ING New York City Marathon : Official Thread (Page 2)

Thanks - good to know! I actually run like (a little faster on flat/easy and slower on the hills) so that sounds good - although I don't plan to slow/walk through the water stations. Might be good to run near the group if nothing else.

I will be running

I would bring the following:
1) a "space blanket" if you have one from a prior race
2) poncho
3) newspaper for insulation, enough so you can cover the ground if you want to lie down
4) plenty of clothing to throw away
5) something to read
6) wet wipes for the toilets stops
7) food that you want to eat before

It can get really cold waiting around, I usually try and lie down for a long time.

Listen for the annoucements and make yourself familiar with your corral, they will start calling you up early to get you into place.

Hope this helps

All great suggestions. Keep in mind that the first few miles of the race can be very cold. I usually wear a long sleeve T-Shirt/gloves which I can run in for the first few miles and discard after I exit the bridge or I simply discard it right before the start if its warm. Its quite the scene when all you see is clothes flying everywhere right before the start!

I always take two space blankets and everyone is jealous when they see them. I use one to sit on if it's warm because the ground is almost always wet and nasty. If it's cold, like last year, I had one around my lower body and one around my upper body. You have to check your clothing bag kind of early so it was great to have the heat sheets on so I wasn't standing around in 40 degree weather in a tank and shorts. I started the race in the upper body one and tossed it to the side on the bridge.

Food and drink are the only other things I suggest as the lines for anything in the start village are really long and you should stay off your feet. Find a grassy patch so you aren't on the concrete and take it all in. The NYC Marathon is fun.

where are the best places to watch the marathon? im planning on heading down to watch this year.

Thank you so much for the suggestions - definately some things I hadn't thought of yet.

If you log onto your entrant system, you'll see your wave start and bib number posted.  Look at the race day schedule and you'll then know the color of your start village.