Staten Island – Arrived at Race village around by 6:50 am. Hanged out with Cathy and Larry for a bit, then walked around with Larry and hanged out with him till around 9 am. Headed to my corral and waited till 10:30 am to start. The corral area was so tiny! You pretty much had to wait in between porter potty lines. The waiting pretty much killed any excitement I had. Finally get to start and go over the bridge. To my pleasant surprise I got to run on the upper level, yay for not getting peed on. Another reason for upper was that I have already ridden the lower path in the TD 5 boro bike tour.
Brooklyn – As soon as I hit Brooklyn I found the crowds to uplifting and encouraging. Around mile 4 I found out I dropped my dukin donut hat. A member of Marathon maniacs made it sound pretty exclusive (you could only get it early of race morning). Oh well, it was a bit annoyed at having to carry it. I meet friends and coworkers which also boosted my spirits. Eventually I started struggling and I wasn’t even half way done. I decided to not worry about time and I started to give out more high fives (that also messed up my pace since I would start sprinting after a round of high fives). It was great to see a diversity of people come out. It felt like the city had your back.
Queens – The course only goes a bit into Queens but the crowds were packed. Before long I was in the bridge to Manhattan. No crowds here but I have ran this part many times so I know it’s not a big deal. My Garmin gps watch lost signal here and my mileage got messed up on the watch.
Manhattan – Off the bridge and into the city! The crowds were large but by this time they had a diminishing effect on me. I still found giving high fives a mental boost and continued my quest to get high fives in the boroughs. As started to struggle more I started to just walk to get water instead of trying to grab a cup and then drink a slip and then throw the rest out. I regret not bringing my own water.
Bronx – Super short stop here, got some high fives and a pretzel which I later found out I wasn’t able to eat (not really able to chew hard food while running).
Back to Manhattan – A nice welcome as runners entered Harlem! As I approached Central Park my spirits lifted. I run here weekly and know the remaining course exactly. I started running hard. At 800 meters (half mile to finish) I started sprinting. I had to do some extreme zig zags. I started gassing out at 400 meters but at that point, can’t stop!
Got my medal! Overall I would say the experience of the crowds and volunteers is amazing! But I didn’t like the long wait time at the beginning, the items in recovery bag was lacking (though the bag itself is nice) and the inability to cheer your fellow runners at the finish line sucked! They just marshaled you along to your drop bag or poncho and then you exit. I didn’t feel any sense of running community that I usually feel in the races I do.
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