NYC Marathon
Okay, so I haven't written a race report, but honestly I don't know how much there is to write.
It was the first time I'd run NYC and this was my sixth marathon (not including the marathons at the end of an Ironman). I arrived at Staten Island at 6:15 am and hung around till about 9:45am when they started moving the corals towards the start. I had a low number F2032, which meant I got to be on the top bridge and one of the first thouasand people to cross the start. There was a moment of silence before the race for Ryan Shae who died in the trials the day before. Then, with a bang, we were off. It took only a minutes for me to cross the starting mats and the speakers were playing, " start spreading the news..."
I really just tried to take it all in and focus on my pace. Crossing the Queensboro bridge into Manhattan was something else and for a brief moment I felt like a million bucks with all the spectators cheering loudly. It was purely amazing to see all the runners around me and all the people on the side of the course.
Somewhere around Harlem, I began to feel some knee pains. My lungs still felt great, but my legs would only let me go so fast. So after arguing with my legs for a while, we finally decided to settle into a pace and forget about trying to cross the finish in under 3:40. (my legs were just too stubborn for me that day) I never thought I'd be so happy to see Central Park. At this point you are half way through mile 24.... so kind of on the homestretch, but not quite. Soon enough, I was running up the last uphill on the course and getting ready to descend onto the finish. I finished the NYC Marathon in 3:45. I believe that is my fastest marathon outside of the old Motorola Marathon course. So I'll take it.
Here are two of the race pics:
