From Hilda Coulsey…
Another month another major world marathon! This is undoubtedly an iconic marathon in an iconic city. The race follows through all five boroughs starting in Staten Island, ending up in Central Park, passing or with views of the main landmarks and skyline.
You either take a provided bus to the start or public transport and the ferry. I took the bus from the Central Library near Empire State Building. There are transport issues every year, it takes much longer than it should and all runners need to be in the start villages prior to any of the races starting. I saw the wheelchair racers go to the start and I saw them finish on the big screen where I watched the elites to almost two thirds of their journey before being called. They spread out start times, presumably as a Covid measure, which meant a very long wait.
Each wave is started by singing the Stars and Stripes and New York, New York and the firing of a cannon which certainly geed up the Americans, as you can imagine. Over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn initially with stunning views of Manhattan which seemed a very long way. Each borough is entered over a bridge which, together with undulations on particularly 5th avenue, provided the elevation gain of 300m. The bridges are quiet then you enter a cacophony of sound as you leave. Support is outstanding particularly too in Central Park when you need it most.
The weather was “unseasonably” warm. Normally 5-8 deg C, today it was 22-23 and very humid. Lots of runners struggled, emergency services were very busy. I don’t normally see many walking around me but the majority were walk / jogging in the second half. I felt the start of muscle cramping but it didn’t progress so I was pleased with my hydration etc. The race organisers are very generous with finish cutoffs and leave the finish area in Central Park manned until the last one comes through which can be after 9pm.
It was dark when I set off for the bus and dark before I reached my hotel – did I say it was a very long day!
There were 47,700 finishers whereas 52,000 was predicted. I finished in 4:55:09, pleasingly under my 5hr target but 14 mins slower than Chicago last month. The lady winning my category ran 3:36, her pace graph like any others I looked at including my own showed a noticeable decline in the second half and she is from California.