From Boston to New York

Note :

I learned a valuable lesson today about blogging on the actual website. If I don't save and close a browser I lose everything :). For that reason we'll have to do the second half of the story tomorrow!

Let's Hear it for NY!

The ING NYC marathon was run this year in honor of the victims of the tragic occurrence at the Boston marathon earlier this year. Having been at the race in April and lived in Boston for the past 8 years, it was an honor to be down in NYC to run this amazing race. No, I didn't qualify. And no, I didn't raise a super amount of money to run as part of a charity team. This is something that I would like to do in the future as so much money is raised for great causes. But this time around, I was just one of the incredibly lucky lottery winners. And wow, do I consider myself lucky. The race may be over, but I have some great memories, new friends, and lots of motivation that I got from the NYC marathon.

Pre-Race - Fan Zone

Most of my memories come not from the race itself, but from the 5 hours BEFORE the race even started. I suppose that logically this makes sense, given that I was running for just under 4 hours. But prior to the race all I thought about was my running strategy, pace, water stops... I never gave a second thought to the time that would be spent in the starting villages on Staten Island. I would advise anyone that goes to NY in the future, definitely take this time into consideration!

What should you plan for?

Well, first, avoid the 'Fan Zone'. About 2 weeks prior to the race, I received an email saying that I was the perfect candidate to be on WABC the morning of the race, since I was in Wave 2 and the green corral. All I had to do was reply to the email with some basic personal information and my reason for wanting to be on the live broadcast. Thinking I had no chance, I dashed off a quick 'I'm coming from Boston back to my home state, am a morning person and will bring lots of energy to the show!' Well, I guess this was good enough for whoever was reading the emails! I received another email a few days later saying that I was in.

I was very excited! I was not only going to go run the biggest marathon in the US, but I was going to be on TV the morning of! Perhaps I would get to see them interview some of the predicted winners, celebrities running the race, etc. And I was going to be in a VIP tent, not outside, which would be great if it was going to be cold. They even advertised 'hot dunkin donuts coffee.' I don't do coffee, but some of the others said that that was a huge draw!

Reality, nothing like that. I boarded a bus in Midtown Manhattan at 5 am, a whole hour earlier than the earliest 'normal' bus. We arrived at the villages at Staten Island, and found our tent. Admittedly, it was a bit warmer inside than outside and definitely kept the wind away. But there wasn't anything special about the 'VIP' tent. Anyone and everyone could go in, and anyone and everyone DID go in once the busses started arriving. As for as the food and 'hot coffee'... food came too late for most of us who had carefully planned our eating schedule, I am very glad that I brought my own bagel. And no sight of coffee, ever. The actual broadcast was disappointing as well, as we were asked to stand behind a rope about 15 feet behind the broadcast stage. Couldn't hear anything as the tv announcers were speaking, and you really couldn't see us anyway. I think a few lucky signs that were positioned between the speakers' heads were seen on tv. I was there grandma, and everyone else watching from home, I promise, just beyond the frame of the camera....

Tips for the Start

So, what to think about for the starting villages?

1. Bring LOTS of warm clothes.  As in, 2 sweatshirts and 2 pairs of pants lots.  As well as socks, hats, gloves.  The no baggage option is pretty neat, and you can get some pretty cheap throwaway stuff that will be donated to goodwill when you run off.

2. Bring something to sit on!  You'll be sitting on the grass, its cold and possibly even wet!

3.  Plan your own nutrition for the morning, and stick to it!  I saw a large number of people eating what was probably too much because they were sitting around for a long time before the race.  It was tough to turn down those muffins that they had, but don't eat anything that you're not used to! Different gels and powerbars included.

4. Get a good night's sleep the night before.. you won't be sleeping !  I made the mistake of thinking I'd at least sleep on the  bus - way too many cool people and excitement for that.

5. Enjoy!  The vendors are neat, the excitement is great, the energy is flowing!  You may as well make some friends and have some fun, you do have at least 3 hours after all.

6.   Let them take your pre-race picture!  You'll want it after you're done :).  'Proof' that I was there!

Friendships at the Start

Needless to say, most of us ditched the 'be on tv' effort in favor of staying warm and rested. Despite the let down of the 'fan zone' gig, I'm happy for exactly the way that my pre-race experience turned out. I made a few friends early on in the morning, and we stuck together all the way to the start line. Crowded, sitting on trash bags, inside our tent, I met one man who was coming all the way from Israel to run the race. Another from Las Vegas – both so far from my home (Boston or NY, either way!) It's amazing how people that live across the world can meet and instantaneously have so much to talk about. Fueling, race strategies, past races, training, you name it.. stuff that would bore 90% of the population. It's like instant friends, must be because of the common passion, I'd even say common love (or, arguably, common craziness). I learned about a grain called Teff that is popular in Israel. I learned that some people who are crazier than me run 20+ races a year! And of course, since our brains are crazy like that, now I want to run that many! Haha... I found others who have exactly the same pre-race fueling strategy as me. Thank you Powerbar mushy fruit stuff! I even made a new friend who was positioned in exactly the same wave and corral as me, and stuck with me right until the start line!

In short, there's no better place to meet people.  Those that you're lucky enough to spend those crucial hours with before a race are likely to come out better friends than anyone else you've only know for a few hours!

Off to the Race!

Speaking of the start. Wave 2, Corral 35... huh? Well, imagine a long fence with doors in it about every 30 feet. When your corral is starting to line up, you go to the door that has your number on it. When the corrals 'open', you are permitted to go through the door to the other side of the 'fence'. Here you are met with a crowd of people, all in your wave. A somewhat organized linear crowd, but a crowd nonetheless. We were also lucky enough to have the porta potties right in the middle of our portion of the crowd. Once we got through the door, me in all of my naivety thought, 'well, whats preventing me from moving forward?' Nothing! So, dragging aforementioned friend with me, I started slowly maneuvering my way up the crowd. And guess what, we made it all the way to the front! Not the FRONT front of the race, we were in wave 2, but the front of the green wave 2. That in itself is pretty awesome. When the gun went off, there was less than 10 seconds until I crossed the start line. Onto the Verrazano bridge with nothing but open road....