NYC Marathon 2023 race report - Turning the last page of a chapter
Exhilarated by the successful completion of my first marathon in 2019 and Dopey in January 2020, I took my chance on February 1st 2020 and put my name in the lottery to run the New York City Marathon. 25 days later, I was in!
Young DD in elementary school started planning her Halloween costume. Older DD in 9th grade was ok to miss two days of school to visit NYC. Hotel was booked. And then, the world as we knew it stopped due to the pandemic.
Fortunately, the four of us confined at home for almost six months understood the importance of having each other and lived a peaceful and meaningful life together. We also took care of our physical health, slowly equipping the basement with free weights, work bench, mats and elastics. And yes, running. DH in particular, when the gym closed, choose to come and run with me, mostly during our lunch breaks.
When NYRR offered deferral, with the USA borders still closed to Canadians, I took the safest option: I would run the NYC Marathon in 2023!
Time passed, graduations happened, travel resumed, social interactions, awkwardly sometimes, restarted beside a screen, tweens turned into young women. And slowly, the concept of running a marathon wasn’t as foreign as it once was for DH. We were lucky that some guaranteed bibs were released to an International Tour Operator (ITO) that we had contacted.
After 20 years of mariage, a couple that stays together runs together
DH and I hence followed the same 16 weeks training plan and ran the same HM leading to the race.
Friday November 3rd, 2023 6AM: We are on the bus, the weekend is really happening! We arrive early afternoon at the New Yorker Hotel and decide to visit the Expo at the Javits Center. Like all the communications received by NYRR, this event is super well organized and polished. We get our bibs and shirts in no time. We buy NYC running socks for the family, sunglasses for me (for the marathon) and Pumpkin Spice Gu for fun.
We notice a restaurant that I had planned to visit post marathon and decide to eat there now (gluten free fried chicken and waffles!). That basically means that we are not going to carb load. It will clearly be too difficult considering our restrictions and too boring for a city with such offerings.
We spend the evening shopping/visiting on the 34th Street, 7th Avenue and around Time Square. Going to bed, we agree that we overdid it on our legs and that we better be careful the next day.
On Saturday, we use the subway and head towards Central Park, strolling on Amsterdam and Columbus as well. The weather is fantastic the entire weekend. Mild, dry, slightly cloudy at times. After lunch, we attend the matinee of The Lion King on Broadway. This is by far the best show I have ever seen: Visually stunning and harmonically pleasing, wow!
After a solid dinner at Bubba Gump (run Forest run), we go back to our room and prepare our clothes for the next day. I wake up in the middle of the night realizing that I had pinned my husband bib on my shirt and vice versa
Easily fixed.
Sunday November 5th, 2023 6AM: We are on the same bus, the marathon is really happening! By avoiding the main highways and their traffic, we have a bonus visit of Staten Island, nice.
One of the challenges for today is that we will start with Wave 4 at 10:55AM. So with a 4AM breakfast, we basically need to have lunch before the race. After going through security, we arrive in the Villages and within seconds have a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in our hands. Fantastic because it is slightly chilly. Our throw away clothes are perfect, including the blanket on which we sit. From here we have a view of the bridge and of a screen, allowing us to spectate as we wait. The announcements are very clear so when the Wave 3 corrals close, we head towards the proper area, doing one last pit stop along the way. There is plenty of toilets everywhere (with paper too!).
We join the Orange Wave 4 Corral A, walk to the start, listen to the US anthem and, finally, we run the NYC marathon! The objectives are to have fun, to visit the city, to take some pictures and to finish.
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The Verrazano bridge goes by, with the sun, the view, the excitement and more downhill than I thought. Brooklyn is so full of energy. We high five, we laugh, we are impressed with the crowd presence. At 10k, I am thinking, wow, that went fast. By the midway point, on the Pulaski bridge, I realize that I am starting to fade, plus a new experience: One of my knee is complaining. Fortunately, the pain subsides somewhere after Queens and the Queensboro bridge. Also, I am busy looking for the yellow hat of
@NYC_MW and texting my family who are seeing us LIVE on the many cameras along the course. They find it amazing to be part of the event, even from far away. The Willis bridge brings us for a quick detour in the Bronx. There, someone offers us a watermelon and it is the best snack, the one we needed just then. The generosity of people all along is remarkable.
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We cross the fifth and final bridge to Manhattan on Madison Ave. then go from 138th to 90th Street at a slow but constant uphill. At that point I am concentrated and confiant.
We enter Central Park and suddenly at around 3km (2 miles) from the end, another completely new experience: A major cramp in the hamstring. The kind that brings me to a complete halt, yelling and crying. I know that even if I have to hop on one leg for three hours I will still complete the marathon. There are a few minutes when I think that it might be the only possibility. Then, I slowly start to walk, then I resume running. I feel bad for DH who definitely has some acceleration remaining in his legs but I tell him that I would rather finish running slow than limping. And he totally supports that. We do cross the finish line holding hands and smiling. DH is a marathoner now
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It was fun to see things through the eyes a a first timer again.
We walk the chute as the sun sets, go grab a solid snack of GF bagels and lox, hop on the subway, shower and show up to the pub where the tour group is celebrating. We eventually go back to Time Square for dinner.
The next morning, before heading home, the bus stops at Marathon Monday and it is fun to see people walking around with their medals. The New Yorkers have been really warm and welcoming all weekend, we are charmed. We want to highlight that we really appreciated the atmosphere, the 2 million supporters chanting and holding signs, the flawless organization of the race, the views of the city and the other runners each pushing their own limits.
Congratulations to our fellow DISers
@dis_or_dat @huskies90 @jmasgat
for completing such a challenging race.
As for the delay in writing this report, I recognize that it took me a while to come to terms with how I felt that day. In hindsight, it is because we stayed left for most of the race and the slight but constant canter caused a strain on my left leg. None of it I felt after the race. So yes, I am now proud of having completed my sixth marathon and even prouder of having run it as a team with my loving husband. Thanks to all of you readers and contributors to this board, you were also with us.
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Good to have other options though.
