Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Race Report - Part 1
Pre Race
Arrived in NYC on Wednesday afternoon. Although I had brought duplicates of everything – half in my carry-on and half in my checked bag – I was relieved to see my suitcase on the baggage carousel. For my first two days I was staying with friends just outside the city (in Rye, Westchester County) and they had been kind enough to arrange a car and driver to meet me. Felt like a rock star as the driver escorted me to his gleaming black Lincoln limo. He said that Rye was a REALLY nice neighborhood and that my friend must be doing pretty well for himself. Man, was he right!
After getting settled my hosts and I went out to dinner at a really nice pub/restaurant that specialized in seafood (they are apparently known for their fried oysters but I decided on Maryland crab cakes instead). I got the first sense of just how big an event the marathon was that night. The older couple seated beside us heard my accent, asked if I was from Canada and if I was here to run the marathon. They wanted to wish me good luck and hoped that I really enjoyed myself. Well-wishes from strangers were to become a regular feature of the next few days.
Thursday morning I traveled back into NY to meet my wife at the airport. No, I didn’t leave here there overnight. She had been unable to get a flight at the same time as me so we had to travel separately.
We hopped in a cab and headed into Manhattan to attend the Runners Registration and Expo. It was set up at the Javitts Convention Centre on the west side of Manhattan. It was a large facility with a huge atrium, soaring glass and steelwork, etc. Even though we were amongst the first to get there (most runners were not arriving until Friday or Saturday) there was a tremendous “buzz” of excitement.
The first thing I saw when I walked in was a banner, perhaps two or more stories high, with a picture of the marathon start from a previous year on the Varrazano Narrows bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the U.S. I took one look at the scene and my emotions started to explode. Tears welled in my eyes and I had to take deep breaths to stop myself from turning into a blubbering mess. I could not believe that after 10 months of fundraising and training that I was actually about to reach my goal of running the NYC marathon. My wife gave me a bit of a nudge and off we went to find the registration desk.
Everywhere I looked there were volunteers in ING colours (orange!! and blue), cheerfully directing folks from what seemed like a hundred different countries – Japan, Holland, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Poland, Spain, etc.
The registration process was unbelievably efficient. A quick scan of my registration card brought up my name on the computer and from there I was directed to a table to receive my bib and chip. Then it was on to another table to get the bib and schwag (cotton tee, etc.) for Saturday’s International Friendship Run, another table for the race day bag filled with more schwag (highlights included a tech tee and a sponge bob hat), another station to check that the chip was functioning and finally to a table to get my race day bus transportation stamp.
With the formalities handled it was into the Asics display of “official” ING NYC marathon gear. There were loads of styles to choose from and of course there was no way to avoid spending a few (!!) bucks. I controlled my urge to splurge and limited myself to a running vest and a tech tee.
From there it was out into the main running expo area where seemingly every manufacturer, race and organization was represented. Nike had a big display centered on Lance, there were free beer samples (I don’t normally drink but made an exception for a small bit of Coors Lite), pictures with Sponge Bob (Nickleodeon is a sponsor), etc., etc. There were lots of giveaways and even a few “clearance racks” that my wife of course browsed to find a bunch of new running clothes for her.
Loaded down with stuff (and many dollars lighter) we hopped onto a shuttle bus that took us back into core of Manhattan. We had a few hours to be tourists and then in was off to meet my friend at his office on the 30-somethingth floor of a building on West 57th Street, overlooking Central Park South, to head back out to Rye for the evening.
There endeth Chapter One of my report. Full reports on Saturday’s International Friendship Run, the pre-race carbo dinner and the actual race will follow in installments over the next few days, as time permits.
Arrived in NYC on Wednesday afternoon. Although I had brought duplicates of everything – half in my carry-on and half in my checked bag – I was relieved to see my suitcase on the baggage carousel. For my first two days I was staying with friends just outside the city (in Rye, Westchester County) and they had been kind enough to arrange a car and driver to meet me. Felt like a rock star as the driver escorted me to his gleaming black Lincoln limo. He said that Rye was a REALLY nice neighborhood and that my friend must be doing pretty well for himself. Man, was he right!
After getting settled my hosts and I went out to dinner at a really nice pub/restaurant that specialized in seafood (they are apparently known for their fried oysters but I decided on Maryland crab cakes instead). I got the first sense of just how big an event the marathon was that night. The older couple seated beside us heard my accent, asked if I was from Canada and if I was here to run the marathon. They wanted to wish me good luck and hoped that I really enjoyed myself. Well-wishes from strangers were to become a regular feature of the next few days.
Thursday morning I traveled back into NY to meet my wife at the airport. No, I didn’t leave here there overnight. She had been unable to get a flight at the same time as me so we had to travel separately.
We hopped in a cab and headed into Manhattan to attend the Runners Registration and Expo. It was set up at the Javitts Convention Centre on the west side of Manhattan. It was a large facility with a huge atrium, soaring glass and steelwork, etc. Even though we were amongst the first to get there (most runners were not arriving until Friday or Saturday) there was a tremendous “buzz” of excitement.
The first thing I saw when I walked in was a banner, perhaps two or more stories high, with a picture of the marathon start from a previous year on the Varrazano Narrows bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the U.S. I took one look at the scene and my emotions started to explode. Tears welled in my eyes and I had to take deep breaths to stop myself from turning into a blubbering mess. I could not believe that after 10 months of fundraising and training that I was actually about to reach my goal of running the NYC marathon. My wife gave me a bit of a nudge and off we went to find the registration desk.
Everywhere I looked there were volunteers in ING colours (orange!! and blue), cheerfully directing folks from what seemed like a hundred different countries – Japan, Holland, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Poland, Spain, etc.
The registration process was unbelievably efficient. A quick scan of my registration card brought up my name on the computer and from there I was directed to a table to receive my bib and chip. Then it was on to another table to get the bib and schwag (cotton tee, etc.) for Saturday’s International Friendship Run, another table for the race day bag filled with more schwag (highlights included a tech tee and a sponge bob hat), another station to check that the chip was functioning and finally to a table to get my race day bus transportation stamp.
With the formalities handled it was into the Asics display of “official” ING NYC marathon gear. There were loads of styles to choose from and of course there was no way to avoid spending a few (!!) bucks. I controlled my urge to splurge and limited myself to a running vest and a tech tee.
From there it was out into the main running expo area where seemingly every manufacturer, race and organization was represented. Nike had a big display centered on Lance, there were free beer samples (I don’t normally drink but made an exception for a small bit of Coors Lite), pictures with Sponge Bob (Nickleodeon is a sponsor), etc., etc. There were lots of giveaways and even a few “clearance racks” that my wife of course browsed to find a bunch of new running clothes for her.
Loaded down with stuff (and many dollars lighter) we hopped onto a shuttle bus that took us back into core of Manhattan. We had a few hours to be tourists and then in was off to meet my friend at his office on the 30-somethingth floor of a building on West 57th Street, overlooking Central Park South, to head back out to Rye for the evening.
There endeth Chapter One of my report. Full reports on Saturday’s International Friendship Run, the pre-race carbo dinner and the actual race will follow in installments over the next few days, as time permits.
# posted by FreddyBeachPete @ 7:04 AM 
