NYCM2001 - Cheryl Link Race Report

RACE REPORT - Cheryl Link, link262@yahoo.com

I'm warning everyone right now, this could be long. If you don't want to read it, delete away. I've also included some non-runners and non-Penguins on my distribution, so please bear with me. Sunday, marathon morning, dawned early. I was up at 5 am in order to catch the subway down to the NY Public Library. From there, I caught the bus out to Staten Island. The last bus leaves the library at 7 am, with the race starting at 10:50. The morning was 48 degrees, no wind, and the sun started shining early. My worst fear of freezing out on the island for 4 hours prior to the race were unfounded. It was actually quite comfortable out there. Got to see such interesting sights as the "worlds' longest urinal." This is an area along the Verranzo Narrows Bridge where all the guys line up to whizz. I, unfortunately, had to stand in line 2x in order to hit the port-a-pots. Not fair. The logistics of moving around this large of a group must be mind-boggling. They started moving the runners to the start about 30 minutes prior to the actual start. We were lined up in corrals by estimated finishing times. I lined up with my Penguin buddies, Ron, Daniel, Doug, Carol, Ryan, and Mike. Mayor Gulianni addressed the group - really can't remember what he said. This was followed by the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful. The entire crowd sang along, and when we hit the last 2 lines of the Star Spangled Banner, "the land of the free and the home of the brave", the crowd went ballistic. A cannon then fired and the runners were off. At least the elite runners were off. The elite women went whizzing by us. For the other 25,000 of us standing on the bridge, Frank Sinatra started singing New York, New York and we started walking towards the starting line. The entire crowd was singing along with Old Blue Eyes as we made our way across the bridge. I forgot to start my watch when I hit the starting line, so I never did have any idea of how long it took to get to the starting line. The view from the bridge was simply awesome. There were fireboats out in the harbor spewing out red, white, and blue plumes of water. The view of Manhattan was also breathtaking and the smoke from Ground Zero was visible. Lined up for a few pictures with the rest of the gang. The first 2 miles of the race are across the bridge and the ramps. After that, you're heading into Brooklyn. The spectators were out in droves. Flags were flying everywhere and people were lined up 6 deep along the sidewalks. I took plenty of time to high five all the kids lined up along the sides of the road. This part of the course is still quite congested and you're only going to wear yourself out trying to dodge the crowd. I took it easy and enjoyed the scenery and the crowds. The water stops in NY seemed unique from other races. They must recruit many of the local kids to man the stops. The volunteers are wearing flourescent yellow jackets, on the kids these jackets were touching the ground. So many people manning the water stops, that they were yelling "somebody please take my water." I'd often get thru a water stop carrying 3 or 4 cups of water in order to satisfy the kids passing it out. I thanked them all, thru each and every stop. I ran across my "scream teamers" - Milt, Ken, Julia, and Glenn at mile 3. Stopped for more photos and continued on. The first 6 miles of the race were run at a 13 min per mile pace. The pace felt slow, but again, I really didn't want to get frustrated and worn out dodging people. Also, there were many great photo ops! Things started thinning out a little after that point and I started to settle into my normal pace. The course was well supported all thru Brooklyn. Every firestation had their firefighters out in force cheering, ladders extended over the race. I wore a NYFD hat and stopped to salute all the firefighters on the course. Lots and lots of folks carrying American flags, having names written on their shirt "In Memory of:", etc. The northern end of Brooklyn takes you thru a Hassidic Jewish neighborhood. The adults stood on the sides watching the runners go by, no cheering from them. But the little kids all stood with their hands outstretched waiting for a high five from the runners. After that, we were into Queens and halfway thru the marathon. I was still feeling great at this point, maintaining a very steady pace. The 59th street bridge leads you out of Queens. This is about the 14-15 mile area and lots of folks are starting to feel the effects of the race. The bridge is over a mile long and a definite uphill. There are no spectators on the bridge and it's a very lonely section. The masses were walking, but, for you Simon and Garfunkel fans, I was "feeling groovy." I maintained my pace going across the bridge. As you come off of the bridge and back into Manhattan, you start hearing the roars. I get chills right now thinking of the noise and the crowds as we exit back onto the Upper East Side. Barricades block off one lane on either side of 1st Ave. The crowds are lined up from the barricades all the way across the sidewalks - at least 10 people deep - and they are LOUD. We were running thru a tunnel of noise. These 2-3 miles had to be my fastest of the race. The people were phenomenal!! Not many runners were walking at this point, the crowd carried everyone thru. We exit Manhattan into the Bronx at 20 miles. This stretch can be a bit lonely also, and this is where many people are hitting the "wall". I had been eating Power Gels every 6 miles, drinking at all the water stops, and truthfully, I was feeling pretty good at this point. I kept waiting to hit that wall, but I never did. In fact, I didn't even feel like I was slowing down. At the 21 mile mark, I saw a speck of hot pink in front of me. It was Harriet and her "Hot-Flashes" group. I yelled at Harriet and she high-fived me. I held up my right arm - it was numb. What's up with that?? I thought about it for a minute, decided I only needed to worry if it was my left arm, and kept going ;-) This area of the Bronx is not one of the nicer parts of the course. It's just plain ugly, a very poor, depressed area. As I've said, many folks had remembrances to those killed on Sept 11th on their shirts. I happened to pass 2 guys running together one wearing a shirt that said "In memory of my son, Firefighter xxxxxx" 9/11/01. The other had a shirt reading "In memory of my brother, Firefighter xxxxx" 9/11/01. It so happened that someone had The Battle Hymm of the Republic just blasting right here. I lost it. In fact, I was crying so bad, that I was actually hyperventilating. It was so incredibly emotional. Back across a bridge into Manhattan. A little of the course taking you thru East Harlem. Again, the little kids were out passing out water. I was still dishing out the high fives and feeling good. Back into the Upper East Side and the area around Central Park. The crowds swelled again. I caught a glimpse of Milt and Ken at the 23 mile mark. No stopping for photos this time. I was feeling good, but didn't want to loose the momentum. I pointed towards the park and let them know I'd see them at the finish. This area of the run is the part that you always see on TV. People were still lining the entire final miles even though the winners had been thru almost 3 hours earlier. I was wearing an Ohio State tshirt and constantly heard "don't quit now, Buckeye" and other cheers. I really couldn't even acknowledge them. I tried to give people a smile or a thumbs up, but even that was getting difficult. I just kept plugging away, putting one foot in front of the other. Out of the park onto Central Park South, up a little incline, and there's Columbus Circle. This signals the return into the park and the finish line!!!! I charged the finish - as well as I could at that point - and hammered it in. Crossed the finish in 5:06 and change - clock time. This is the only race that I've ever been in where people were stopping before the finish and handing their cameras off to people in the crowd to take their picture in FRONT of the finish line. Crossing the finish, I felt great. I grabbed a bottle of water, a space blanket, and headed to the reunion area. As it turns out, I didn't break 5 hours chip time, it had only taken us 5 mins to get to the start. My chip time was 5:01. This was my 2nd worst marathon if I judged it on time. However, it was by far the best marathon that I've ever done in terms of pure enjoyment. I literally had to stop myself from stopping and walking in the final miles to savor the feelings. I felt great physically the entire way. There were never any thoughts of hitting the wall, never entered the "bite me zone." Milt can tell you, I can be a real b*tch in those final miles. It never happened on Sunday. I felt great and I was having fun from beginning to end. I lined up for this race feeling that I had no business being there. My training had taken some big hits in Sept. There were the emotions of 9/11 and my grandfather's death to deal with. There was also a great bit of travel involved in a vacation that we took, where we had planned to fly and also travel involved in attending the funeral. Despite all of this, I've never run stronger. This entire trip, the plane trip, the visit to NYC, the marathon, and the visit to Ground Zero has been very healing in dealing with the events of 9/11. I think this marathon was just as healing for the entire city. It was an awesome experience, an awesome weekend, and I would do it all over tomorrow - sore quads and all! Thanks for reading, Cheryl Link Dublin, Oh

email comments to Cheryl at link262@yahoo.com