New York Marathon 1/11/09
I’ve been putting off writing this report as I so desperately wanted to report a fantastic race and time for my first marathon experience…especially when it was THE most spectacular event in the racing calendar… but, as most already know and have no doubt experienced themselves, this was not to be the case. However, I do not want to dwell on this but rather report all my good experiences.
I went to the expo on the Friday we arrived and my eyes popped out my head when I saw all the super flash running gear – Nike, Brooks, Asics – sadly, I am a sucker for wanting the latest gear – just a pity I can’t afford to keep up! I was afraid I would be queuing for hours just to hold my long awaited bib number but it was a breeze, I had it within minutes and spent the rest of the hours looking at all the gadgets and clothes I wanted.
View from our apartment.
My bus.On race day I felt really good and was ready to take on the 5.30am start and 4 hour wait before the gun went off. Luckily, we were staying in an apartment on Staten Island so I could make my own trustworthy porridge and take a 10 min walk to the buses. In the blue village, myself and about 200 others grabbed every inch of grass we could under a marquee tent to keep warm from the damp morning air… coffee and plain white bagels were on offer for breakfast (not my idea of a marathon breakfast!) so I was relieved to have eaten before I got there.
Verrazano Narrows Bridge - race start.The organization of this race was first class and I was really happy to get a good position at the start on the bridge. In fact my most favourite part of the race was the starting ceremony for our wave. Mayor Bloomberg addressed us, planes flew over with good luck messages, music played, and private supporters surrounded us on double decker buses either side of the crowd – I felt quite emotional. I was even tracked down by two Bellahouston runners who wanted to satisfy their curiosty that I was a Porty runner! It was also pointed out to me that I was the only female in my corral, which did made me re-think my projected finish time. I LOVED running over the Verrazano-Narrows bridge and the view over to the skyscrapers of Manhattan was one I’ll never forget. I felt great, very comfortable with my starting pace (7.45), despite being pushed out the way several times by people who clearly thought they were running a 5K!?! As the 2nd mile takes in the descent of the bridge, I found myself doing a 6.30 mile (yikes), so I pulled back and concentrated on maintaining the correct pace. I also really enjoyed running through Brooklyn, the crowds were fantastic and the live bands ranged from heavy rock to soulful jazz. It was a lovely long flat section, which allowed me to get into a proper rhythm. At 5K: 22min, 10K: 44min, 13.1m: 1hr36, by 14 miles I started feeling my left hip tighten (typically the opposite leg to the one I had problems with months earlier) and by the time I reached the Queensboro bridge at 15 miles I was starting to struggle with sore knees – the first time I had to stop and walk. The most difficult thing was getting onto 1st avenue at 16 miles and hearing the roar of the crowds and not being able to enjoy running to the full. I was constantly being overtaken at this point which was heartbreaking and by the time I got up into the Bronx at 20m I had to walk/jog/hobble all the way to the finish as both my knees were too painful.
I HAD to finish though, so I plodded on with a miserable scowl on my face, wet and sticky from trying to navigate drinking water and gatorade from plastic cups and shunning the screams from people to KEEP RUNNING (my god if I hear another cow-bell ringing in my ears!!) - Sorry, focus on the good experiences… I finished in 4:00:34, taking just under an hour and a half to finish the last 6 miles. I’m not sure what happened, could it have been the concrete roads in NY that Paula always curses, or my switch to Saucony instead of the trustworthy Asics that has cursed me… or the fact that my legs were simply not up to all the training I’ve done and it all came to a head on the day?? I’ll never know.
Of course, the most fantastic thing to come out of this race was that I raised £815 for the Newlife Foundation – specifically supporting disabled children and their families in the Lothians – that has surely got to be worth it.
Thank-you to everyone that followed me through the race and especially thanks to Bert who gave up his time to put in the extra miles with me during my training and to Joe, for expertly positioning himself throughout the race and putting up with my complete obsession…
My first, but hopefully not my last!
Report Jacqui Ramsay.
Photos Jacqui and Joe.
I'll be back.
