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Race Report New York City Marathon Sunday, November 3, 2002 |
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Race Report New York City Marathon Sunday, November 3, 2002 |
RACE REPORT - Kelly Ambrose, KAmbrose@ucc.on.ca
NYCM – the experience of a lifetime…..
I went into this marathon feeling really confident and strong. I was nervous, but more about the unknown – the crowds and whether I would like it or be overwhelmed by it. I chatted about this briefly with MaryD who hates it...not a good idea...crusty old broad!
Well, I liked it!! Hearing my name was wonderful. Every time I lowered my head (which was more and more near the end) someone would call out KELLY!!! And I would look up and smile…It was just incredible…..
Most Pain: My cheeks hurt more that my legs from all the smiling and laughing that I did….
Best quote of the day: from a little thug in Brooklyn who was obviously getting a bit cynical of the cheering “Just do the DAMN thing!:… Made me laugh!
Best photo op: About 30 really cute fireman, some on their truck just waiting to be high fived and kissed! There were fireman on every corner!!
Best accent: Brooklyn cops – HOWAHYA???
Best snack: A banana from the cutest little 2 yr. old boy that came out on the course, held it out and said “nana?”
Best Food: post race breakfast at L’Express in the west village….I have never tasted such good poached eggs and sausage in my life!
Being with the Penguins before the start of the race was really comforting. I got off the bus at Statten Island just beaming and ready. I wanted coffee but otherwise I was drinking it all in and enjoying everything. First thing I saw on my right was the first tent with a big pink Penguin Banner waving in the breeze…. Walked in and was greeted warmly..our Penguin condo…Felt like I was home! Laid out my sleeping bag (more on that later!) and left my bag there to go line up for coffee. 30 minutes later (standing the whole time) I made my way back and enjoyed the company of everyone as they came in…the last being Ellen and Ken who live in Manhattan! We took pictures, wrote our names on tape and generally chatted the time away.
I made everyone laugh (especially Sue from Buffalo) with a story about my sleeping bag which I would be leaving there..Warren and I had fond memories of that sleeping bag from when we first started dating…at which point in the story everyone that is cuddled up in the sleeping bag says “Yuck!” and gives it back to me!
The World’s Longest Urinal
I decided to go check out the porta-potties and see if the myth of the world’s longest urinal really existed…. Yup! On a slope against a fence was a trough that must have been about 200 feet long that sloped down to a sewage truck where the pee was sucked up through a hose…. Gravity at it’s finest! I was fascinated but modesty kept me from staring too long and I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture which I now regret!!
Decisions….
Now comes a hard decision – I really want to run with fellow Penguin Bonnie, especially after all the training we did, the laughing we did and knowing that we both want the same things out of the day ahead….do I leave the Penguins who are all in a group, lead by Ron Horton and heading out to the start, or do I go with Bonnie, her friend Catharine and family unknown…
I choose Bonnie - YEAH BABY!!! I am so glad I did…
We head out to the Varrazano Bridge eventually, about 2 minutes before race time…we are WAYYYY back, but that’s ok…we aren’t even thinking about time…it is the best, most stress free race I have ever waited to run at this point….
We sing along with the Star Spangled Banner, Frank Sinatra, watch the doves that are let go above our heads, circling back and forth and then are startled by the cannon…..
A slow slow shuffle for about 15 minutes (felt like forever) and we finally start moving, the whole time dodging clothes, blankets, coats and the ground is wet with pee everywhere…yuck! This is not a place where you want to fall!
Ok, this is totally freaky, it is moving up and down…so much that it screws up your steps…. We shed our clothes along the way, stop to take pictures…and the end we see the concrete barriers that Ellen Hasbruck has told us about as it is a perfect pit stop! We take advantage of it….Bonnie needs mental help so I make the sound of running water to help her out and it works…heeheee!
We start up again and see a gaggle of girlies (British) all running in bras that have been decorated with UK colours in sequins etc… I think BRRRR…..they will be cold… we never see them again… not sure what happened…they probably didn’t make it out of Harlem…
A man in shorts and a t-shirt (brrr again..) is juggling 6 balls the whole frigging way…
I AM SERIOUS…. We see him for about 2 miles and then we can’t keep up with him…
We also see various Achilles runners which leave me in awe…Bonnie asks their names and we encourage them on… At this point the spectators are amazing… GO KELLY GO KELLY!! YOU’RE ALMOST THERE – which is such a lie!!! I tell them that too!
From a far distance a see a blob of yellow with a blob of pink hat…gotta be Kathryn Lye with the scream team which means my Husband!! Can’t wait for a big hug from him.
I wave and they start jumping up and down and literally screaming…Warren looks so exciting to see me and I hug him and cry just ‘cause it is so good to have him there.
Hugs all around, I point out another Penguin coming up – Marie who I don’t know and we take off again.
There are many people handing out tissues, candies etc.. I turn down a square of paper towel but go back for it after she yells “Portapotties ahead””
From a far distance a see a blob of yellow with a blob of pink hat…gotta be Kathryn Lye with the scream team which means my Husband!! Can’t wait for a big hug from him.
I wave and they start jumping up and down and literally screaming…Warren looks so exciting to see me and I hug him and cry just ‘cause it is so good to have him there.
Hugs all around, I point out another Penguin coming up – Marie who I don’t know and we take off again.
We stop for more pictures…at one point the road is narrow and the crowds on both sides close and there is a conga type beat (Tracy I totally visualized you with me there) Bonnie, Catharine and I all conga down the road following the beat with our arms in the air which the crowd loves…
I think we see the scream team again, but can’t remember exactly where. It felt like they kept popping up magically…and each time it was awesome to see that blob of crazy yellow..
We stop at the next Medical Station for Catherine to get some Tylenol. She has a knee injury and wants to take the edge off. She also gets a massage while she is there and is encouraged by the verdict – “not too swollen..”..We giddyup!
We see another fire truck with lots of cute firemen. On the truck is a banner ; “JULIE – WILL YOU MARRY ME?” Julie is running in the race and she is just climbing up to say yes…How cool!! Bonnie and I get vaklempt!! They pop a bottle of champagne, the crowd roars, we snap pictures and giddyup again….
Everything now starts to get quiet and somber. It feels like we are in the Wizard of Oz where they leave Oz and everything is black and white….
We are in the Orthodox Jewish area of Brookyn and it is quiet. Women and girls are walking, pushing big, old fashioned type carriages, men stand and stare wearing their fedoras and locks. Bonnie asks “where are all the boys?” There are clusters of girls on each corner looking at us and asking in slightly broken English “from where you come?” When we tell them, they ooh and ahh about coming all the way from Canada. Some of them give us hard candy, occasionally one can’t contain her enthusiasm and yells YAYYYY and claps her hands.
Then we see a school on the right with every window filled with boys – that’s where they are! We speculate that they are there to protect them from the potential things they could see with respect to modesty during the race..One window is open and they are cheering…out the door comes a teacher who looks up, shakes his finger and just stands there. The window slowly goes down and all the boys melt back from the window…We are seeing some many cool perspectives of this city…
We now cross over the Pulaski bridge into Queens. A good incline and we walk part of it. Crowd support starts to thin just before the bridge and there is none on the bridge which is chilly…coming off the bridge, we make a sharp turn where Bonnie and I do an airplane bank turn…Spectators love this…we start to do this at all sharp turns. Yes, we are hams!!
Now onto the Queensboro Bridge which again is a long, long incline and is lonely and chilly….We meet up with an Achilles Wheelchair athlete being pushed by a guide and is using one foot to push himself. His name is George and he is from Oshawa, Ontario his guide has told us. He passes us and then we see him at the next medical station being treated and sadly hear the sound of an ambulance coming for him. Achilles athletes started 2 hours before us, so at this point he has been out for about 6 hours…We yell Hang in there George as we go by…We thankfully come off the bridge (though it feels good to run downhill) and welcome the spectators on First Ave in Manhattan!
1st Avenue
We had been looking forward to the promised huge cheering crowds…they were pretty thin by the time we got there…but still fun! The bar crowds needed a bit of encouragement which Bonnie was expert at so we had lots of cheers along the way. The spectators were getting tired but still fortified by their beverages. Great live music supplemented by people blasting tunes from their apartments. We sing along to “Yesterday” and the Archies, “Sugar Sugar”. We actually stop to dance to the Archies…can’t resist that! Bonnie is full of energy still, Catharine is having a hard time and hurting. We pass Ellen and Ken and get big wet smoochy hugs…I just love those guys!! Ken looks like Superman with his mylar sheet blowing behind him. Ellen says “Isn’t this just too much fun?”
It is starting to get cold now and I zip up my jacket. We are briefly warmed again by the scream team who bring the requested Lays Potato Chips!! YUM YUM! More sweaty hugs again….Warren says I love you, Kathryn says YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL….Live is sweet..
Here we are now at mile 18 and this is the PowerGel station, apparently situated to help hold off the wall….more and more runners are looking like they already hit it head on…
We also get wet sponges which I use to wipe off my face…some wacko running beside me sucks on it and says yuck….I laugh and suggest that it is for wiping off sweat rather than hydration…go figure! And she isn’t even blonde….
I am starting to get really tired of these bridges. They are windy, cold and lonely….But the views are good! The is the Willis Ave bridge and it crosses over into the Bronx where we run for about a mile…
We see the screamers again and my only memory of this part is Kathryn Lye kissing my face all over while I thought yuck, I am so sweaty, she must really love me!
We cross over the 59th Street bridge and I finally get to sing the Simon and Garfunkel song….Halfway at the top of the incline, we are treated to Barenaked Ladies “If I had a Million Dollars” and we spend some time speculating what we would buy…A limo to take us to the finish was the consensus… Starting to smile less but still feeling really strong… This is the longest run I have done in training…
We are running down the east side of Central Park now and can see in the park. Mentally this is good but we know we still have a few miles. Most runners are walking and looking pretty dismal… Catherine is really struggling and tells us to go on, she will walk. We decide to go and promise to meet her at the finish…giddyup! It is pretty dark now…something which I hadn’t even thought about. DAMN, I would have worn my flashing devil horns if I had remembered…and sure enough, up ahead is someone with a pair on! A guy beside me moans as we run by and complains that we are running too easy. He tries to keep up and I say, just slow down and relax honey! He ignores me…MEN!
We keep going, picking up the pace slightly but still take our walk breaks..We are still strong!!! We come out of the park briefly and then back in at Columbus Circle and we see Myra, one of the scream teamers which a sign saying some like determination is next to godliness….heeeheee….I blow her a kiss and we keep going…
Kathryn’s yellow jacket again and my wonderful husband, this time I cry…We are almost done… We hear the announcer calling out people’s names and we giddyup again…
We pick up the pace even more.. Bonnie says DRINK IT IN…I DO!!
We see signs….300 yards to go….200 yards to go…100 yards to go…..
The lights are bright and I feel like I am floating in the lights and I am smiling so broadly I must have looked so goofy!!! We fly across the finish line and hug!! Walk thru and get medals put around our necks and big congratulations…
We dance to “We are Family” by the Sister Sledge (I think) …and wait for Catherine who isn’t far behind. She looks happy and relived, but cold. We get our space blankets wrapped firmly around us and continue on…We pick up our bags and continue on….and on…and on…before finally getting to the meeting area and chip removal.
There are lots of Penguins still around and the scream team and we have pictures, hugs and tears…..
We did it!! I knew we would, but I had NO idea how much fun this would be……
Off to a epson salt bath and steak dinner with the others……
My biggest dilemma now is WHAT’S NEXT???? I don’t think anything could measure up to this experience…..
Thank you Penguins!! All those hill training sessions in the park with the Toronto Penguins, all that good advice and nurturing, the pre-race support….
You were all in my heart during the entire time! I hope you enjoyed yourself!
Thanks for reading this far!
Kelly in Toronto
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