The New
York Marathon November 2013
The New
York marathon was held on Sunday 3rd of November 2013. It was the 43rd year of the
race and is one of the 6 major world marathons. It runs through the 5 boroughs of
New York and is one of the largest footraces in the world.
The race
starts out in Staten Island at 9:40am and finishes inside in Central Park.
The position of the start means you have an early start to get out to
Staten Island before the bridge closes at 7am from all traffic. You will need
to keep well wrapped up before the start of the race as it can be chilly
and there is a bit of a wait before the start.
9:40am
The start of the race Staten island and the first of the boroughs. Right
before the start the national anthem is sung followed by the firing of the
canon's and Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York to signal the start of the
race.
The first mile is all up hill onto the
Verrazano bridge where you will find NYPD helicopters circling all around
the bridge and a boat in the water underneath spraying water up into the air
like a fountain. You won’t take much notice of the hill as you will be taking
in the view and be in the midst of a load of other runners. The second mile is
a very fast mile as you run down the other side of the bridge and into the second
borough Brooklyn.
The race
runs along 4th avenue and as soon as you come off the bridge there are good
crowds of support cheering on the runners. The race goes along 4th avenue for
about 6miles which has good wide streets so no need to be pushing your way
through crowds of runners and wasting energy. You may find a couple of small
inclines in pieces of this section but nothing to slow you down. The crowds
will keep you going anyway.
After 8 miles the race comes into Williamsburgh
and onto Bedford avenue. Here you will find a few hills and around the 9
or 10 mile mark will pass through the Jewish quarter of the city. Once you
leave this area you will find local bands blasting out the music and songs and
may help you get rid of any negative thoughts you might of had if you were
starting to struggle in any way.
There
will be a good atmosphere from here all the way to the Pulaski bridge
where you will come to the half way point and also enter into the 3rd of
the borough's Queen's.
At this
stage you will have half of the race done and shortly after crossing over the
Pulaski bridge you will start to see the daunting task that is the Queensboro
bridge. Here you will come shortly to the 14 mile mark and it
is roughly 2 miles long. This is where a lot of people will really start to get
tired especially if you try to keep going at the same pace you were doing all
along so maybe pull back things a small bit until you get to the other
side of the bridge. Also from just before the bridge all the way to the other
side there is no support or bands to keep you going as the bridge is only
opened to runners. There is a long hard climb up through the bridge so try to
think positive as it can feel like it never ends. Once you get to the other
side of the bridge you enter the 4th of the borough's for the first time
Manhattan. Here you will be hit with a massive wall of sound from the
spectators and the crowds seem to be bigger already. The race takes a left turn
and onto 1st avenue. Here you have done 16.5 miles and your down to the last 10
miles.
In
front of you, you can see for at least 3 miles dead straight in front of you
with lots of small rolling hills up and down and a massive crowd of support on
both sides of the road cheering you on. At 19.5 miles the race crosses over the
Willis avenve bridge and into the 5th borough the Bronx where it only stays for
about 1.5 miles before it crosses over the Madison avenue bridge and back into
Manhattan for the second and last time.
Here you
will come onto 5th avenue and are starting to head towards the finish. Miles 21
to 23 aren't too bad nothing to worry about apart from tired legs but mile 23
to 24 is all up hill and is a struggle. The only thing is that the crowds are getting bigger and bigger
as you get closer to the finish and if you can get over this mile the worst of
it is over.
Mile 24
to 25 is in through Central park where you will find 1 or 2 hills but you
will also get 1 or 2 nice down hills to help you recover. Shortly after this
you will exit Central park and come onto Central park south road where you will
be onto the streets for the last time before the finish where you will find the
crowds cheering you on to the finish.
With
about 200 meters before the 26 mile mark you come back into Central park and
you know you are nearly done. You then see the sign for the last 400 meters to
go. All you have left is one small incline and a bit of a left turn where you
will see the grandstands on both sides of the finish area and of course the
finish line.
You
will get a great feeling as you cross the finish line knowing you have
just completed one of the biggest marathons in the world in a city like New
York with 51,000 other runners.
Mission accomplished.Time was just over 3hrs
30 minutes. A new personal best. Chuffed.
My thoughts
on the race are very positive. Having completed a few marathons now it is very
much one of the best . This is definitely a race any enthusiastic runner should
consider. It may cost a bit but is well worth it. The weather was good for it
was only a little chilly at the start mainly because of where the start is
but the rest of the day was perfect for running. As for the course you will get
a bit of everything some hills, up some down hills, some bridge's
and a lot of flat straight roads. What else could you ask for. You will also
get a lovely medal and a nice goody bag after the race and a lovely warm wrap
around poncho. The only thing against it is you will have a bit of a wait
before the start so be sure to bring old throw away clothes to keep you warm
and it takes a long time to get out of Central park after you finish
so if your meeting family make sure to give yourself plenty of time.
However even after you get out of the park and walk down the street to wherever
you are going you will always find locals congratulating you and make you
feel good about yourself and your achievement.
The rest
of the evening was spent in the evening of the other Mallow runners who also
ran the marathon. Well done to Paudie and Ger, a mighty day indeed.
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