NYCM2002 - Peggy Harper Race Report

Race Report

New York City Marathon

Sunday, November 3, 2002

LONG REPORT FOLLOWS (you've been warned), and I had a VERY short time in NY! I got to Ellen Fernandes' about 3 Saturday afternoon, and had about 30 seconds to say HI to her wonderful husband Tony before she and I headed downtown for dinner. I had made nametags for everyone, so it helped me figure out who the ones were that I'd never met in person! We had the whole restaurant to ourselves and at times it was so loud it was almost hard to talk or hear!!! Karen Bingham looked MAHHHH-VE-LOUS, dah-links!!! She had several surprise awards at the end of dinner and mine was for the slowest official marathon time (my first marathon was almost two years ago at Kiawah Island in SC). I got a Penguin Log Book which was really neat because I CAN USE IT!!!!! THANKS KAREN!!!!

Dinner was fairly early, and El and I got home in time to relax and watch Trading Spaces (this is relevant later in the report). Got a great night's sleep and Dave got there ahead of schedule. A little momentary panic when the car picking us up was late, we missed the exit, turned around, and finally figured out where we were going! Found the Penguin Tent right away and settled in for awhile! It's a LONG wait from about 8 when we got there (and other Penguins had been there since about 6) and the start at 11!!! Not one of the big plusses about NY as far as I'm concerned but I guess logistically it works. About 9 I headed over the the portapotty line with Lauren Clark and we were in line almost exactly an hour! We were behind the NBC broadcaster for a couple of minutes during that hour but we have no idea if we got our few seconds on TV or not! By the time we got back to the tent, people were beginning to think about heading over to the start (about 10:20 or so by now).

So, everyone gradually wanders over, and we all stayed pretty much together on the bridge. They sang the Star-Spangled Banner, we see the pace car, news vehicles, and the elite men zoom by on the other side of the bridge, our cannon booms for the mass start, and the loudspeakers start playing "New York, New York." WAY cool!!! However, after that, it's mass pandemonium!!! Clothes are flying, people are flying, bodies are practically flying! A lot of runners in the back were incredibly anxious to get ahead of everyone they could, but we're talking wall-to-wall people on this bridge! You had to watch the road, because there was so much stuff (clothes, mylar blankets, etc) littering the ground you were trying to run on! I got whacked hard a couple of times, bumped a lot, and one or two people actually said "on your right" or "excuse me" as they dashed by! And I was trying to stay over to the side!!!

But I had a hard time jogging on the bridge, because it moved--a LOT!!!! It was like your feet wouldn't land where you expected them to! Very disconcerting! I wasn't near the edge, and I don't have a fear of heights or bridges or anything, but it was one of the weirdest sensations and I had a hard time with it! Almost made me feel woozy! So, I just kept ambling along, but the bridge is almost 2 miles long! Kind of a different start! The first half is all uphill a little, of course, and the second half is all downhill! Lots of runners stopping to take pictures of one another with the bridge supports in the background, dumping clothes, peeing--it's different!!!

I came off the bridge with Bonnie and Kelly but that was the last I saw of anyone I knew, pretty much! Started the long trek through Brooklyn--lots to look at! Not as many spectators there as other places along the course, but it was loud enough that it was usually impossible for me to hear my watch beeping. It got a little tedious having to keep looking at my watch, but I did keep up with my intervals pretty well...just keep knocking off the miles. With the sun out (this is from about 11 a.m. until after I saw El at Mile 8) it was fairly nice--about 45* out. I would work up a little sweat during my running intervals and be just a little bit cool when walking. No problems so far!

Saw El & Tony as she reported and everything was still clicking along! It was GREAT to see her, and also nice to see something familiar, since this was where I'd scream-teamed with her last year! Got some phone calls from my TeamPenguin buds, which was a big boost!!! About Mile 9 I saw some empty porta potties and made a very quick stop. As I came out, some of the sag buses were passing, and the loudspeaker said these were the last buses to Central Park. Oh...ok. If worst comes to worst, I'll get there some other way! About Mile 10 I stopped with a blister. Same place on my &$()*# foot as at Rock N Roll Half, but I caught it a lot earlier. I put on some moleskin I'd brought with me, which helped somewhat. Walking was better than running at this point since my left foot was getting a little tender with the impact. This was not helping. A friendly but somewhat "different" guy started walking with me--long hair in a ponytail, didn't have on "real" running shoes, hadn't trained, and was carrying his goody bag from packet pickup. But nice and talkative! At this point, a Ryder truck passes us and stops to pick up the medical station's equipment (all of it--cots, signs, tables, etc) and the mile markers and clocks. We played leap frog with this truck for awhile--we'd pass it while it was loading up stuff, and then it would pass us on the way to the next pickup location. The talkative guy yelled to the cops at one point, "Hey!!! They're stealing our mile things!!!!"

So, we keep going. Foot's not feeling any better, and a cop comes by slowly talking with the walkers as he passes (I was still nowhere near the last person). He was nice enough to tell us we'd probably finish around 9 o'clock that night (a slight exaggeration, I think, but not exactly what I needed to hear)!!!! I started wondering how I would get back to El's if I decided I needed to--I had a vague idea of where I was, but had no idea where the subway stops were, or even if there were any in this part of NY)!!! Of course, with the roads closed (they were NOT picking up the barriers or opening the roads to traffic yet, for which I was very thankful, but I was worried that they would) there weren't any cabs hanging around!!!

About now, two more friends called--I'm sure I sounded a little whiny! It was after 2 p.m. by now, the sun was getting lower in the sky, or behind clouds, and it was getting COLD!!! If I ran, my foot hurt, and if I didn't run, I got cold. The only run I've done which was colder was my first 5K, which was bitterly cold-- this was nothing like that, but there was no way to get warm, and the sun wasn't even completely set yet! One of the friends that I had just talked to called El and tipped her off that I was not doing as well as when she'd seen me, so at least she had a clue that things had gone downhill since I saw her at Mile 8! So, there I am, rapidly deteriorating at Mile 13. As we turned a corner just before the bridge, I saw a subway station. As far as I knew, this was my last subway stop before Manhattan, which was at least Mile 16. I started unpinning my bib (no Rosey Ruiz for me, thankyouverymuch)! The ponytail guy said, "Can't you just walk for 5 more minutes???" He was really trying to help and I really appreciated it! I told him I had 5 more minutes in me, but I didn't have 13 more miles in me! We shook hands and I started downstairs. Actually, I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out where to go! I had to take one train to a transfer point in Manhattan and change trains to get to Central Park West! El and I had to use our cell phones to find each other it was so crowded--we were at the same intersection and couldn't find each other til we were about 5 ft apart! Dave Gegear's wife Lucy was there, and we waited for Dave. Lucy had just started down the street when Dave and El came up from the other direction so I took off at a run after Lucy! If I'd run like that during the race, I might have won! Got everyone together, got pictures, Dave had his cool medal on!!! Never could get a cab, so it was a long walk back to their hotel. I felt a lot better by now other than the blister, but I don't know how Dave did it (even though I knew it was good for him to keep moving)! I'd warmed up a little on the train and had found a discarded mylar blanket to use, and Lucy had lent me Dave's fleece vest to wear until he showed up. Warm is good!

We looked and looked for anyone else we recognized while waiting for Dave (by the red reunion area, and I had walked up to 77th or so to turn in my chip) but didn't see anyone else we knew.

Said our good-byes and El and I headed home on the subway. Now, here's the great consolation prize!!! I hardly watch any TV, other than Survivor, Trading Spaces, and a similar show that's only been on since September on the Discovery Channel during the day called "Surprise by Design." There are 2 decorators from NY on that show, and one is Robert Verdi. I had told El about the show the night before while we'd been watching Trading Spaces. So, we're sitting on the train and Robert Verdi got on! I couldn't believe it! I debated about it, and went over (there were lots of empty seats) and sat down and just said quietly, "Excuse me (he was reading the paper, just like a normal person), but I just wanted to tell you I really like your show." Of course, I had no idea if he was really as nice as he seems to be on the show, but he was! He talked up a storm!!! It was so neat! El came over, and we talked until we got to our stop, and it was his stop too! So, we walked a couple more blocks with him til he went one way and we went the other, talking about the show and the marathon! He was impressed I'd even finished half and it really cheered me up! I would have rather finished the marathon, but if I had, I would never have met him, since I would have still been up in Manhattan somewhere, so it was a nice treat when I was pretty bummed! Since El was off work today, she promised to watch the show! I guess he's not famous enough yet to be bothered by fans talking to him!

The day wasn't quite over! Got one more TeamPenguin call from Marie-Claude in Canada (she posts occasionally on this list) as we walked home and El and I both talked to her! I didn't know she had a great French accent!!! Her posts will sound different from now on!!!

I don't usually pack so much into such a short weekend! Less than 48 hours after I left, I'm back home! I've been thinking about what to do next, and with the end of the year coming up, it's a natural time to re-assess. I think I'm much better at half marathons than wholes! Some people aren't cut out to be ballerinas or pro football players or whatever might strike their fancies and maybe marathons aren't for me. I don't know, but I have decided not to attempt any more marathons until I break 3 hours for a half. Marathons have such a large mental component and I know it really bummed me out when they started packing up and going home out on the course. Even the NY marathon is not quite as festive when you're at the back of the pack, and I need to work on getting faster before I worry about further. I'm also a little burned out by focusing so much on mileage--I am going to swim, and bike, and do more weight training between now and the end of the year. Other than that, things are back to normal (HAHAHA)!!!!