I was really worried about the long day that lays ahead of me. Having a cramp before the race starts is not good, nor is the heat that feels like its right on top of you. Despite the 35,000 runners being split up on 3 different courses for the start, it is still very crowded. Just go with the flow. Up the bridge we went. Not even a 1/2 mile in and the guy in front of me fell and I tripped right over him and 2 more on top of me. For a second, I thought I was going to be trampled. So I got up and my knee (of course, it was my bad one) is really sore. There really wasn't a whole lot I could do, so I continued on.

the crowds were huge in brooklyn, like nothing I had seen before, and very inspiring. Around mile 3, I developed a blister on the bottom of my left foot and I had to pee again. After that, I seemed to get into a nice pace and my splits were pretty even.

Queens wasn't as much fun. not as flat and it was getting warmer ...or maybe My body was getting warmer ...as I ran up the Queensboro bridge and into Manhattan, I was at the 1/2 way point and despite how bad things seemd, I was still running under a 9 minute pace. My leg cramp actually subsided for about 2 miles and I rejoiced but it came back with a vengenance. It was at this point that I was really frustrated. I had my cell phone on me and got additional bad news....the Eagles are down 14-0 to Pittsburgh....just what I needed to hear ...from that point on, my pace was dictated by the cramps that played hide and seek with me ...as they went away, i went quicker and when they came back i slowed down and was reduced to walking at various times ....I had family waiting for me @ mile 17 and I was so happy to see them. I changed shirts and exchanged my empty bottles for additional fuel ...somewhere around mile 19, I found myself walking and I seemed to be in some sort of trance ..I was totally ought of it and my mind was wandering ...there was a pipe band on the willis avenue bridge and they were in between sets so I asked them to play " Flower of Scotland" and they did and I stood there and sang along and 3 other Scots joined me ...mile 21 brought us into the bronx for 1 mile and the spectators up there were very entertaining ...the last bridge brought us back into Manhattan and as I jogged down the Madison bridge, I could see the biggest and loudest crowds and they were awesome ...there was huge speakers blaring music and I even stopped with anohter runner and danced to a Micheal Jackson " Don't stop till you get enough" song for about 45 seconds ...this is what makes NYC like no other ....the final few miles into Central Park were uneventful ...my family/friends had re-assembled at the mile 24 marker and I stopped for a minute to chat with them before heading downhill for the last 2 miles ....this is when it all sunk in and all the pain / cramps etc had disappeared due to my excitement ....I did it and I bought my hands up in the air and crossed @ 4:34:35

Not exactly sure. I have been reviewing this for a few days now. In talking to my unofficial nutrition guru, I may have had an elctrolyte imbalance from when I woke up and in trying to hydrate myself, may have hyperhydrated and in turn had to urinate several times before the race causing me to be at an even bigger elctrolyte deficit.

Hmm, the warm down was pretty funny. As I crossed the line and stopped, I immediately began throwing up. 3 times before a medic came over and made me start walking. That lasted all of 15 feet before I threw up 2 more times. Another medic joined her and they proceeded to ask me questions. She asked me if I knew where I was and what my name was. I told her we were somewhere in Central Park and my name was on my bib if she really wanted to know. ( what a smartass I am)

She explained to me the following : ( which makes sense) During the marathon, blood has been redirected to your legs, away from your internal organs. This is normal physiology that you should know about. You must continue to walk for at least 20 minutes after finishing a marathon. If you stop, sit or lie down, the blood flow will not be rapidly redirected to the pre-marathon state. You could then feel nauseous and throw up b/c of not enough blood flow tot he stomach, as well as feel very dizzy and weak. Walking helps to redirect your blood and bring you back to your everyday physiology.

So after 5 sessions, I started to feel better. Then I got my medal and as the volunteer was putting it around my neck, I threw up on the medic. ( It was only liquid) At this point they told me to come witht hem to the medical tent for an IV, but I refused and was on my way.

After the race, you have a really LONG walk to the bag pick up. It started with # 1 and my truck was #65 so I walked in a really long slow line up to get my bag. On the one side were the trucks and on the other was racers who had just picked up there bags. They were getting changed. This was very nice. With it being NYC, I guess people really didn't care and just bared it all. The 4 or 5 women that I saw in various states of undress, really didn't seem to care that they were naked in front of lots of strangers. It definately made a long walk that much more fun!

After the bag pick up, I had a Carbboom recovery gel and 1 serving of Endurox R4. Then I met up w/ my crew and went out for a bite to eat and ended the evening with Hanfy and friends at the Dive Bar.


Cramps, sore knee,blister, light headedness.

These aren't excuses but rather a reminder for me for future races.


Where do I start. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Since I don't have any sponsors, I guess I should just thanks all my friends, family, running partners, etc. who helped me out along the way. Special thanks goes out to Susan, Kathryn Ann, Mary Louise, Hanfy, Philly Runners, Team T3, BT'ers and Brian@PBN.

This was a very humbling experience and had it not been for all the support I had along the way or the huge NYC crowds, I could have easliy had a DNS or DNF.