New York Rocks!!!!
The race itself!!!
The best way I can describe the whole experience is to steal quote from the last American to win the NYC Marathon, Alberto Salazar. He says "a marathon is best broken down into two halves, the first 20 miles and the last 6.2 miles." I doubt you will find many marathoners that disagree with that.
Staten Island...New York was everything I thought it would be times 10. I left my hotel at 5:30 and took a cab to the Staten Island Ferry in lower Manhattan. The ferry ride takes about 30 
minutes over to Staten Island and is very comfortable. Once there you take a 3 mile bus ride to a Fort that sits on the banks of the Hudson River next to the Verazanno-Narrows bridge. Running with a team allowed me to hang out with other Livestrong Army Runners for the four hours leading to the race. My start time ended up being about 40 minutes after the professional men started and probably over an hour after the women.Brooklyn...The first two miles were over the Veranzano bridge and overhead were helicopters,
under you was the Hudson river, to your right were tugboats shooting water and to your left was the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan. It was simply awesome. While running over the bridge I met a woman named Pam who lived in Brooklyn. She was running a tad bit slower than me but since I have a tendency to always start races to fast, I saw it as an opportunity to slow down early when she told me that her husband, kids, and neighbors were meeting her at mile 6.5. Perfect! As we ran into Brooklyn I got a big history lesson about each neighborhood that we ran through. The crowds in Brooklyn were unbelievable. It seemed like people were shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the street high fiving you for the first 10 miles.Queens...The second bridge you run over is the bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens and is also the halfway point in the marathon. At this point I felt amazing. About a mile and a half later
you enter the third bridge, the Queensboro Bridge. It connects Queens and Manahattan and you run over the top of Roosevelt Island. About 3/4 of the way up this bridge was the first time in the race that I walked, about mile 16.5. I felt great but had another marathoner once tell me not to kill yourself early by running to many hills because it would bite you later. So, I walked for almost 1 minute and started again.Manhattan.....when you exit the Queensboro Bridge, there is the loudest, deepest crowd you have ever seen. I've described it to others as it felt like running into the largest frat
party on the planet. It pours out onto 1st avenue and the Manhattanites are everywhere. 10 or 12 deep crowds cheering on both sides of the street. One mile up first avenue, in mile 17 is where I ran into my family. I stopped for a few minutes and took pictures with my wife, kids, and mom and then off I went to the Bronx. This section of the race is the greatest adrenaline rush in the world for a runner.The Bronx....The fourth bridge you cross at mile 20 is the Willis Avenue Bridge...I remember laughing when I crossed for two reasons. First is because in running there is this so called
mythical "WALL" you're supposed to hit at mile 20. Granted I did slow down considerable the later the race went but I never hit the "WALL". Also the second I crossed the bridge was a guy at the foot of it holding his son and in his loudest thickest NY accent he said "Hey, welcome to the Bronx." He kept saying it to everyone who ran by him and everyone seemed to laugh. Ok, at this point you could see Yankee Stadium, which was pretty cool and what had to be the 8 next great hip hop artist in the country blaring loudly all the way through Harlem.Central Park in Fall......Now the final stretch. The crowds begin to grow again and we heading back into Manhattan. As we ran into Central Park North and down along the sides of Central Park East the crowds got larger and larger. You had so many people screaming your name that it made you feel like you were superhuman, although I'm not sure your bod would agree at that point. This part of the race, around mile 23 is all mind over body. You think a lot about all of the reasons and people you've done this for and dig a little deeper. Although we can quite pinpoint it, it's also around this area that I passed Katie Holmes somewhere. She started 40 minutes before me and finished about 12 minutes behind me so it had to be in this area. In case you care.
Entering Central Park West was breathtaking...people lined up on both sides of the single path and screaming at you. I said that I can't imagine not finishing the race at this point. I don't think New Yorkers would allow it. You run on pure adreanaline at this point. I stopped one other time just before mile 25 and walked the last half of a hill for one minute. At mile 26 you exit Central Park South and there again is where I saw my family. Just the boost I needed for the last mile. When you get to the end of Central Park South you run through Columbus Cirlce and head up Central Park West....The crowds still huge and you start seeing signs saying 800 yards to go, 700, etc......When you get to about the 400 yard sign you re-enter the park and run uphill to Tavern on the Green when you cross the finish line.......4:48:26 for me!The volunteers place the medal around your neck, get your picture made and hook up with your family....I know this one was long and if you made it this far you're probably saying that it took longer to read this than it took me to run the stupid thing.
So, congrats!!!
Fins Up!!!
Cliff
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