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| 26.2 miles through the five boroughs of NYC |
My morning started off at 3:30am... only because the time did not adjust properly on my boyfriend's, Joey, cell phone. I had a rather restless night sleep regardless. The anticipation of the 5 hour wait in the cold was really making me anxious, even more so than the marathon itself. I laid in the pull out couch that my high school friend, Alvaro, had so kindly let us use for the past 4 nights, attempting to relax myself and clear my mind. I semi-dozed off for what seemed to be only a fraction of a second when the alarm went off at 4:30am. I got up and felt the goose bumps raise on my skin, partially from the cold and the excitement of the day finally arriving.
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| "*Yaaaaawn* Remind me why I do this again?" |
Afterwards, Joey and I walked to the South side of Central Park, the meeting spot of the MMRF chartity shuttles. It was cold... 35ºF cold. Despite being under layers of clothing, I was still shivering. How am I going to survive this long and agonizing wait before my wave's start time? Shuttles left at 5:30am and 6:00am. I decided to get orange juice and a bagel with Joe before getting on the 6am shuttle to the starting point in Staten Island. His encouraging words helped calm me down.
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| Bye Central Park! Off to Staten Island! |
At the beginning of the shuttle ride, Betsy gave us some last minute instructions, regarding bag checks, wave starts, the MMRF chartity tent... too much information for too early in the morning. I felt my adrenaline dying down and dozed off on the shuttle ride to Staten Island. The next thing I knew, we had arrived and were being hurried off the bus towards our tent. As I was following Betsy and the other MMRF team members, there were lines of men off the side of the road, urinating. I was a bit disturbed by this, I mean, really, you couldn't wait until getting to the porta-johns? Sheesh.
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| The entrance to the "Start Village" staging area. The home for over 43,000 runners for the next 3.5 hours. |
I was so thankful for the MMRF charity tent. Were it not for all the people huddled in there, I would have been so much colder and more miserable. I chatted with a few people there, helping to ease our nerves of the race. We talked about our reasons for running, our inspirations, what a wonderful charity group the MMRF is. I became caught up with last minute preparations and didn't realize it was already time to check in my bag and head off to my corral! The wait actually went a lot quicker than I had anticipated... I didn't have time to be anxious.
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| Huddled in the corner, feeding off the warmth of fellow MMRF team members. |
The sheer number of people within Blue Wave #3 was insane. The air was filled with a hodgepodge of emotions: excitement, nervousness, anxiousness... I was feeding off each and everyone's emotions. My heart was racing. The announcer's voice boomed through the frigid air, exclaiming "good luck" and "have fun on your run!" Helicopters flew over head to capture the organized chaos down below them.
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| Over 15,000 people ready to go! |
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Lovin' every moment of it. |
Sinatra's "New York, New York" started to play and I developed a lump in my throat that I spent many times
trying to swallow. Crowds on top of buses were cheering with cowbells and boomsticks, trying to get the runners amped up...
I was pretty emotional at this point. I wanted to enjoy each moment of it, but I felt my mind wandering in other directions:
"Will I be warm enough?"
"Am I going to make my sub 4 goal?"
"Am I going to see Jared?"
"Should I just stop thinking and enjoy the moment?"
And before I can finish asking myself 21 questions, I was crossing the start line. "Shit, I guess I should start running!"
And before I can finish asking myself 21 questions, I was crossing the start line. "Shit, I guess I should start running!"
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| Crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. |
I fumbled with my phone to take a picture of the momentous first mile crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Knowing my clumsiness, I decided it was best to not attempt to take pictures any more during the run and just enjoy the marathon. Being so short, I didn't have much view of what was over the bridge, all I could really see were the backs of the runners ahead of me. I knew the first mile would be a slow one because of the elevation, warming up the muscles, and the getting through the masses. The second mile was about the pace I was expecting to run (in the low 9min/mi) and the crowd of people started to spread out a little bit more. I started to feel like I was in my element, it did not feel like I was laboring with the pace that I was running. In fact, I felt like I could have picked up a bit, but I decided to keep the same pace and try to speed up for the second half. Once I finished crossing the bridge, I, along with many others, were welcomed into Brooklyn by a man who wore an expressionless face and held a sign up in the air that read, "Get out of Broklyn, runners." I heard a man shout back, "Learn how to spell Brooklyn, first!"
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| 5 mi water station: Babo, Carlo, Boni, and Joey met me here (loudly ringing a cowbell and posters!) |
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| The Cheerleaders (minus Carlo) riding the subways to get to the next meeting spot: L to R Boni, Joey, Babo |
At the 5th mile water station, I was extremely elated to see some familiar cheering faces among thousands and thousands of unfamilars. I was greeted by my personal, very loud and enthusiastic cheering section - Carlo, Babo, Boni, and Joey.
They were each carrying a poster: one had the word "GO" and the other 3 each had a letter of my nickname "Lin." Joey rang that cowbell loudly and they were all shouting words of encouragement.
It quickly made me forget about the first 5 miles that I had just run and I was ready to tackle the next set of 5...Another 3 miles or so brought me to downtown Brooklyn. I started to notice that my legs were starting to feel heavy possibly because after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the last 8 miles were relatively flat. The next few miles had a few elevation changes that I would normally not even give another thought. But after 6 miles of flat running, I definitely felt the changes. I was starting to feel tired already, which bummed me out a bit because I still had a long ways ahead of me. I was hoping that seeing cheering squad at mile 10 would refuel me with the energy that I needed to finish the rest of the race.
I passed the 10 mile marker and was casually looking around for my cheering squad for another pick-me-up. When I didn't see them after the water station, I started to look frantically around for them. Did I miss them? I figured that getting from one mile marker to another would be a difficult task, given the immense number of spectators trying to do the same thing for their runners. I was dis-heartened, but I tried very much to not let it bother me. After all, I still had 16.2 miles more to go.
I hit the half marathon marker (13.1 mi) and feeling a bit defeated. I was crossing the 2nd bridge of the race, the Pulaski Bridge, and felt the quarter mile elevation increase. On the other side of the Pulaski Bridge, Queens lay ahead of me. The change of borough felt good mentally. I felt like I was stuck in Brooklyn forever and now I was finally in a different area. I felt like I was making progress now. The jaunt through Brooklyn lasted only about 2 miles before I realized I was going to cross the Queensborough bridge. It was here that I felt I hit a wall. The elevation on this bridge may have been slight, but I felt like I was climbing a hill. I began to walk and tried to regroup myself. A sharp cold breeze blew through the bridge and that combined with the sweat on my head caused my head to ache pretty badly. I wanted to stop and it to be over so badly at that point. I looked down and I saw my bib that read, "My run is in tribute to: John Zell." I was not only running for myself, I was running in memory of my friend's Aaron, whose father passed away from Multiple Myeloma. I was running for the MMRF, whose main purpose was to spread awareness of the disease and to raise money for research. I was running for Joey, Boni, Alvaro, and Carlo, who had gotten up early that day to support me and cheer me on. This sparked my motivation and I slowly picked up my pace. I was here in this majestic city and have had an amazing time sight seeing the days before. This is what the months of training prior have led to! Not finishing was NOT an option!
Mile 16 on was a bit of a blur. I tried to focus on other things beside the how many more miles was left. The spectators and the volunteers kept me going. I heard volunteers from the water stations yelling, "Water... get your water over here" in their New York accent. I heard spectators cheering and music playing. I was happy again and enjoying the race. After I had crossed the Queensborough bridge, I was in Manhattan, where I had spent the majority of my time in New York and where I'd spend the majority of the last portion of the race. After running what seemed like a LONG 3.5mi stretch, I'd cross the Willis Ave. Bridge into the Bronx. We'd only spend about a mile in this borough. I believe it was here that they had a billboard set up and when crossers would cross the mile marker, a message would pop up specially dedicated to that runner. I was looking at all the dedications from family and friends as each runner crossed the mile marker. When I crossed it, a photo of Bi-ying and me covered the screen. I, unfortunately, could not read the message, but just seeing her beautiful smiling face was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I had to compose myself because I tend to hyperventilate when I start crying. I crossed the final bridge of this race, the Madison Ave. Bridge, which brought me back to the final 5 miles!
The iconic Central Park run. I was so tired and so cold that even though I had only 5 miles to go, it definitely felt like I was running another marathon. In fact when I hit mile 22, I had for some reason worked out in my head that I only had 2 more miles to go... When the delirium somewhat subsided, I realized that there was still a 5K's worth of run. When I got to mile 24, I saw my cheering squad and I was elated! Alvaro and Boni were screaming at the top of their lungs, holding up the signs, and ringing the cow bell as loudly as they could. Joey popped out from the crowd, shirtless, with "Go Lin!" written on his chest in green marker. I couldn't help but laugh, albeit, weakly, but it was enough to keep going. He ran alongside me for those last 2 miles, encouraging me and giving me the motivation to get to the end. About mile 25, I ran alongside a man who had an ice pack taped around his right knee. I thought to myself, "Man, that guy is really hurtin'." I looked in front of me and had noticed a vehicle with a man sitting on the back with a camera. I waved at it, thinking it was a crew filming runner's last mile of the race. I later realized that the man I passed was Edison Peña, one of the Chilean miners.
Joey cut out at Mile 26 and I had to finish the last 400 yards on my own. I gathered the last bit of energy that I had to "sprint" across the finish line. Tears welled up in my eyes, a knot formed in my throat, and I threw my hands up in the air. I did it! I completed the NYC marathon!
They were each carrying a poster: one had the word "GO" and the other 3 each had a letter of my nickname "Lin." Joey rang that cowbell loudly and they were all shouting words of encouragement.
It quickly made me forget about the first 5 miles that I had just run and I was ready to tackle the next set of 5...Another 3 miles or so brought me to downtown Brooklyn. I started to notice that my legs were starting to feel heavy possibly because after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the last 8 miles were relatively flat. The next few miles had a few elevation changes that I would normally not even give another thought. But after 6 miles of flat running, I definitely felt the changes. I was starting to feel tired already, which bummed me out a bit because I still had a long ways ahead of me. I was hoping that seeing cheering squad at mile 10 would refuel me with the energy that I needed to finish the rest of the race.
I passed the 10 mile marker and was casually looking around for my cheering squad for another pick-me-up. When I didn't see them after the water station, I started to look frantically around for them. Did I miss them? I figured that getting from one mile marker to another would be a difficult task, given the immense number of spectators trying to do the same thing for their runners. I was dis-heartened, but I tried very much to not let it bother me. After all, I still had 16.2 miles more to go.
I hit the half marathon marker (13.1 mi) and feeling a bit defeated. I was crossing the 2nd bridge of the race, the Pulaski Bridge, and felt the quarter mile elevation increase. On the other side of the Pulaski Bridge, Queens lay ahead of me. The change of borough felt good mentally. I felt like I was stuck in Brooklyn forever and now I was finally in a different area. I felt like I was making progress now. The jaunt through Brooklyn lasted only about 2 miles before I realized I was going to cross the Queensborough bridge. It was here that I felt I hit a wall. The elevation on this bridge may have been slight, but I felt like I was climbing a hill. I began to walk and tried to regroup myself. A sharp cold breeze blew through the bridge and that combined with the sweat on my head caused my head to ache pretty badly. I wanted to stop and it to be over so badly at that point. I looked down and I saw my bib that read, "My run is in tribute to: John Zell." I was not only running for myself, I was running in memory of my friend's Aaron, whose father passed away from Multiple Myeloma. I was running for the MMRF, whose main purpose was to spread awareness of the disease and to raise money for research. I was running for Joey, Boni, Alvaro, and Carlo, who had gotten up early that day to support me and cheer me on. This sparked my motivation and I slowly picked up my pace. I was here in this majestic city and have had an amazing time sight seeing the days before. This is what the months of training prior have led to! Not finishing was NOT an option!
Mile 16 on was a bit of a blur. I tried to focus on other things beside the how many more miles was left. The spectators and the volunteers kept me going. I heard volunteers from the water stations yelling, "Water... get your water over here" in their New York accent. I heard spectators cheering and music playing. I was happy again and enjoying the race. After I had crossed the Queensborough bridge, I was in Manhattan, where I had spent the majority of my time in New York and where I'd spend the majority of the last portion of the race. After running what seemed like a LONG 3.5mi stretch, I'd cross the Willis Ave. Bridge into the Bronx. We'd only spend about a mile in this borough. I believe it was here that they had a billboard set up and when crossers would cross the mile marker, a message would pop up specially dedicated to that runner. I was looking at all the dedications from family and friends as each runner crossed the mile marker. When I crossed it, a photo of Bi-ying and me covered the screen. I, unfortunately, could not read the message, but just seeing her beautiful smiling face was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I had to compose myself because I tend to hyperventilate when I start crying. I crossed the final bridge of this race, the Madison Ave. Bridge, which brought me back to the final 5 miles!
The iconic Central Park run. I was so tired and so cold that even though I had only 5 miles to go, it definitely felt like I was running another marathon. In fact when I hit mile 22, I had for some reason worked out in my head that I only had 2 more miles to go... When the delirium somewhat subsided, I realized that there was still a 5K's worth of run. When I got to mile 24, I saw my cheering squad and I was elated! Alvaro and Boni were screaming at the top of their lungs, holding up the signs, and ringing the cow bell as loudly as they could. Joey popped out from the crowd, shirtless, with "Go Lin!" written on his chest in green marker. I couldn't help but laugh, albeit, weakly, but it was enough to keep going. He ran alongside me for those last 2 miles, encouraging me and giving me the motivation to get to the end. About mile 25, I ran alongside a man who had an ice pack taped around his right knee. I thought to myself, "Man, that guy is really hurtin'." I looked in front of me and had noticed a vehicle with a man sitting on the back with a camera. I waved at it, thinking it was a crew filming runner's last mile of the race. I later realized that the man I passed was Edison Peña, one of the Chilean miners.
Joey cut out at Mile 26 and I had to finish the last 400 yards on my own. I gathered the last bit of energy that I had to "sprint" across the finish line. Tears welled up in my eyes, a knot formed in my throat, and I threw my hands up in the air. I did it! I completed the NYC marathon!
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| Official Finish time: 04:32:19 |
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| Tired, sweaty, but somehow managed to smile. |
The aftermath
After taking a photo, we were given a goodie bag, the iconic aluminium capes and were corralled. There were trucks lined up where we could pick up our belongings. All I wanted to do was be in Joey's warm embrace and sit down, but instead, we were all forced to walk, very slowly, to two outlets onto Central Park West. After what seemed like an hour, I finally met up with Joey and received that hug that I was longing for since mile 16. Of course, that wasn't the end of the walking, we still had to make it back to Alvaro's apartment on 51st and 8th.
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| Zombie runners |
I have learned a few things in the days leading and the day of the marathon:
1. New Yorkers are amazing people… don’t believe the stereotype.
2. The bagels and pizza really ARE good there…
3. The mind is stronger than the body.
4. When you start to doubt yourself, your friends, families, and the enthusiasm of strangers will keep you going.
5. It’s not quite worth accepting a bet to down a tablespoon of wasabi 2 days before race day in order for your loved one to go shirtless with “Go Eileen” painted on his bare chest in 40-45F weather (but highly entertaining).
My final contribution to the charity totaled $3300!! Thanks again for all your support and donations to the MMRF.
2011 ING NYC Garmin Stats
2011 ING NYC Garmin Stats
… Now on to training for the Huntington Beach Marathon in Feb. ;)
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