Woohoo! It’s the week of the New York City Marathon and Central Park is bursting with excitement. The finish line area has been getting set up since last week, and this past weekend was “the last 10,” a tradition among the city’s run clubs to run the last 10 miles of the route. I went on a run Saturday and ran against the run club traffic in the park, then figured I might as well ride off their energy and turned around to run with the crowd. Are you running the marathon this weekend? I’ll be out cheering on Fifth Ave.
In the spirit of a post from earlier this month—8 things to know before you run a marathon—I thought I’d share learnings specific to the New York City Marathon today. I’ve ran it three times, and you know what, none have been standout athletic achievements for me but all have been fun, some more so than in others:
2018: I ran it a month after running the Wineglass Marathon and didn’t really train in between. I had missed a BQ at Wineglass by a few minutes and briefly thought about going after it in New York but then decided to fun run it in. A good decision.
2019: This one was a wildcard. Chicago was my “A” marathon that year, so once again, I ran two back-to-back marathons. I had entered a Poland Springs sweepstakes on a whim over the summer and ended up winning a bib to the New York City Marathon. (The prompt was to take a picture of Poland Spring water bottles being recycled and tag the brand on Instagram.) I wasn’t sure if I would actually do it but I decided last-minute to pace my friend Amanda, who was running her first marathon. I hate to use the word fun again but it was SO FUN!
2021: ROUGH. My first marathon post-stress fracture and pandemic, and I really felt like I had a lot to prove. Unfortunately, it all came tumbling down. I realized during the race that I needed to channel my love of running into something else, so I… started this newsletter a few days later.
Hobbyist dreams
I ran the New York City marathon on Sunday, my sixth marathon and third in New York. It was a bitch. I trained my butt off over the last four months with the goal of breaking 3:20 and I was on pace to do so until mile 19, when my stomach, and then my mind, betrayed me.
So what have I learned from these three endeavors? The main thing is that the New York City Marathon is not the race to run if you’re trying to run your fastest marathon time. IMO, it’s a brutal course that will chew you up and spit you out. So, you might as well have fun?! People like to say that it’s a big block party, and honestly it kind of is. If anything, just enjoy the party.
Some other, more practical things to keep in mind, in no particular order:
Bring toilet paper, carby snacks (Graham crackers, granola bars, pretzels), water/Gatorade, and garbage bags to sit on. It’s actually kind of crazy how long plebeian runners have to wait in Staten Island before their start time. It has to do with the closing of the Verrazzano Bridge or something, but it’s just absurd. I think I had three hours to kill in 2021! Even if you plan to run with your phone, you don’t want to waste your battery scrolling through Instagram, so I recommend bringing disposable reading materials too. If you’re a chatty person, there are lots of people milling about ready to strike up small talk with strangers.
Don’t try to sneak into an earlier corral. The corral volunteers are hard to mess with. Start corrals are based on pace time, and sorry but it’s an asshole move to sneak into a faster corral if you’re substantially slower.
Don’t pay attention to your splits for the first two miles. The first mile will be slow because it’s crowded and uphill, but you’ll make up time in the second mile, which is downhill. Don’t stress! You have a lot more miles to care about exact paces. Plus, if you’re on the lower level of the bridge your GPS probably won’t be accurate.
Speaking of bridges, save your best music or mantras for the Queensboro Bridge. Things get real dark in there.
Parts of the course where the vibes are extra high: Miles 8-9 in Clinton Hill, 11-12 in Williamsburg, 16-18 on the Upper East Side, 24-26 in Central Park.
Parts of the course where the vibes are a little low (other than the Queensboro): Miles 10-11 in south Williamsburg and miles 20-23 in the Bronx, Harlem, and Upper East Side.
Put your name on your bib so people can cheer for you!!
If you can, avoid checking a bag. Because security is so tight, you have to walk a lot just to get out of the finish chute and find your family and friends. Having a bag to claim is one extra thing to worry about. If you’re worried about clothes, you’ll get a warm fleece poncho to keep you warm at the end of the race.
Get in the frame and smile every time you see an official race photographer. Race photos are a numbers game.
That’s all I can think of right now. It’s going to get hard because it’s a marathon, but that’s why you signed up. When it does, just look up and take in your surroundings.
See you on the other side,
Elaheh
One day I'll finally run it, and take these tips to heart