NYC Marathon

In 14 years in NYC I have failed to see the NYC Marathon up close. I either forgot it was happening, was out of town, or slept right through it. In a former apartment of mine in Clinton Hill, I was actually on the marathon route and didn't even go down the stairs to see it. I know, I know...pretty pathetic.

Today I made up for all those years of neglect and woke up early and got a good viewing spot along Lafayette in Brooklyn. This is Mile-8 of the 26.2 mile race route. I watched the beginning of the race on TV and then got to my spot just in time to watch the Female leaders come by. It was still only 1/3rd into the race but the eventual leaders Paula Radcliff and Gete Wami were already far ahead of the pack.

The Male leaders came by about 20 minutes later a little with the lead pack of about 10 runners, including Martin Lel and Abderahin Goumri who later finished 1st and second. I waited another 20 minutes and after a few scattered packs of "elite" runners, the mighty horde of runners came by. Thousands of runners from around the world being cheered on by onlookers from everywhere. Right in front of me was a man from Scotland holding up his flag. As runners from all over Great Britain came by they shouted Yea Scotland and touched the flag.

Before, during, and after these crowds were assisted runners, racers in wheelchairs and all sorts of cancer survival stories came by to massive roars of the Brooklyn crowd.

The NYC Marathon, as I have now finally experienced, is a great NYC day. Nearly 40,000 runners started the race and thousands more enjoyed the brisk sunny day here in the big city. Thankfully, after a long race and millions of hours of preparation, months of grueling training and I can still go watch for an hour and then go home and down a few slices of pizza without feeling guilty. Maybe years from now, when I make a triumphant return to NYC, I'll do it by running in the Marathon...probably not, but maybe!

Pictures