New York City Marathon - Run

The first section with included the Narrows and another seven miles in Brooklyn was o.k. I felt great but it was really crowded. I could never seem to get running at my pace. Dodging people when I moved along and when I tried to move over to take a Galloway walk break. At mile 4 the Green group merged with us and at mile 8 Blue and Green merged with Orange. This was o.k. but when we finally lost the median now all three groups were sent down narrower streets. I could feel my legs tightening at the knees especially. My reason for carrying the water was to avoid the nuthouse at the first few water stops. It was crazy and wet.

10K was 1:08. A bit slow.

The second section had me approaching the halfway point and getting closer to the Queensboro Bridge. This had been talked up a lot over the previous weeks but I train in hills so I wasn’t too concerned. I was now running 8/1’s and while my wind was still good, my legs were starting to tighten. The crowd support thing wasn’t necessary for me at this point. In some cases I was too busy trying not to run into someone.

As I climbed over the half-marathon mark I was still believing that I could finish somewhere between 4:05 and 4:20. The climb up and over the Queensboro seemed to take a lot out of me. I am not sure why. A couple of items here: They hauled some guy off with oxygen strapped to his face. That was unfortunate. And as I finally got over the apex and headed down to Manhattan, a French guy just stopped in front of me and we almost went over. I collided with a woman behind me and turned and caught her before we all went down. Not sure what he was trying to do but it shows the chaos on occasion.

Half marathon was 2:15. Still respectable and thought I could speed up in the last five miles.

The third section was tough. I saw Deb at 16.5 miles and that was great. I stopped and she took a picture. She had a great sign made up and I was happy to see her. I turned and headed up 1st Avenue. Finally, some running room! Everyone talked about the formidable 1st Avenue section but I was not intimidated. It was wide, there were lots of people and the weather was great. I was failing though. My legs were starting to show signs of cramping. By mile 18 I knew I was in trouble. I had to walk up the bridge at mile 20 out of Manhattan into the Bronx. I walked on and off, just trying to go back to 7/1’s or less. I thought if I could get back to Manhattan I would continue this. I ran Mile 22 about halfway and had to stop. I was now walking mostly with occasional periods where I would run approx. 400 yards. I was getting frustrated. I struggled with uphill running at this point since whenever I encountered this I would cramp severly and have to walk. I was really down when I came to 5th Avenue and saw that it was primarily uphill. I thought it would take me forever to run a lousy five miles home. At mile 23 approx., I got scared. I started to get the sweats and felt light headed. I’ve never experienced this while training or competing. It was here that I thought there was a possibility of a DNF. I slowed way down, drinking water from my belt and stopping at every available water stop. Eventually I got to the top of 5th and the feeling subsided. Once I entered the park I continued to walk and had a bit of a rolling and downhill landscape to deal with. I was not happy since I saw all of these people running by me and I couldn’t muster a jog. I tried at the park entrance and my leg cramped from foot to thigh. I guy came by and patted me on the back as if to say ‘hang in there’. I decided to revise my goals. I needed something to focus on and have a success. I looked at my watch, shed my last pace band (4:20!) and looked for a water stop. I downed some Gatorade and water. I was going to do two things: cross the finish line while running and stay under 5 hours. As I neared the park exit I had a little over a mile in front of me and knew that Deb was around the corner near 25.5 mile marker. I got a downhill start and got running. It wasn’t pretty but I started to move pretty well. The crowd was exciting and while I looked for Deb on the left where she said she’d be I started to get all of these emotions. It was such a hard day for me at this point and I was determined to finish. I didn’t see Deb so I headed for the finish line. As I got closer, they started signage by 100 yard increments and I knew I was close. I looked at my watch and thought I could make it under five hours. My pace seemed to get quicker and I saw the cameras, finish line and timing mat. I was able to hit my revised goal crossing in 4:58:31.


I chose a run/walk strategy for this race. At each segment change I was going to lengthen my interval time. (7/1, 8/1, 1/1) I think given the crowd and my resulting severe cramping beginning at Mile 17/18, I would elect to run all the way through with minor breaks at the water stops.

For pre-race prep on this course, I would've arranged different transportation to the event. Maybe a car service. I would've packed a disposable bag with a mat to sit on, something to read, and my breakfast. Get there much earlier and hung out and relaxed. Then you can just dump everything there and head out. Another option might be to book a room on Staten Island and just bring trowaway clothing, etc. that night. Leave everything in the room and go run!

This just plain sucked. Compared to Chicago or little old Las Vegas the NY set up was cheesy and uncomfortable. I am couching my comments because I know I didn’t perform well. However after my medal I was handed a little bag with an apple, orange and another bagel. That’s it! I was forced to walk the entire way out of the park even though I didn’t have checked baggage. Chip return was after the first exit. We were packed in there like sardines with all short cuts blocked by NY services. Once up on Central Park South we were forced to negotiate with all of the spectators who were trying to meet families. They blocked the road so we couldn’t move. I must’ve walked two miles by this point and it took me over an hour to get back to 63rd Street and finally meet Deb. At this point I just wanted away from the event. I found a handicap portajohn and changed in there. Once dry, we headed for the subway and back to the West Village. I had several friends from the area meet us for a celebration that evening. It was really great to meet up with them and hear from them what a big deal they thought my feat was. This helped me reflect that even though I was disappointed in the overall performance, the act of competing and completing a NYC Marathon was a big deal. I even had the medal to prove it. I was really moved by all my friends and family's interest in my event that day. I will never forget that.


Probably not drinking and gel-ing enough would be culprits to my cramping. I also think I got stressed with the whole process of getting to the start. The whole waiting on line thing might have gotten the best of me even though I didn't realize it until later. Might scrap run/walk for a more measured pace but no stopping.


I think that the NYC Marathon as its set up is problematic. I do think that the NYRR has a bad system organized very well. I would forget the whole Staten Island thing and make it a loop course again.