Peter's Team Diabetes Triathlon (and formerly Marathon) Blog

After work yesterday I went for a 30 minute run. After doing 75 minutes on Sunday I figured it would be a breeze but I should have known better. I find these short runs harder than the longer ones!!

Weather yesterday was great for running. Today it's a wee bit colder and we're getting a trace of wet snow. It's supposed to warm up though so it'll likely be gone before long.

This Saturday is the annual Running Room "Santa Shuffle". It is a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. Jill and I are going to participate - a great way to combine a fun event with support for one of our favourite charitable organizations.

Here it is folks - the prize. Run 26.2 through the streets of New York and you can get one too!

Today I did a 75 minute long run. Weather was absolutely ideal for running - around 8c with virtually no wind. This is a real bonus considering we are almost at the end of November. Happy to report that Jill did 10k with her Running Room class today. Way to go!!

Last week I was in Edmonton to speak at a conference related to diabetes. There was an article by CBC done about it:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/11/16/insulin-costs.html

Also, I was included in a clip that was on the national news broadcast. You can download it by clicking on the link you'll find on the right side of the same webpage.

Greetings faithful readers. Just a quick update to let you know that I haven't fallen off the running nor the blogging wagons. After NY I followed my coaches instructions and took two days of rest followed by a very light 20 minute run on Wednesday, 25 minutes on Thursday and 30 minutes on Friday. A couple more days of rest then I did 30 minute runs on Tues/Wed/Thur of last week and a full 60 minute run on Saturday. Two more rest days and now I'm into week 3 post marathon with runs ranging from 30 to 45 minutes during the week and a planned 75 minute outing on Saturday.

Although the marathon is now complete, I was thrilled to receive another donation in the mail recently. Thank you very much to Shannon who I met through my involvment with the CDA for a very genrous contribution !!

If you are interested to see some video of the NYC marathon, check out www.youtube.com and in the "search" box enter NYC marathon or New York marathon. Unbelievable how much stuff has already been posted. I really like this one in particular but there are lots to choose from:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1VpBCmZRfwc

If you'd like to see my official race pics, have a look at:

http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=11240&PWD=&BIB=37812

As if I hadn't written enough already, a couple more memories have popped up over the past few days. I met a fellow during the run who told me that he was to be the focus of a Discovery Channel documentary about his effort to lose weight and run the NYC marathon. I believe he told me that he had lost >200 pounds leading up to race day. I also remember a fellow coming up to me and asking whetehr I had diabetes since I was wearing a Team Diabetes shirt. I explained that indeed I did and he said that he did as well. He was older than me and I can't recall if he was German or Dutch. Either way, we seemed to be able tyo communicate. Also remember chatting with two young men from teh British army who were doing the marathon with battle gear on. They were Royal Engineers and so I told them that my dad had been a Royal Canadian Engineer (RCE) and that I had been Quartermaster of an RCE combat engineer regiment.

Some have asked me how I had time to meet all these people and remember all these things. Let me simply say that when you run as slow as me, you've got LOTS of time on your hands !!!

Chapter 4 – Race Day

As mentioned in the last chapter, my day began at 4 a.m. The Team Diabetes group met in the lobby of the hotel at 4:50 so that we could walk over together to get to the buses. As we headed out into the dark of the New York morning we could see people coming from all directions. Within one block of the hotel we met the first of many NYPD members that we would see over the course of the day and he cheerfully wished us good luck. There were also large numbers of volunteers lining the streets to keep us moving in the right direction. Without fail they were cheerful and offered best wishes for the day ahead and encouraged us to enjoy the experience. As we arrived at the NY Public Library on 5th Ave there were buses lined up, being quickly loaded and then dispatched. We were early enough that there were no significant delays and so by 5:15 we were on the road heading to Staten Island. The driver was incredibly cheerful, a Brit who inquired as to what countries were represented on the bus. There were Canucks and Americans plus some Brits, some French, an Aussie and my seat mate was an Israeli. I suspect there were other nations represented but they didn’t speak up. As we moved through the streets of the dark and quiet city the driver kept up a bit of a patter on the PA system pointing out some landmarks. Of course the landmark that we were most interested to see was the Verrazano Narrows bridge, which would be the start of the marathon.

Once we arrived on Staten Island we disembarked and headed for our start corral. I was in the Orange start (the others were Blue and Green). In the start corral there was a huge grassed area that would be “home” for the next 4 hours. There was coffee/donuts/bagels available (compliments of Dunkin Donuts), Gatorade, water (compliments of Poland Springs), Powerbars and PowerGels. All this was free and there seemed to be an endless supply. There were also tents sent up for free massages, for first aid, etc. There were a huge number of porta potties and while the lines were short at first, as race time drew near the lines got incredibly long. There was also entertainment in the various start corrals and there were even non-denominational religious services going on. I wandered around a bit and was really impressed with a group of double-dutch skippers that were performing in our corral. They were called the Pepper Steppers and they were predominantly African-american kids ranging in age from 10 to 18 I would guess.

The place that I found to sit down was near the back of the corral and I was with a lady from Little Rock, Arkansas. She was having trouble staying warm in spite of wearing several layers of clothes and being wrapped in a space blanket. Me, the hearty Canadian was finding the temps to be quite bearable. Also with us was a lady from Edmonton (GeriLyn) who it turned out had been the Canadian flag bearer at the fun run. She was a 4-time finisher of the NYC marathon including in 2005 when she ran it with her husband and son. For 2006 she was with a group from the Running Room in Edmonton.

I mentioned to GeriLyn that I had met my RunningMania penpal, Angela (girlygrl) for lunch the day before. GeriLyn laughed and said to look over my shoulder. Turned out Angela had sat down right behind me but we were back to back so we hadn’t noticed each other. I elbowed her, she turned around and she let out a big scream. What are the odds that in a crowd of 13,000 people we would end up seated beside each other?

I also mentioned to the ladies that one day I would love to serve as a guide for a disabled runner. Several minutes later as I was walking around sightseeing in the corrals a lady saw my flag tattoos and asked me where I was from. She was with an older lady who was carrying a white cane. Turned out they were from Toronto and were power walking the course. I told them of the coincidence in meeting them since had just expressed to some others my interest in being a guide. The blind lady said. “What about next year for the half marathon in Fredericton. I am turning 65 and plan to celebrate by doing a Half in every province.” I couldn’t believe it. I quickly said that I would be honoured to do so and got some contact info that I could follow up with her. Then I mentioned that my wife worked for the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and the lady said, “I believe I know her because I am on the national board of CNIB”. So, in a crown of 40,000 another “small world” incident.

Over the course of the morning I tried to eat a little at a time to keep my blood sugars up (I am diabetic) without pushing them too high. I also sipped water and Gatorade throughout to stay hydrated.

With an hour to go I decided that it was time to turn in my baggage. UPS trucks were lined up side by side and were all clearly numbered. I was assigned to baggage truck #43. The driver took my bag, wished me well and I headed off for a last “nature call”. As at most marathons, the line ups for porta potties was by then very long so every available tree, fence, wall, etc, had been pressed into action. My goodness – modesty sure disappears in the face of the need to go!! Kudos to the women who found inventive ways to deal with their needs including the “circle the wagons” approach with 5 or more friends forming a human shield facing outwards whilst one of their number occupied the middle. The other popular woman’s technique was the blanket/garbage bag/jacket screen.

My own bodily functions taken care thanks to a large tree placed strategically by a fence, I headed off to line up for the actual start. I was planning to run the first half (at least) with the 4:45 pace group so I found the team leader and hung around with her. Her name was Patti and she was from the NY area, had run numerous NYC marathons and had in fact run several marathons in the 6 weeks preceding NY. Met a number of other folks including a chap from Holland and a young lady from Long Island both of whom were running their first ever marathon. I encouraged them to really soak in the experience. With about 10 minutes to go I finally removed all the extra clothing that I had worn – sweat pants, wind pants, a sweater and a jacket and tossed them to the side of the road. All the discarded clothing is picked up by the race organizers and donated to charity so I hope whoever ends up with my vestments gets some good use out of them.

The whole time we had been waiting in the start corrals there had been a NYPD helicopter hovering overhead. As the race was about to start it moved off and then there was a flypast by a big Coast Guard aircraft. It swooped down low as it came overhead and then climbed steeply and made a sharp turn to the left. The crowd roared its support, the cannon fired to signal the start of the race and the crowd whooped again. Then we started to shuffle forward like a herd of cattle.

Within a few minutes we were able to break into a shuffle and then into a slow jog. We went under a big archway of balloons and then down a corridor formed by the 18-wheeler trailers that I presume had carried supplies over. There were volunteers everywhere along the route, on top of the trailers and so on. They were cheering like crazy which was really uplifting. Then, all of a sudden, I heard someone say, “Way to go Peter”. I was caught off guard and wondered how they knew my name. Then I remembered, I had pinned a bib with my name on it right above my race bib and the Team Diabetes logo. At that point the emotions started to overcome me again and the tears started to stream down my face. Thank God that I had sunglasses on so that the people around me couldn’t see me bawling!

Up ahead I could see the mass of humanity heading up the bridge. I remember crossing the actual start line and being amazed at the noise generated by the ChampionChip start mat. With 38,000 runners it was a continuous high pitched wail. Pressed start on my watch and noted that it had taken me about minutes from the gun time to get to the start. Not bad considering how many people there were.

The bridge was fairly steep but of course at that point we all had energy to burn and so it seemed effortless. I made my way over to the left side so that I could get a good look into the water where I could see fire tugs shooting off their water cannons. It was an incredible sight. I snapped a picture with my disposable camera. From there I got back into the flow of runners. It felt like my head was on a swivel as I tried to take in the view and the scene unfolding around me. I recall seeing a large group of women running without jerseys – pink, decorated bra tops were their uniform. Believe they were from England and they were obviously running to support the breast cancer foundation. I thought of my colleague Helene who is in treatment at the moment and shed a few tears.

Another character I saw was “Larry the Lighthouse” who was running the whole race with a replica lighthouse covering him from waist to about 7’ high. It even had a working light on the top. My pace team leader said that he runs lots of marathons like this and is the mascot for a marathon that takes place somewhere on the US east coast.

After crossing the bridge we arrived in Brooklyn where the spectator support was incomparable. I thought I knew what to expect but nothing prepared me for what I saw. The people were lined many deep very step of the way through Brooklyn. There were tons of signs – some supporting a specific runner and some more general. As we ran by the spectators would see the names on our jerseys and they would call out support, “Looking good Peter” “Go Team Diabetes” “Yah Canada”. It was incredibly powerful to hear this. I figured out early on that running on the far outside of the road was a great strategy for two reasons. First, there was a bit more room to maneuver and second, the fans would be particularly supportive.

As we moved through Brooklyn the fan support seemed only to build. At every street corner there were numerous NYPD officers and even they were clapping and calling out support. Trucks from the FDNY were parked on both sides of many intersections with the firefighters standing there in their turnout gear. Many were sitting on top of their trucks and the trucks often had the ladders deployed or the buckets extended and they had signs of encouragement hanging off them. I tried to catch their attention as often as I could and would give them a proper military salute (I am ex-Army) out of respect for the job that they do and for the sacrifices made by so many of their brother officers (and some sisters I expect) on 9/11. I suspect that they didn’t know what I was trying to signal but it sure made me emotional!!

As I said earlier, the people of Brooklyn were amazing. They were constantly calling out support and giving high fives and so on. People had noise makers of every description. I recall seeing a guy with two pot lids banging them together like cymbals in a marching band. They were giving out candy and orange slices and water. The thing I appreciated the most were the paper towels and Kleenexes.

There was all kinds of music in Brooklyn. I heard a steel drum band, some rappers, rock music, a polka playing accordion player and so on. The best was a group of conga drummers. Just as I went by I noticed that they had an extra drum sitting out so I stopped and started wailing away on it. By God, I was having fun!!

The run through Brooklyn was about 10 miles so just as we were leaving that borough we would be reaching the halfway mark. I couldn’t get over how good I felt. I was bang on my 4:45 pace (in fact I was 2 minutes ahead of pace) and felt like I was really holding back not pushing hard. Just before I started up the bridge from Brooklyn into Queens I saw two signs that made me laugh. One said “Lance who?” and the other said, “Race over. The Brazilian won.”

In the middle of the bridge to Queens I passed a guy running in a rhino suit. I was only slightly surprised because I had seen the rhino earlier at perhaps mike 5 or 6. What surprised me was that unnoticed, I had been PASSED by a rhino and that the rhino had stayed in front of me for 7 or 8 miles. Yikes, am I that slow? To my relief, I found out later that they were not one and the same but rather that there was a herd of the damn things running to draw attention to the plight of this animal. I think they have a website at www.savetherhino.com or something like that.

The route through Queens was relatively short, about 3 miles. The fans were slightly fewer in number but then again a bunch of the route was through an industrial area.

We left Queens via the famous Queensboro bridge. We were running on the middle deck and could hear trains/cars/trucks rumbling overhead. At one point I thought the bridge was going to collapse judging by the noise. It was also REALLY dark and at one point so black that you couldn’t see where you were planting your feet. The bridge seemed to go up and up and up for the longest time but then you could start to hear noise ahead and knew that we were getting close to Manhattan. While on the bridge I passed one of my fellow Team D members. I asked him how he was doing and he said that he was finding it tough. I told him he looked great and to keep chugging. I saw a couple of interesting characters on that bridge including a pair dressed as the Blues Brothers and a fellow running in a graduation gown and mortar board. He had on signs that said he was running to encourage kids not to quit school just like he wouldn’t quit running when the going got tough. I assume he was a teacher.

As you exited the bridge you took a sharp downhill ramp that curved very tightly to the left. The crowds were absolutely roaring as we came down that ramp, curled under the bridge and headed for 1st Avenue. That was a truly remarkable sight. 1st Ave goes straight north up Manhattan Island and it is a long gradual uphill. That meant that you could see 2 or 3 miles ahead and it was nothing but runners, 6-8 traffic lanes wide and tens of thousands of spectators.

The pre-race information I had heard was to be careful about getting too jacked up when you hit 1st avenue. I tried really hard to heed that advice. I did however try very hard to soak in the sight of so many people running and so many more people watching. A little ways up 1st avenue I saw a guy holding a sign that said “Free Hugs >>”. There were two pretty ladies standing to his left. He saw me and called out to me to come over so I of course obliged. I gave both girls a big sweaty hug and a polite kiss on the cheek. LIFE IS GOOD !!!!

As we continued up 1st Avenue I remember seeing a hospital on the right where the patients and staff were out front cheering for all they were worth. How cool.

As we proceeded up 1st Avenue we passed through midtown and uptown Manhattan and into East Harlem. The crowds thinned out a bit but not all that much. Then we crossed the Willis Avenue bridge into the Bronx at about Mile 19.

As we were crossing the bridge I was beside a black guy who had written on the back of his shirt that he was running “In Memory of Julio”. I said hi and asked him to tell me about Julio. He said that he was a guy that he had worked with at a garage in Brooklyn and that he had been murdered a few weeks early in a botched holdup attempt at the garage. I said how sorry I was to hear but that I was sure Julio would be helping him finish his race today. He said thanks we shook hands and we parted ways.

The route through the Bronx was very short but I recall that I heard a great rock band playing a Stones tune. I have yet to recall the name of the song but it had to do with running (and it wasn’t Start Me Up). I am going to figure it out though. I also recall stopping for a minute to listen and take pictures of a pair of rappers that were really great. They gave me a “shout out” for stopping to take THEIR picture.

From the Bronx we crossed back into Manhattan via the Madison Avenue bridge. We were now traveling south on 5th Avenue heading for Central Park. I hit mile 20 and looked at my pace band confirming that I was still on 4:45 finish pace. I felt really strong so thought that with only 10k to go I could pick it up a bit and perhaps finish in 4:40 or less. I managed to increase my pace for about a mile or so but I quickly realized that there wasn’t enough in the tank to sustain it to the end. Reluctantly, I started to ease off a bit but I was determined to stay with the 4:45 pace leader. I recall that in this section of the course the Gatorade being discarded onto the road was causing your shoes to literally stick to the asphalt and that there were times that crushed cups were so numerous that you were running on the cups and not on the pavement.

The next two miles were a series of leapfrogs where I would catch up to the 4:45 pacer and then they would move ahead and then I would catch up. That was working OK but this entire section, from about mile 21.5 through mile 24.5 was basically an uphill grade. It was really proving to be a grind and I could feel my stride shortening and slowing. I also realized at that point that I was STARVING hungry. In the last 5 hours all I had taken on was gel and Gatorade which was fine for keeping my blood sugars up but did nothing to satisfy my appetite. I swear that if there had been a Subway or McD’s I would have gone via the drive through to get something to eat!

Through this section of the course I noticed the 4:45 pace leader slowly starting to get away from me and there was clearly no chance that I could catch up by the finish due to the crowded conditions and due to my declining energy level. Resigned to this fact I refocused on finishing as strongly as I could and at least better than my Dublin time of 4:46:46.

The last turn into Central Park was a short downhill but was of very little relief because it only made apparent how sore my quads, calves and hamstrings were. After this short downhill it was another gradual uphill all the way to the finish but at least we could see the mileage signs counting down. One mile to go – just 4 laps of a track. I can do this in 11 minutes. The 800m to go – 2 laps of the track. I can do this in 5 minutes can’t I? Then 200m to go – don’t I do 200m intervals in 2:40 or less?

As I approached the finish line I looked for which of the three finish chutes was least crowded so that I would be sure to have a good photo. Just like I practiced on my long runs, I raised my arms overhead and smiled. I passed over the timing mat, pressed stop on my watch and started to walk for the first time (other than at water stations) in close to 5 hours. I looked at my watch and it confirmed that I had achieved a PB – 4:45:50. Although it was only 1 minute better than my time in Dublin in 2002, a PB is a PB and besides, I had been told that nobody PB’s in New York. Make that nobody but Freddy Beach Pete !!!

A medal was placed over my neck and I was wrapped up in a space blanket. There seemed to be thousands of volunteers. They even had people to apply a sticker on the blanket to help hold it closed. There were people walking towards us handing out bottled water so I grabbed one of those and started to sip on it. I started to realize at that point that my stomach muscles were incredibly sore. I stood in a short line and had my picture taken and then I shuffled onwards to find the baggage truck that had transported my things. As luck would have it, truck #43 was way down the line so I had a long walk but I had been told that staying in motion was physically good.

Once I picked up my bag and the bag of food that they were giving out with I decided to get out of my race shirt and to pull on a clean one. I had specifically chosen the shirt for this occasion. It was the shirt that my tremendous coach, Mike Booth, had sent me when we first started our training relationship. It says on it “Endurance Matters” and at that moment I knew that it was true in spades. I tried to pull on a pair of warm up pants but could barely bend my legs to do it so I had to sit down. I was honestly afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stand up again but I managed. Then it was off to the family reunion area to try and find my wife Jill.

To get to the family reunion area I had to exit Central Park and make my way south on Central Park West. It was totally blocked off to traffic but the crowd of runners and their families made it seem like rush hour. When I finally met up with Jill I got a big kiss and congratulations. She said that she had seen me around mile 25 and that I had looked strong. I told her that was an illusion !! I asked her if she had seem me per our plan at mile 8 and mile 18 because I hadn’t been able to spot her or the signs that I had made up. She said that she hadn’t seen me either place. When I looked at the pictures she had taken I realized why that was. I had suggested she be on the left side of the road and she thought I said to be on the side of the road where the runners would be to the left. In other words, I ran 26.2 miles looking one way and she was on the other side. Drat !!!! Oh well, that just gives me an excuse to do NY again, this time running on the right side of the course. We had our picture taken by a young fellow who was standing nearby and then we headed for the subway to return to the hotel. Getting down the stairs into the subway station was a bit of a challenge but I did my best not to limp too much. Everywhere I looked there were runners proudly displaying their medal and receiving/extending congratulations to those around them whether friends or strangers.

Once back to the hotel I spent a few minutes icing my knees which I find really helps in my recovery. Then a nice warm shower because I was starting to feel really chilled. The day ended with a fantastic Victory Dinner with the Team Diabetes group.

During the Continental Airlines International Friendship Run I met these Irish girls who had raised approximately $20,000 for the Alzheimer society in order to have the opportunity to particpate in the NYC marathon. I took their picture and promised to post it on my website. They took down the address and said they would check out the site. I have lived up to my part of the bargain. I hope they see it and if they do, that they will leave a comment telling me that they visited and how they did in the marathon.

Chapter Two – International Friendship Run

This fun run took place on Saturday morning and was open to participants from outside the US. At registration we had been given a separate bag with a race bib, a cotton tee and some other small items like a commemorative pin. The run started at 8 a.m. at a plaza that is part of the United Nations complex on the east side of Manhattan. The Team Diabetes group had met up in the lobby of our hotel (6th Ave 2 40th St) and we walked together across town to get to the start. The further we walked, the more people joined the procession, most decked out in their national colours or costumes so that by the time we arrived at the UN we were a veritable army. We were shown into the plaza and the crowd continued to grow and grow and grow. There were flags from everywhere, people were singing and dancing and laughing and having a tremendous time being together. At the front of the plaza a stage had been set up and we endured a series of speeches from a variety of officials including one from the fun run’s title sponsor, Continental Airlines, from ING the title sponsor of the marathon, from UN folks, from the New York Road Runners (the organizers of the marathon, etc.). Then they introduced the “head table guests” so to speak. There were 5 or 6 and all were former champions or the like. The Canadian was a woman from Edmonton, GerriLynn (sp?) who was a 4-time NYC marathoner. We of course gave her a huge roar and ovation. Interestingly, I ended up sitting with GerriLynn in the holding area for 4 hours on race day. She is really nice and I learned she had come with the Running Room group from Alberta. After all the introductions they got to the main event which was presentation of an award to honour a runner who has contributed in a significant way to the sport. The recipient was Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain and to present the award was Greta Waitz of Norway.

When all that was done with we headed back out onto the road to start the run. The sea of humanity was totally impressive. The streets of Manhattan were blocked off for us as we ran down past Grand Central Station and then turned up 4th Avenue towards Central Park. As I ran I took plenty of pictures of folks who had “dressed for the occasion”. There were folks from Holland wearing sponge covers on their shoes to make them look like wooden clogs. I saw a guy dressed in a full samurai outfit. Lots of people with faces painted in their national colors. I chatted with as many folks as I could, including a trio of young ladies from Ireland who had raised the equivalent of $20,000 (cdn) for the Alzeheimer Association, some folks from Berlin, England, Germany, Mexico and Peru.

To represent the RM Nation I had worn my Running Mania shirt. Note to self – at an international run, wear an orange short and be prepared that EVERYONE will assume you are from Holland !!!

The run (it was probably about 4K total) finished in Central Park where we were met by volunteers handing out breakfast in a bag – juice, Gatorade, water, bagel, cream cheese, fruit, etc. The volunteers were up on the deck of a series of flatbed trucks and were passing the goodies out from there. The flatbed that I ended up receiving from was staffed by a group of beautiful young African-american girls wearing tiaras and sashes – they were the “royal court” from a beauty pageant.

As the crowd dispersed I managed to connect with some people interested in t-shirt trading. I managed to swap 3 tee’s from local races I had done for tee’s from Japan, Brazil and Mexico. I also gave away a ton of Canada flag pins to anyone who looked like they might like one.

I had really hoped to connect with Mander at the fun run but not sure if she was there. Sadly I never did get to meet her. I was however fortunate to meet up with another member of the RM Nation – girlygrl – after the fun run. She and I had pre-arranged to meet for lunch and as others who have attended RM M&G’s have said, it was great to finally meet someone with whom you have corresponded over an extended period of time.

That’s all for Chapter Two. Next installment will be about the carbo dinner and my actual race report so stay tuned faithful readers.

Chapter Three - Saturday Preparations

After the Friendship Run I made a bee-line to the subway and headed back to the Runners Expo. I had found out on Friday night that there had been some confusion with respect to the bus transportation and that I needed to get my bib stamped “BUS” to be able to get onto the coaches that would take us over to the start at Staten Island. Once again, the process was quick and efficient which left me with some time to browse the displays again. I picked up a couple of free posters, a whole bunch of free stuff from Nike in support of Lance and I bought a really nice Saucony LS shirt that says “Triumph in NYC 06”. The way the letters are coloured in gold and black what stands out is RUN NY 06.

Then it was off to meet fellow maniac girlygrl. She and I have been corresponding every day since she first posted a notice looking for a training partner for NY. We live on opposite sides of the country (Edmonton/Fredericton) but by the time we met in New York it was like we were old friends. We had lunch together, gabbed for a couple of hours then wished each other well and headed off in our separate directions fully expecting not to see each other again. As you might guess by this comment, there is however a twist of fate to come in a future chapter.

The pre race pasta dinner was at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. It was set up with numerous tents adjoining the building and it was amazing how fast they were able to cycle people through. There were three types of past plus salad plus Gatorade water and beer. Only at a pre race banquet would the beer be the slowest moving free beverage. I enjoyed dinner with runners from NY and from away. Most were first timers like me but one chap had run it several times so he was able to give us lots of information about the day to come.

After dinner we were given a small bag with a box of pasta from the sponsor Barilla and some apples and some other small items. We also were given a small cup of gelato which was great but nearly gave me frostbite trying to hold the plastic cup as I walked through central park and ate it. Although there were fireworks scheduled for 7:30 I was done eating by 6:00 so decided to head back to my hotel rather than wait around.

The rest of Saturday evening I spent getting all my stuff ready for Sunday. This included food for the morning, diabetes supplies, my running clothes, the extra clothes to wear in the holding area, clothes for after the race, etc. Just as important was getting some of my motivational material together. I checked to be sure that I had my three special coins – a Terry Fox Loonie, a Pink Ribbon Quarter and a Poppy Quarter. I put on Canada flag temporary tattoos, I wrote CSP on each shoe (for Chris Steve and Peter – my son, my brother and me who all live with diabetes) and I put 26 small cards (one for each mile) with motivational sayings from the Maniacs and others that my admin assistant had received in the weeks leading up to the race. I also put on a wrist band with the names of all my donors (total raised now just over $6200 for NY and almost $20,000 between NY 06 and Dublin 02) since it was because of them that I was able to run NY. The wrist band also had 4 special intentions on it. They were for my aunt who had died in May but who knew that I was doing NY, my colleague Helene who is in treatment for breast cancer at this time, my dad and hero who died at age 48 from leukemia and for a couple Kendra and Johnson in Ottawa who I have never met but who I “know” through their blog. Johnson is awaiting a kidney transplant (complications from diabetes) and his wife Kendra is testing to become a living donor. They are Team Diabetes participants aiming to do Honolulu in December. The final items were my watch, a 4:45 pace band and temporary tattoos on the back of my hands, one a pink ribbon and one a poppy.

I managed to get to bed at a decent hour – around 9:30 I believe – and slept mych better than expected until the alarm went off at 4 a.m. followed by the hotel wake up call. I looked out the window and could see that the area where we were staying was already blocked off by the NYPD and that there were already volunteers lining the streets that led to the NY Public Library where we were to meet our transport. Clearly, it was time for the show to begin. Stay tuned for Chapter 4 to be posted this weekend

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.

What an experience. Full race report to follow. For the moment all I have time to write is that I had the most incredible running experience of my life. I soaked in every bit of the experience and finished with a PB of 4:45 (and change).

Further updates to follow ...

It's 6:30 and I've been up for an hour already in anticipation of the International Friendship Run (6K) that takes place this morning. Yesterday was spent being a tourist - WTC Ground Zero, Century 21 department store and a cruise to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There was a reception for Team D last evening and then I went on my own to Virgil's Real Barbeque for supper. THE BEST RIBS I HAVE EVER HAD !!!!!!

Today was my first full day in NYC. I started with a 20-minute run. It was dark and raining but wonderful to think that it was the last run I will do on my own. Saturday is a fun run with the other international participants and then Sunday is the main race day.

I met Jill at the airport at 10:30 and then took a cab into the city to go to the Runners Registration and Expo at the Javitts centre. It was amazing. Very well organized - took less time to register than at the Fredericton Half Marathon in May. Then we toured the various displays of running products and bought a few souvenirs, some running clothes, etc.

From the Expo we took a shuttle to Grand Central Station, walked to Times Square, then up Broadway and over to Fifth Avenue. Everywhere we went we say posters and signs of the marathon and anyone who heard that i was running was quick to wish me the best. It is starting to sink in that this is HUGE. I'm told it is like the atmosphere surrounding the Super Bowl or World Cup.

Ended up this afternoon at the office of my host and friend Nick Mumford. His office on the 30-something floor of 9 west 57th (IXIS Capital Markets) overlooks Central Park. Truly magnificent. Nick's coworkers all wished me well for Sunday.

From there we drove out to where Nick and Isabelle live in Rye (Westchester County). It is absolutely beautiful here. Just finished supper and now we're starting to wind down from the long and busy day. Tomorrow we are going to do some sightseeing and then we will go our separate ways - me to join up with the Team Diabetes contingent and Jill to return to Rye. The next time I will see her is, I hope at Mile 8 or 9 (Brooklyn) where she and Isabelle are going to position themselves to cheer me on. then they'll move to Mile 18 on the upper east side and finally to mile 24 in Central Park.

... I'm leavin' on a jet plane. You know the song!

Last blog entry before I call my cab and head for the airport. Let's get this party started !!!!

Had a great run at lunchtime yesterday - 60 minutes at easy pace. Felt very comfortable and had a hard time wiping the smile off my face when it was over. Lots of great motivation yesterday, my last day at the office. I received a collection of inspirational quotations to read at some point and 26 small cards with sayings on them - one for every mile. Just as I was leaving a colleague dropped off a donation - thanks very much Joe!!

Just looked up results for a couple of people that I am associated with through Team Diabetes. They were running the Dublin marathon which took place this past Monday. They had great runs so I'm taking that as a good omen for me.

Time to roll.