Marathon Sunday

In just a few short hours, several of my brave friends will be waking up to bananas and bagels, sneakers and non-chafing sticks, bandaids and Gu, and hopping on the Staten Island Ferry to the start of this year's ING New York City Marathon. I hope they are well-fed, well-rested and more importantly, that they remembered to set their clocks back.

New Yorkers are good at finding excuses to celebrate, and marathon Sunday is one of my favorites. I plan on being out and about all day, chasing my friends and the tracking alerts I've signed up for. Here's to the system working and me being able to cheer on at least one roadrunner.

LittleMissSunshine informed me of her early morning wake-up call. She's set to arrive in Staten Island around 7 a.m., but the race doesn't start until around 9:40-ish. What the heck does everyone do for three hours while waiting for the race to begin, besides overeat, overdrink and overuse the bathrooms?


This morning I woke up in my post-Halloween daze and couldn't wait to go on a run in the park, to witness firsthand the positive energy that's been brewing over the past week. Every year I go through the same routine: a morning run in Central Park the day before the marathon, which leads to alternating waves of excitement and regret, which leads to motivation to get my butt in gear to run my second marathon, and yet ...

I got the chills as I approached the gates with the mile markers and the row of flags from various countries. My ride on the C train this afternoon could have been the sight for a model U.N. council. I was on for about 30 minutes and heard every other language but English.

As I left NYAC ready to start my park loop, I caught the end of a children's fundraiser. Kids were split up into age brackets and had to run roughly 200 yards. I got sucked in to the cute factor of munchkins running and cheered loudly for the passersby. The theme song from "Chariots of Fire" was going through my head.


Good luck to all who are participating tomorrow! I will keep an eye out for you from First Avenue in the 80s.

And a special "KICK BUTT!" to Rebecca Goodman, Douglas Gallagher, Graeme and Kate Leiser, Brian Kane, Jeff Hopwood and Mark Mattern. If this little guy below can finish with heart, so can you.