I took a late night red-eye flight with Virgin America. Ever since I got the free neck pillow from attending a Dodgers game, I've been able to sleep better on flights. However it was not the case for this flight. The girl sitting in the middle seat next to me used her jacket with reinforced shoulders as her blanket. She was quite the fidgety sleeper and kept hitting me with her jacket which would wake me up. After a while I gave up on trying to sleep and started watching the free satellite TV.
Saturday 11/5
I landed in Newark in the morning. After using the nearest restroom, I made my way over to the AirTrain. I took that over to the Newark Liberty International train station where I caught the Amtrak train over to New York Penn Station. From there it was a short walk over to the expo at the Javits Center. I arrived just a few minutes after the expo had opened. It wasn't too crowded yet, but it was already starting to fill up! With this being my 4th NYC Marathon, I had the whole packet pickup process down.
After picking up my bib, post race poncho wristband, and my race shirt, I made my way into the official merchandise area. I ended up buying two pairs of arm warmers as most of the merchandise were discounted with it being the last day of the expo. I then quickly visited all of the vendors before making my way over to the Runner's World booth area to take the green screen photo as well as to wait to meet Shalane Flanagan. She had tweeted that she would be there at 10 am for her book signing. It was located just across from the Abbott World Marathon Majors booth. I only have the London and Boston Marathons left to run to complete all 6!
Runner's World cover photo
It turned out that I was the first in line to be waiting for the book signing. It cost $24 for the book. Shalane saw my jacket and thought that I had run the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. Even though I told her that I didn't run it, she said it was an accomplishment to qualify for the trials. I didn't want to correct her again, but I guess I do look thin enough to be in that kind of shape! When they were done signing my book and taking a quick photo, I made a comment that I was the only guy in line. Shalane replied that more men should be in the kitchen! :)
Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky
Before leaving the expo, I entered to win something in the sweepstakes at the United Airlines booth. I think it was for a chance to win a free flight. They gave me a free bandana for entering, so I felt like I had already won something. I talked to one of the representatives there for a little bit. I ended up encouraging him to run his first marathon and that since he lives in NYC, he should definitely run the NYC Marathon as his first!
I then made my way over to the 36 Hudson Hotel near the corner of W 36th St and 10th Ave. Since it was way too early for me to check-in, I asked them to store my bag. I then took my sling bag with me to carry a few necessary items as I made my way down to Battery Park to go visit Lady Liberty. I first stopped at the Castle Clinton Monument to pick up my Statue of Liberty ticket from Will Call.
My reserved time for going up to the crown was at 1 pm. I've visited the Statue of Liberty a couple of times, but I've never been up to the crown. I had no idea how long it would take to get through security and the boat ride so I got in line at about 11 am. Going through security was a hassle, but it's definitely a necessity in this day and age.
After docking at Liberty Island, I started doing the self-guided audio tour. I asked the ranger at the statue entrance when I should be there for my time. He said that I should get there at the earliest 15 minutes before. Since I had about an hour to pass, I decided to go find something to eat. I ended up eating the New Yorker burger with fries at the Statue of Liberty Crown Cafe. The prices weren't too outrageous. I found a standing table inside to eat my burger. The weather was nice enough that most people were eating at a table outside.
New Yorker burger with fries
I still had a little time to pass after eating my meal, so I continued on with the audio tour. I quickly realized that I was walking around the island in the wrong direction, but still a loop is a loop. I was supposed to have walked in a clockwise direction. Anyways, I got a good history lesson on the building and assembling of the statue and pedestal. I also got a good photo of the Statue of Liberty as well as a nice photo of lower Manhattan.
When it was finally my reserved time, I went back to the statue entrance. I got my crown access wristband after the ranger checked my photo ID. I then proceeded to the lockers to lock up my sling bag. Locker rental cost $2 for 2 hours, the machine only accepted dollar bills. When I was researching the procedures for going up to the crown, I was afraid that my regular backpack would be too large for the lockers which was why I brought my smaller sling bag on this trip. Having seen the lockers in person, my regular backpack would definitely have had no problem fitting.
The first part of the climb up were the easy wide steps up the stairwell to the pedestal level. You could even take an elevator. Most people only had access up to the pedestal. I went outside and walked once around the perimeter before going back inside. I then proceeded to the stairs leading up to the crown. I had to first turn in my audio guide and give the ranger my crown access wristband before proceeding. The spiral stairs were tiny and really tight. I'm a pretty slender guy at about 5'9" and 160 lbs and it was pretty tight for me.
Only 162 steps from the pedestal to the crown
The stairs!
Made it up to the crown
View of the tablet
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge off in the distance
The views from the crown were very unique and just plain cool. It was darn right cool seeing the tablet from this perspective. After admiring the views, snapping a few pictures, and talking to the two park rangers up there, I started making my way down the stairs. At no time did I ever feel rushed during my visit.
On the way out, I saw the cornerstone of the pedestal and read the inscription. Pretty cool! I then visited the museum which I had overlooked in my haste to climb up to the crown. It was full of interesting history and information about the Statue of Liberty. One could easily spend hours here unless you're tired and have a marathon to run tomorrow! :)
Cornerstone of the pedestal
Liberty torch
**If you're thinking about visiting the crown, I would suggest clicking here for a good webpage on what to expect on your visit up to the crown.**
I then got in line for the boat ride back to Manhattan. I was pretty tired and was going to make my way back to my hotel until my friends texted me to meet up with them at the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was close enough that I sucked it up and made my way over there. The bridge was a zoo. It was super crowded. We walked about halfway across the bridge and took some pictures before heading out. Since we were all headed to relatively the same location, we took the same subway line. I got off at an earlier station.
Marathon Maniacs on the Brooklyn Bridge!
I made the walk back to my hotel where I retrieved my bag and checked into my room. From what I saw, there were only 4 rooms per floor. The room that I got wasn't too spacious with the bed taking up most of the room, but it was clean and comfortable. After getting settled in, I took a much needed shower. Then I went through my expo haul before taking a quick nap.
Lovely view from my room
Expo haul
After waking up from my short nap, I went back out to get some food. Lately I've been catching a lot of flak for eating my regular pre-race carbo-load meal at a McDonald's, so I found myself at the nearby Tabata for some ramen. I ordered their tonkotsu ramen and some edamame to go with it. It was a nice tasting standard bowl of ramen. The broth was flavorful and wasn't overly greasy.
Edamame
Tonkotsu ramen
After dinner, I swung by a 7-Eleven to pick up some drinks. Prices weren't that great, but it was convenient. However something that detracted from this place was that there were vagrants hanging outside trying to get money from you for opening the door. I don't usually carry cash on me. I found that they sometimes will get a bit nasty if you don't give them anything.
Drinks
Once I got back to my hotel room, I laid out my race clothes and gear. This year I decided to wear my Ghostbusters shirt and go all black even though it was going to be pretty sunny and warm for the majority of the race.
Flat runner
Sunday 11/6
Thank goodness, daylight saving ended at 2 am, so I got an extra hour of sleep when the clock rolled back an hour. My friend was staying pretty close to where I was staying, so we picked a designated corner to meet up in the morning and walked over the New York Public Library for the bus ride to the start line. We got on one of the many buses at around 6:30 am. This was my first time taking the bus to the start and it had a minor hiccup. The ride there was fine, but our bus driver didn't know where to drop us off, so we were let off about a block too far where we then had to walk back.
Chrysler Building
New York Public Library
My friend was in the earlier wave, so we got into a portapotty potty line right away. Afterwards we tried to get one of those Dunkin' Donuts beanies, but we were told that they were all out. After I wished my friend a great race, I headed over to the blue village as I still had some time to pass. Along the way, I stopped by the pacers tent where I got to say hi to a couple of my New Yorker friends that were pacers this year. As I was headed to a spot closer to my starting corral, I was able to grab one of those beanies in the clothing discard bin. I didn't pick one up the first year and I don't remember if they were passing them out back then, but the last 2 times that I've run this race, I never had problems since I always get to the starting village very early.
Dunkin' Donuts beanie
I started in wave 3 out of corral D. It was a zoo inside the corral and the energy among the runners was electric. People from different parts of the world were all excited and ready to run through the 5 boroughs!
Corral D
Time to run!
First Half - Staten Island, Brooklyn:
Once the howitzer was shot, it was time! Nothing quite beats a race where the first 2 miles is running across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge! It turned out to be a good idea to wear my Ghostbusters t-shirt. Most people knew why I wore it. There was even a hot girl wearing a Ghostbusters jacket cheering in Brooklyn. She got all excited seeing my shirt. In hindsight, I probably should've pulled over and taken a few seconds to take a selfie with her. Oh well, I was actually running at that time and I don't like stopping. For the most part, I felt okay through the first 10 miles. Pretty much the entire first half of the race was run in Brooklyn until we crossed the Pulaski Bridge into Queens.
Second Half - Queens, Manhattan, Bronx:
Just like last year's race, I was dealing with leg cramps all throughout the second half of the race. It forced me to walk quite a bit on the Queensboro Bridge where we crossed into Manhattan. I hopped off to the side briefly to take a picture of Manhattan. After getting off of the bridge, I started heading north up 1st Ave starting from about E 60th St knowing full well that the Willis Ave Bridge into Bronx was north of E 124th St. That's 60 plus blocks to cover! The crowd was and has always been awesome during this stretch. They always pass out bananas. I grabbed and ate as many as I could possibly stomach. That helped with the cramps.
View from the Queensboro Bridge
At about mile 20, I crossed over the Willis Ave Bridge into Bronx. The course covered a little over 1 mile in this borough. The music here was very loud and the crowds were very energetic! During one of my many walk breaks, I talked to a guy that wore a shirt saying that he was going to be a first time dad. It was also his first marathon. He was also having leg issues. Since we were over 20 miles into the race, I congratulated him on his first marathon and his upcoming fatherhood. We would leapfrog each other for the next several miles.
Willis Ave Bridge
Then it was crossing the Madison Ave Bridge, the last bridge, back into Manhattan. From there it was a straight shot down 5th Ave from E 138th St with a detour around Marcus Garvey Park. The sun was beginning to set and it was starting to get a little bit chilly. It wasn't until E 90th St before I turned into Central Park. I've always found great crowd support during this stretch on 5th Ave with many clever signs and costumes!
Bitch Peas!
The section through Central Park was one of the more enjoyable final 5k to any marathon even though it was full of rollers. I was again managing my leg cramps. I just could not sustain running for any significant distance. However once I reached Columbus Circle, I knew that the finish line was within sniffing distance. It was time to suck it up and muster up a run to the finish!
Finish: 5:34:08
Click here for my Garmin data.
My goal was to just finish in about 5:30 and to have fun along the way. I was a tad slower than I'd like, but mission accomplished! However it was a personal worst for this race. I feel like I finally have a control over my injuries, but it'll take a lot of patience to build up the endurance again.
After getting one of the most coveted marathon medals, I then got a mylar blanket and a drawstring bag full of post race goodies. I then made the slow long walk out of Central Park. Even having the poncho wristband, the walk was still very long. Just like last year, it was a bit of madness as everyone pushed and shoved over to the table to grab one of those ponchos. I'm sure they will eventually come up with a solution, perhaps setting up several lines to receive a poncho. After getting a poncho, everybody spread out. Before heading out to catch a subway train back to my hotel, I stopped and took a picture of the church that Mr. Stay Puft had stepped on. :)
Nobody steps on a church in my town!
After getting back to my room, I was able to catch a rebroadcast of the marathon. It's always amazing and inspiring for me to see the professional run the marathon! Mary Keitany won NYC for the 3rd in a row and Molly Huddle came in 3rd for her marathon debut! Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, a 20 year old from Eritrea, became the youngest man to win the NYC Marathon!
Mary Keitany wins her 3rd consecutive NYC Mararathon in 2:24:26!
Molly Huddle finished in 3rd in 2:28:13!
Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, 20 year old from Eritrea, youngest to win the NYC Marathon in 2:07:51
I thought about staying in and just eating the snacks from my post race bag for dinner, but eventually I dragged myself outside to go get dinner. I made my way over to Go! Go! Curry! Per the usual, I got the Gram Slam. I normally get this meal the next day for lunch, but I was definitely craving a lot of protein!
Post race goodies
Grand Slam!
Monday 11/7
After packing up and getting ready to head out, I checked out of my hotel and made my way over to the nearest Shake Shack for lunch. It was pretty packed inside when I got there. I got in line and ordered a Double Shack burger with fries. It was a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce served in a potato bun. It was a good classic tasting cheeseburger. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that it was on the smaller side. I'm sure everything looks a bit smaller the day after running a marathon!
Double Shack burger with fries
Since I had some time before catching my Amtrak train to the airport, I hopped on a subway train and headed down to the Ghostbuster fire station. I actually walked past it as it was covered for renovations. Even though it wasn't currently in a good state for pictures, I thought it was cool that a few other tourists were there to check out the building.
Ghostbuster fire station
After I was done taking pictures, I hopped on a subway train up to the Penn Station. I sat in the waiting area until it was time to board my train. Once I arrived at the Newark Liberty International station, there was a crowd of people all headed to the airport. To the right there were a few tables and some transit cops randomly checking luggage. While waiting, I realize that I needed to see the booth attendant on the left side in order to get through the gates since I had an Amtrak ticket. Only NJ Transit tickets will open the gates. As I started making my way over, the cops ordered me back over to their table for my bags to be checked. There was nothing random about that, I'm sure I looked incredibly suspicious as if I was trying to avoid having my bags searched. After they were done, I made my way over to the attendant, who let me through the gates after I showed him my train ticket. Then everyone started cramming inside each of the AirTrain cars like sardines. Fortunately by the time I was headed to terminal A, the car was pretty much empty.
After getting through TSA, I went to first locate my gate. I then checked to see what was available for an early dinner. Nothing really looked good, so I ended up buying a bottle of water and just waiting by my gate. My friends showed up later as their flight was at a gate next to mine. They wanted to eat a lobster roll at Phillips Seafood. So I said, "sure, why not?" I've had lobster rolls in Maine and this one was about twice as expensive and not as good. Oh well, at least the waffle fries were good. I scarfed everything down right before boarding my flight.
Lobster roll and waffle fries
On the flight home, I tried to watch the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. It was a good exciting game, but I kept dozing off. I was just plain tuckered out from an action packed weekend!
Monday Night Football: Bills vs. Seahawks
I really hope to get in again for 2017. It is still my favorite marathon and it would be pretty cool to be able to run it 3 years in a row!
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