The alarm went off at 0430 and I met up with a couple of people in the hotel reception and left at 0520 to go to the pickup location where we got onto a bus that took us to the starting area. As opposed to Boston they used tourist busses and not school busses so there was plenty of leg room available for the 1½ hour drive. It wasn’t because it was far away but the last half hour we were stuck in a queue of busses letting runners off. Getting there around 0730 meant there was quite the wait until my wave started at 1020. The wait time was spent walking around in the huge starting area trying to stay warm; while the temps would be around 10-12 degrees during the run it was barely half that as long as you weren’t standing in the wind, so a lot of the time was spent trying to find a place where you’d be in the sun but out of the wind – but when you found a spot like that it was quite nice. There were free handouts of bagels, coffee, teas, water and energy drinks. The New York marathon is the one I have experienced with the most of such things and plenty of similarly large runs would be very welcome to feel inspired by this.
At 0945 the corrals were opened, 15 minutes later they were closed again and a few moments later we were all channeled from the corrals forward to the starting line. With 5 starting waves there would be an average of app. 11.000 people getting ready to run at this moment.
With the national anthem sung (of not for that and all the flags, how would we even know we were in the US?) we were finally let go at 1020. We started by leaving the first borough (Long Island) by crossing the Verrazzano bridge from where we had an excellent clear view of the south end of Manhattan. The was a slight cold breeze but barely a cloud, so conditions were nice. After the bridge we passed a 2-mile sign and I couldn’t help myself proclaiming “don’t worry – only 24 miles to go!”. The woman running next to me gave me a look that showed without a doubt that she was not nearly as enthused by that comment as I was. Tough crowd.
Crossing the bridge we entered Brooklyn and from there it was mostly just a straight line north, passing through Queens, before crossing Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. Even if there was a unitedness in the boroughs themselves, styles, visual expressions and the level of support changed on an almost street by street basis. It was constantly changing and plenty for a runner to look at and take in, especially for someone who wasn’t local, but what they all had in common was at times overwhelming support for the runners.
With few exceptions there were water stations at every mile which meant it was easy skipping half. This seemed to be a common theme among the runners, and it also helped take some of the pressure off the stations with the numerous participants. I noticed in the beginning that the stations seemed quite short relative to how many people ran, but considering most people skipped a few here and there it made sense. Towards the end the temperatures had risen enough that getting a sip of water at every station seemed justified (and appreciated), but at least the humidity never got to the level as it had been on Friday morning. That would have been horrible.
Reaching Manhattan we were met by a wall of noise. A mile on the bridge made you get used to the silence except for the footsteps, but reaching 1st avenue you were met with countless loud spectators welcoming us to Manhattan – an almost shocking experience if you weren’t prepared for it. Running up 1st avenue all the way to the Bronx is rough; mostly mentally because you can see very far ahead and it’s hard to ignore the fact that you can see an incline almost all the way. It isn’t steep at all and you probably wouldn’t feel it if you couldn’t see it under normal circumstances, but it just keeps going forever. You just have to dig down, grab the occasional water and let the support and routine carry you forward. You crossed the 25km mark on the middle of Queensboro Bridge so there was still a bit to go from here.
Reaching the Bronx we basically did a few miles large 180 degree turn before returning to Manhattan where we now were running south, reaching Central Park and running through the southern part of it, ran along the south end, coming through Columbus Circle before reentering the park and running the last 400 meters before crossing the finish line.
From there there was still a bit of walking left to get our medals, snacks and ponchos before being able to find an exit and leave the finishing area. From the finish line and to leaving was probably a few kilometers and getting to the hotel was another 2ish kilometers. I could have taken the subway but that would have required me to walk on stairs, and in this case I preferred having to walk a bit more instead. Back at the hotel I had a shower followed by collapsing onto the bed. It felt good not doing much for a few hours.
Anyways, numbers! I finished in 4:03:14. So my usual goal of sub-4 hours wasn’t met, but to be honest this wasn’t expected, either. But it does mean that I improved my time from the last time I ran New York with more than 8 minutes which was nice. This also means that the average finish time for my 6 completed marathon majors is 3:59:28 which is an extra bonus. I can’t be disappointed with that. I ended up finishing as 20141 out of 55530 overall (top 36,27%), 14304 out of 30702 men (top 46,59%) and 2147 out of 4287 in M40-44 (top 50,08%). Also 57 out of 111 Danes (top 51,35%). Overall a result I am happy with. The average man ran it in 4:17:48 and average woman in 4:48:29. The fastest was a Dutch guy who did it in 2:07:39, the slowest an American woman in 11:47:55, youngest a Danish 18 years old women and oldest an 88 years old New Zealander man.
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