New York City Marathon Race Report

The 2011 New York City Marathon was my 26th "Official" marathon (counting Ironmans, Ultras, Double IMs and regular free standing marathons).

While I've run 26.2 miles in training and in races too many times to count, this 26.2 miles will forever be some of the most fun miles I've ever experienced running.

To say this race was executed with precision would be an understatement. I don't know how it was done, but somehow the race organizers manage to push 45,000+ people through the five borroughs of New York in one day, over 26 miles.

This race has been on the bucket list for awhile, and I am now happy to say I have crossed it off. While I don't train to run road marathons anymore (much less for speed), I do still enjoy the feeling of "big city" marathons.

My goal going into this run was to enjoy myself, soak in the atmosphere, take plenty of video (since I carried my video camera), and run a time under 3:30. I knew that I have the Wild Hare 50K in two weeks after it, so I wasn't too concerned about going to slow, just too fast.

If you're only interested in the details I finished in 3:15:22.

If you're interested in how I covered that 3 hours, 15 minutes, and 22 seconds read on.

Pre Race:

My wave (wave 1 of 3) went off at 9:40AM. All the waves start from the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Narrows bridge. My friend Scott had done the race before so he had prepared me for all of the craziness that is race morning for the NYC Marathon.

I was staying with him on Long Island and he knew of a running shop that organized a bus from the running shop to the race start. The running shop was only 30 minutes from his place so we headed over there around 4:45AM and the bus departed promptly at 5:30AM.

I enjoyed the ride in while the sun came up and had great views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and the island of Manhattan. The guy I was sitting next to grew up in Brooklyn so he was a great tour guide!

We probably arrived to Staten Island around 6:20AMish. We unloaded and made our way into the "Start Village". This is where I witnessed the organization that is the NYC Marathon for the first time. There were three separate waiting areas for each wave. I followed all the appropriate signs to the Orange waiting area. Once there I dropped off my dry clothes bag for post race in one of the many UPS trucks and proceeded to the dunkin donuts coffee truck!

I ended up just sitting on a curb by myself till around 8:30AM. I used the restroom a few times, got more coffee, and just twittled my thumbs (since I didn't know anyone) until it was time to head to our corrals.

Once in the corral (which again was crazy organized and not to mention each corral had another 40 porto potties!) I stood around till they started pushing us all towards the Verrazano Narrows bridge. We probably arrived on the bridge around 9:10AM, in time to hear the pro women start, then promptly stood around for another 30 minutes.

The day before the race we had gone to the Salvation Army store so I could buy some throw away sweat pants and sweat shirt for the race start. Finally, with about 3-4 minutes till the start, I pulled off my super warm and comfy sweat pants and shirt, and tossed them over the side of the railing. (onto the cement below to be donated)

Finally the gun goes off, and we started running up onto the bridge. The 2011 New York Marathon had begun.

Race:

As I began the climb up the bridge I couldn't help but stare off at Manhattan. It looked so far away, but was just an incredible sight to see. Seeing something like the start of the NYC marathon really puts things in perspective. How small we really are.

We came up to mile one in around 7:37. I looked over to my left and there was a huge helicopter even with us on the bridge video'ing and taking pictures. It was just sheer awesome.

The bridge is H.U.G.E. I felt so tiny. Mile 2 was back down the other side of the bridge and I clocked it in 7:52. Didn't want to start out too fast!

We were soon off the bridge and into Brooklyn. This is where I got the first taste of the crowds. It was INSANE. People EVERYWHERE! It looked like people had just walked outside that morning and realized the marathon had closed everything down, so they decided to stand out on the sidewalks and cheer. It was crowds for the next 24 miles. The whole way, on both sides.

This section of the race is straight and long. There are no significant turns until around mile 8. I just enjoyed the atmosphere and watched the miles tick away.

Kids were lined up on the street and everytime I saw a little hand hanging out I'd run up and high five them. People were loving it. High fives everywhere. I've never given so many high fives in one day! Mile 3 was 7:21, 4 was 7:49, 5 was 6:46 (probably short), 6 was 7:12, 7 was 7:09 and 8 was 7:30.

It was awesome passing through all of these incredible neighborhoods. We passed some beautiful churches as well as some crazy old buildings. I was still in shock by the amount of people out spectating. At times they were 3-5 deep just shouting there heads off. It was cheering the whole time. Like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

I knew that Scott and Courtney were going to be spectating somewhere around mile 8 so I worked my way over to the left side of the road where they said they'd be and started keeping an eye out for them.

Around mile 8 Courtney finally caught my eye and I ran straight for her and Scott. I ran up and gave her a big kiss and handed them my arm warmers. Told them I was having fun and headed back out.

This part of the course was pretty cool because we went through a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood. Living in Texas we don't see many Hasidic Jews, so it was really interesting. None of them were cheering, but a few did have signs that said, "Go Runners".

Once through that neighborhood, the cheering picked back up and I was starting to realize I was probably running too fast for my training, but I was having lots of fun, so I just went with it.

Something I noticed is that when the crowds picked up, my pace got faster. It was so cool how we could feed of the crowds.

Mile 9 was 7:30, 10 was 7:19, 11 was 7:26, 12 was 7:31, and 13 was 7:22.

Around mile 13 was climbed up and over the Pulaski Bridge. It was only a half mile or so long, but I could tell people around me were starting to slow. I was still feeling good so I just kept going with it. When we got off the bridge we were officially in Queens!

The crowds were just as awesome here. Since I was passed the halfway point I decided I'd finally duck into a porto potty and pee. I'd been needing to for the past 10 miles, so I figured it was about time.

Finally the Queensboro Bridge starting coming into sight and I remember this was the bridge that took us into Manhattan and onto 1st Ave!

Everyone I'd ever talked to about the NYC Marathon has told me that the turn onto 1st Avenue is like no other. They say the crowds are 5+ deep and it's just indescribable.

As we turned onto the Queensboro bridge we ended up on the bottom level. The higher we climbed the more the wind picked up and for the first time during the entire race I felt cold. The bridge was eerily quite, because there weren't any spectators here. People around me were really slowing here, so I just picked up the pace and pushed it to the top. Mile 16 was at the end of the bridge.

Mile 14 was 7:22, Mile 15 was 8:23 (potty break), mile 16 was 7:29, Mile 17 was 7:40, and mile 18 was 7:39.

As I started to come down the bridge I could hear the crowds. This was just awesome. We rounded the corner at the bottom and BAM! We were just hit with a wall of cheers. Everyone else was running on the inside of the corner, but I couldn't help but run to the outside and give everyone high fives! It was so contagious.

We circled back around and went under the Queensboro Bridge onto 1st Ave. We I came out from under the bridge I could see straight down 1st. The street was HUGE and people were smashed up onto the barriers on both sides of the road.

The most shocking part to me was how WIDE the road was! Everyone was running to the inside, so none of the spectators were getting high fives anymore. I made an effort to run closer to the sides so I could give more high fives :)

I remember Scott telling me that he'd be somewhere before mile 18 on 1st Ave so I worked my over to the other side of the road so I'd see Courtney and Scott. It was TOUGH looking for them, because there were SO MANY people.

Finally around mile 17 I saw Courtney again and ran straight to her. I gave her a big kiss again and told them both I was still having fun and that I'd seem them in a bit! It was so great to see them both again.

Right after I left them, I remember my friend Liz (who lives in Queens) was going to be volunteering at the mile 18 aid station! I told her to work on the right side of the road, and I'd run down that side looking for her. Sure enough, at the end of the aid station I saw her raking up cups off the street! I ran up and said hey and thanked her for volunteering! Was so cool to see someone else I knew.

Right after that I passed through the mile 18 "Gel Zone" or something like that and took a gel from them since I'd only brought 5.

I was finally starting to feel the burn of the 7:30 pace for the past 18 miles, but was still moving just fine. It was that point where you can either drop the pace and finish super comfortable, or keep moving at the same pace and just deal with a bit of the pain. I of course went with the latter and worked on maintaing the pace I'd been running the whole race.

Mile 19 was 6:56 (way short), Mile 20 was 7:45 (long), 21 was 7:30, 22 was 7:33, and mile 23 was 7:27.

At the north end of Manhattan we climbed up the short Willis Ave Bridge. Once over the bridge we were now in the Bronx! The Bronx was a blast, but short lived because we only ran there for around a mile. It was around this point I ran a 7:37 min mile and decided from here out nothing slower than that.

When coming out of the Bronx at mile 21 on the Madison Ave Bridge I saw some emergency personal sorrounding a lady that was laying flat out on her back. When I passed I tried to tell if she was breathing but I couldn't tell. I said quick prayer for her safety and health and got back to those sub 7:30s.
I crossed the bridge back into Manhattan and Harlem. This part of the course was awesome! Lots of crazy people cheering and lots of cool bands. (which I'm normally not all that into)

It's pretty much a straight shot here all the way down the side of Central Park, until we turn into Central Park around mile 23.75. It felt like a gradual uphill here and I think one of my slower miles was 7:37. I was also keeping an eye out for Scott and Courtney again, but they ended up heading down to Broadway so we could meet up afterwards.

I turned into Central Park at mile 24ish and was feeling good. The burn was pretty much everywhere, but I wasn't having any trouble dealing with it. I was passing people constantly so I just used that as motivation and knew I could stop when I crossed the line. Mile 25 was in 7:07. One of my faster miles for the day.

This part was awesome because again, people were crammed up against the barricades 3-5 deep on both sides in Central Park. Running through Central Park is always awesome, cause you can see the huge towering buildings above the trees.

I kept pushing the pace and knew I was close to a sub 7 pace for mile 26. I also knew I was possibly on target for a sub 3:15 finish. I didn't really care about my time as long as it was sub 3:30, but sub 3:15 was now a fun goal.

We came out of central park again and turned onto Central Park South for about a half mile. Here, the crowds were again, just out of control! I was back to high fiving like a maniac and soaking up the incredible energy. I could see Columbus Circle ahead with the Time Warner Center straight ahead.

I dug a little deeper and rounded the corner at Columbus Circle back into Central Park and saw mile 26 just ahead. Mile 26 was in 6:53. My fast mile of the day. At this point I realized sub 3:15 probably wasn't going to happen, but I kept pushing the pace anyways.

I video'd the last 3 or so minutes and just had fun with it.

I crossed the finish line in 3:15:22 and had finished my 26th official marathon. My second fastest free standing marathon, despite just running it easy with no intention of PRing. (3:06 PR)

Post Race: 

Well, to be really honest here the post race wasn't as bad as I had imagined, but it was still rough. I crossed the finish line, grabbed my finisher medal and my finisher goody bag. (no finisher shirts... not sure why not for a $250+ entry fee)

We just kept walking and I knew they push us towards an exit so we could get our dry clothes bags. We walked maybe a half mile before getting to the UPS trucks. This is where it got crazy! There were maybe 3-4 people getting bags out of my UPS truck and about 100+ people that had bags in that truck. It was pure chaos here.

After 15 or so minutes someone finally found my bag. I changed into my dry clothes and headed towards Broadway so I could jump on the subway down to 50th street near Times Square where I was meeting Courtney and Scott.

Cool sidenote:

When I was walking down into the subway, a police officer let me and another marathon finisher into the subway for free!

Also, once on the subway, me and the other finisher had to stand because it was so full. A guy offered us his seats and I thought that was cool.

It seemed the whole city was into the marathon.

A quick list of goods and bads to this race:

PROs:
-This thing is ORGANIZED!
-Lots of spectators. I mean A LOT.
-SO many bands, official and unofficial (if you're into that kind of stuff)
-Awesome course
-Fast course

CONs:
-Expensive
-Felt like the finisher medals were kind of cheap
-No finisher shirt for a $250+ race fee

All in all, I couldn't be any happier with the way this race worked out. I had a blast, ran a solid time (probably too solid), and soaked up the NYC Marathon atmosphere.

I have 25 minutes + of footage to sort through and edit so I can get it put on YouTube. Hopefully I'll get around to doing that this week.

If you have any questions about the race, feel free to ask!

-Jacob