Marathon #25 - New York

Back in 2012, my sister-in-law Mimi and I applied for the New York City Marathon lottery and were accepted.  Then Hurricane Sandy hit the week before the race, and caused the marathon to be cancelled.  The marathon was kind enough to grant the participants several options.  We chose to defer our entry to 2014.  Thus, my 25th marathon was added to my calendar in November 2014.

The Race:  New York City Marathon, November 2, 2014

My Training Plan:  New York was three weeks after my back-to-back marathons in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, so I basically used them as my longest run leading up to NYC and tapered from there.  You can see my full training plan in my Connecticut blog post.

Weather:  The weather was windy and cold.  The temperature may have gotten into the 40s to low 50s, but the wind was crazy.  There were gusts up to 30mph or more, enough to actually blow me across the road.  I heard afterwards that some runners had lost their bibs to the wind during the first bridge, and weren't allowed to finish.  I'm not sure if that is true, but I wouldn't doubt that their bibs got blown off.

Running Attire:  I knew it was going to be windy and cold, so I wore my black running tights, my Liz shirt with arm warmers, gloves, my Delaware Marathon hat, and my iFitness running belt.  Even with all that, I was cold during the race.

Who I Ran With:  As I mentioned before, my sister-in-law and I both got into the NYC Marathon lottery, so we ran together.  About a month before the race, Mimi found out she was pregnant with her second child.  She called me to tell me and ask if I thought it would be okay to still run.  She decided to run anyway, and I told her we could take it as slow as she needed.  On race day, I also found out that the longest run she had done in preparation for the race was 10 miles.  For anyone who knows anything about running a marathon, trying to do 26 miles after only training with a long run of 10 miles is next to impossible.  It wasn't her first marathon, so she knew she could do the distance, but it definitely wasn't under ideal conditions.

The Course:  The best thing about this race is the course itself.  It runs through all the boroughs of the city and is a good mix of rolling hills and flats.  You get to see a lot of the city on foot, and NYC puts its best foot forward.  The race starts out crossing a bridge, which as I mentioned before was super windy.  The course was a closed course, for the most part, so there was very little traffic to deal with, even for the slower runners.  There is a few great photo ops along the course.  It finally ends in Central Park.

Organization:  As to be expected from the largest marathon in the world, it was pretty well organized.  The biggest complaint I have was the expo.  The Expo had a lot of great booths and merchandise, but the line to get in was ridiculous.  The line wrapped around the building when we arrived around 10:30am the day before the race.  We waited a good hour just to get into the expo.  I saw people trying to wait with kids in line.  I'm glad ours weren't with us, as they would have become extremely restless.  Then once we got in, I had to wait in another line that was about 30 minutes long to purchase the official race merchandise.  That line wrapped around the merchandise area.  Other than the lines and the waits, the expo had a lot of goodies and good expo participants.

The water stops were very well manned, even for the slower runners., with both water and Gatorade.  There were porta potties at every water stop.

Swag:  The race had the normal swag:  a technical shirt and metal.  We also got a credit card holder you could put on the back of your phone, ear buds and free ebook.  If you chose the no baggage option, you also got a very nice lined poncho at finish.

Starting Line:  The race starts much later than most races (I think the elites start at 9 or 9:30).   It took us about three hours to get from the hotel to the start.  It is a good thing that the race starts so late in the day, or the participants would never be able to get to the start on time.  We left the hotel around 6 and got to the start around 9.   To get to the start, we had to walk to the subway, take the subway to the ferry, take the ferry to the other side, and then take a bus to the start.  Because you had to get to the start super early, they had a good deal of amenities there.  There was free coffee, some food like power bars and bagels, water, etc.  They did run out of some of the food, I think, because there wasn't as good a selection as I had expected.

Because the race is the largest race in the world, there are several waves and corrals within each wave.  We were in the Orange corral in the 3rd wave, I believe.  There were volunteers to direct you to the different starting areas, but once you got closer to them, it was a little confusing.  I think when we arrived the wave before us was still lined up and hadn't left yet, so we had to figure out where our wave group started.  There were so many people at the start.

Fans:  Fans get an A+ here.  There were definitely fans most of the way, and they were good about cheering for all the runners.  There were a few places, like in the Bronx, where the fans were a little sparse, but for the most part, they were there cheering you on from start to finish, even the slower runners like us.

Finish Line:  At the finish line, they gave us a bag with all our food, drink, etc.  I love it when all the food and hydration are together in one bag.  After we walked about a mile, they split us up into baggage and no baggage participants and gave us our ponchos.  The finish line was so far away from the exit of the park to the spectators, probably about two-three miiles (or at least it seemed that long).  By the time we finished, it was already getting dark, and definitely getting cold.  The family meeting areas were a little confusing, as I think some of the volunteers had already left for the day by the time we got there.  We did come in late, so not sure if they were better for the earlier runners.

Results:  5:54:47

How I felt:  Because I was running much slower than normal, I felt pretty good the entire time.  Toward the end, my back was hurting, because of the long duration of the run, but other than that, I was mostly fine.

Travel/Tourism:  Obviously, NYC is a big city, so there are a lot of transportation options.  I flew into JFK airport and took the Super Shuttle to the hotel.  I also got a multiple day subway pass to get around town while we were there.

We stayed at the Salisbury Hotel.  The hotel was close to the subway, across from grocery store (Morton Williams), and about two blocks from the south side of Central Park.  It's also a short subway ride from the theater district.  The rooms were small and old, but that is to be expected in the city.  They were nice enough.  The lobby was very small, and they did not offer free breakfast or internet, which would have been nice.  But I would still recommend this hotel and would stay again if I was in the area.

We ate at several good places while there.  We got lunch at the Shake Shack.  Shake Shack is a small hamburger joint that also serves ice cream.  It was crowded, with a line out the door (luckily we got in just before the crowds).  We managed to find a table, although  tables are hard to come by, since it is such a small place.  For local fast food, it was pretty good.

For dinner, we tried 44 SW Ristorante Italian.  It was delicious!  I love Italian food - it is probably my favorite kind of food - and this place did not disappoint.  It is a little, family owned restaurant near the theater district.  The atmosphere was very nice, the wait staff was friendly, and the food was yummy.

For lunch the next day, we went to the Il Mare Pizza place.  It was very good.  It is a small place, that is more of a pizza take out place, but had some limited seating.  The line was out the door, which gave us as idea that it must be good before we even went inside.  I had a broccoli roll, which was delicious.  I went up for seconds too, and got a piece of pizza.  I would definitely recommend this place.

The night before the race, we ate at the Park Cafe diner.  I was looking for a place to have my traditional pre-race pancakes, and Park Cafe was on the way between where we were and the hotel.  It was okay food, but the service was typical diner service - slow.  They initially weren't going to allow us to substitute sides from the menu, but eventually did (after asking the manager).  I don't know that I would recommend this place or visit again.

The last place I ate was Angelo's 57th Italian place after the race.  Mimi and my brother had already left to fly back, so I was on my own.  I asked the hotel clerk for a suggestion of a good Italian place, and he suggested Angelo's.  It was right next to the hotel, so it was very convenient for me.   The food was amazing.  I had both dinner and dessert.  The  dining room wasn't big, but the food was delicious.  I would definitely recommend this place.

While we were in NYC, we had time to visit a few different attractions.  We went to FAO Schwartz to get the kids something.  We went to the  M &M World and the Hershey store to satisfy our sweet tooth.  Mimi and I also went to the theater to see Les Miserables.  Being the big city, there is never a want for things to do.

Overall, the race was a great experience, but I likely will never do it again.  Between the cost and the hassle to get to the start and out of the finish, I would rather stick to the smaller races.