Race Report: from Daniel Wellner

Daniel in Brooklyn

As usual, the NYCM weekend was very exciting for me and a lot
of fun. Penguins from all over are arriving in New York, and we have
dinners and parties and encounters. On Thursday and Friday I
volunteered at the international registration desk, meeting lots of
runners from France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, UK, Germany and many
other countries. On my breaks, I wandered through the expo and
enjoyed the excellent meals provided by the NYRRC. Friday night, we
had the traditional Penguin "wings and beer" encounter. Saturday was
my rest day, At 3:30, we had the pre-race pasta dinner (Chicken
Parmigiana, Spaghetti Pomodoro, Tiramisu) and we made plans to meet
in the morning at the Penguin Condo in Ft. Wadsworth.

Organizing the dinner for Penguins and Deads has been my job
now for many years (since before the Penguins existed) but now,
somehow, it has also become my job to set up the Penguin Condo on
marathon morning. This requires getting there early, before the
Penguins arrive and while there is still room inside a tent to
reserve a meeting place. It is also necessary to hang up a large pink
Penguin banner on the side of the tent. Last year, I took one of the
early buses but I had the misfortune of getting a driver who didn't
know the way to Staten Island. He got lost in Brooklyn and it took us
an hour and a half to get to Ft. Wadsworth.

So, on Sunday morning I got up at 3:45 and arrived at the NY
Public Library at 4:30, in time to catch the very first bus. There
was no line for the bus, the driver knew the way and there was very
little traffic. It was weird to arrive at the staging area when there
were no runners there. A young woman from San Diego who was doing her
first NYCM sat next to me on the bus. She didn't have anything warm
to wear so I invited her to join us in the Penguin Condo. She helped
me spread mylar blankets on the ground in the corner of a tent and
hang up the banner. She tried to go to sleep but she was shivering
until I put an extra mylar blanket over her. After a while, the tent
was full of runners sleeping or sitting around, talking. Some
Penguins arrived, including Harriet and my friend Lloyd from Arizona.
As I walked out of the tent to get a bagel and some smoothies for
breakfast, I met Ron (who is very easy to find in a crowd) and I
brought him over to the Condo. Of course he took some pictures.

Lloyd and I decided to start together so, at 9:00, we packed
our bags and went over to our respective UPS trucks. After finding
each other again, we walked over to one of the front orange corrals.
Lloyd was nervous and didn't think he was going to do well. (He did
great!) It took us one and a half minute to get to the starting line.

I think the start is always the most exciting moment of the
NYCM. It was a beautiful cool morning, helicopters were hovering over
our heads, I could feel the bridge vibrating under my feet, "New
York, New York" was blaring out of loudspeakers, and I was feeling
great. I couldn't keep up with Lloyd and, after a short time, he was
out of sight.

I have run this race 23 times before, so there were not many
surprises for me. On 4th Avenue, Ron passed me with his two young
ladies and he ran backwards to take pictures of us (that's the picture
at the top of this page).. On First Avenue
and 70th Street (just before mile 17) Vaira was waiting for me with
my favorite energy source, chocolate chip cookies. I stopped to talk
to her and to a bunch of my students who were yelling and waving and
taking pictures. I was planning to be there at 2:00 pm, but I was
about 10 minutes late. (However, I did get there before the fat
people ;-)). At that point I realized that my final time would not be
anywhere near my original goal of 5:30. I didn't really care. I knew
I could finish but I wouldn't make the Monday NY Times. I just wanted
to enjoy the rest of the race in spite of my very tired legs.

Some signs being held up by the spectators:

"You are all crazy"

"Your feet are hurting because you are kicking so much ass"

On the Willis Avenue bridge (Mile 20), I met a 62 y.o. man
who was doing his 101st marathon. He was walking the whole race, but
he was doing 14 to 15 minute miles. I joined him, walking as fast as
I could, but I had to jog occasionally when he got ahead of me. We
had a nice conversation and the miles went by much faster. He told me
his wife was angry at him because he had promised her he would stop
at 100. When the finish line came into view, he speeded up and I
could no longer keep up with him. I finished in 6:14. I don't
understand why I was so slow. I did a marathon 4 weeks earlier in
5:33 and I did Boston in April in 5:38. Obviously, I did not train
enough (no running for 4 weeks). Perhaps I was also suffering from
Lyme disease (I had recently been bitten by a tick). And perhaps I
didn't get enough sleep. Anyway, I was happy to get my medal.

After I finished, I became very cold. They had run out of
mylar blankets. I had to walk a long way to get to my baggage truck.
Later, a volunteer gave me a small gold-colored mylar blanket. It was
better than nothing. When I finally got my bag, I could put on my
sweat suit and get a little warmth. I walked home very, very slowly.
Then, I took a shower, ate dinner with Vaira, and immediately went to
sleep. I had to get up at 6:00 the next morning.

Run Liz Run (I was wearing your bracelet.)

Daniel

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