic attack.  I picked up a fly neon yellow jacket, and off we went.

The arrival to the start line:  My wave was scheduled to start at 10:55 AM.  I set my alarm for 6:30, and headed out the door of the hotel around 7 am.  It was one subway stop from my hotel to the Staten Island Ferry.  My ferry was scheduled to leave at 8 am, so I was super early for my ferry.  It was pretty hard to be anti-social waiting for the ferry.  The atmosphere was pretty electric.  I talked to some nice folks from all over the country and swapped marathoning stories.  The ferry left promptly at 8 am and arrived around 8:40 or so.

Then we were shuffled to a bus line, which wrapped down and around a block.  Best quote of the bus line - "anyone every been to a rave?"  I made my way to a bus around 9:10 or so and made it to the start line around 9:40.  Quick trip through a metal detector (!!) and we were in the start village.  I then spent ~ 30 minutes trying to find my friend in one of the start villages.  Overall, very organized, I'm just discombobulated before a race :)

The start: We entered our corral at 10:35 and were off promptly at 10:55 am.  Very, very cool to take off to NY, NY!

I'm going to stray from my normal mile by mile play by play and pass along thoughts I had along the route.  This is by far the most emotional I've been while running a marathon.  I think I was grinning from ear to ear for the vast majority of the race.

• Favorite borough - Oh Brooklyn.  I think I'm in love with you.  From the dude shouting welcome to Brooklyn, to the pep band, to all the adorable restaurants I wanted to visit - it was never a dull moment.  Thank you.

• The bridges - I could say a lot of bad things about the bridges.  They were windy.  They were hilly.  They were boring.  But they were also a really good time for reflection.  For bonding with fellow runners.  For amazing vistas of the city.  
• The crowd support - First and foremost.  Thank you to Mr. Sharkie for spectating at miles 8, 17 and 24.  It was amazing to have a familiar face among the crowd.  He also takes amazing race photos if anyone wants to hire him.  

• The bands were amaze-balls.  The signs were awesome.  The kids gave amazing high fives.  I'd also like to thank the dude who yelled at me at mile 23 to start running.  He said I still had it in me, and I did.  I ran it all the way home.  There is also no better noise in the world than the roar of Manhattan after the silence of a bridge.
• The runners - It is an amazing feeling to never feel alone during a marathon.  There were so many inspiring runners out there and it was a true inspiration to run with all of them.  
• Central park - Hands down the second best section of the marathon.  It was so gorgeous that I didn't even really notice the rolling hills

Rolling hills?  What rolling hills?  Also, my apologies to Fran.  She looks uncomfortable.

The finish - Quick turn of of and into central park, and you're done!  You grab your medal, then a picture, then walk ~ 12 blocks to the exit.  I had chosen early exit so I got my finish line poncho (look for them on Ebay, they are seriously that amazing) and high tailed it to the subway.  And then a bar.  Post-marathon beer is amazing!

Overall, I had an amazing NYC Marathon experience!  It's easy to get hung up on the minor annoyances of the day.  But then you remember that you just participated in the largest marathon in the world.  And then the ear to ear grin comes back.  If I ever got the chance to participate again, I would be there in a heart beat!  The city truly embraces the marathon, and that felt amazing.

So, thank you NY.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Oh - for those who are interested in finish times - 5:18:40.  A time I am very proud of.

Next up: Schaumburg Turkey Trot!