NYC Marathon 2009 Results

Hannah: "Mom, did you come in 40th in the NYC marathon???"

Me: "Not exactly. Try adding a couple more digits." (Actual overall place: 4128)

The New York City Marathon is an AMAZING event! However, the one thing I DO NOT enjoy about this race is the hours spent on Staten Island before the race starts. I was assigned to take a 5:30 bus from the New York Public Library only to arrive on Staten Island and sit around for 3 hours (in relatively cold, damp conditions) before lining up in my coral. While waiting in my coral I had the pleasure of meeting two young women, both strong half marathon runners, who were running their first marathon. They were shooting for a time between 3:30-3:45. I quickly identified these gals as great race buddies as I also was nervous about running too fast too early in the game only to crash and burn at the tail end. Starting out at an 8 minute pace was perfect!

As it turned out, even if we wanted to run much faster we wouldn't have had the opportunity as this race is REALLY crowded. Unfortunately I lost my new friends (one at mile 10 and the other one at mile 20) but these gals from New Mexico and Texas were fabulous running mates.
26 miles is 26 miles, regardless of how fast or how slow you run. The slightly sub 8 minute pace was comfortable, but at mile 20 I was ready to be DONE with all of it. In most of my marathon experiences, this is the point when things start to tighten up and it begins to hurt. I pushed through the next 3 miles, and at the 23 mile point I had a burst of energy to just finish. To my surprise I ran mile 24 at a 7:20 pace and my final mile at a 7:10 pace. My first negative splits EVER in a marathon, or any race for that matter.

Final time: 3:25:25.

What's next? Boston 2010.