Woke up in the middle of the nigh, 3:45? Are you kidding me? Marathon is starting just before 10AM, so why? Cause it is NYC marathon and you want to run it. Usual breakfast, usual but very early. Ice coffee on the way down to subway. And again word which will be used during that post ‘early’. Early subway – 5AM. I was not alone, there was plenty of runners in the train already. Met Aussie, Italian and runner from Luxembourg. We had nice, long chat. All of them were aiming for much better results. One – 2:45, other Boston qualifying time… Me, just wanted to finish. And if possible to get similar result as week before in Venice – 3:25. Aussie was the guy who I have spent quite a lot of time that morning and the rest of the day after marathon run. Mark, that was his name, and me took same ferry. They told us that we can take earlier ferry if we want. We went for it. Two other guys took even earlier one. As we sat there we had another chance to chat. As I found out Aussie was actually from UK, London born and raised, Arsenal supporter (boooo). Nice bloke. He was documenting everything. Pictures, selfies, videos all for friends back in Australia. Landed on Staten Island, you would think that is it but still not. There was another at least 30 minutes trip by a bus until eventually getting to marathon village. Logistically NYC marathon is a nightmare. Cause of the journey from Manhattan to Staten Island and early start of the day for your body marathon felt like a run in the middle of the day. And that is really hard to accommodate. I remember running Eddie Murphy last year. That one started at noon. With all usual routine I was already hungry again before run and eating at that time was a crap idea as I have found out. This time I was trying not to make same mistake. Was trying just to hydrate. Tee, Gatorade to keep my energy levels up. Marathon village and still 2.5 hours of waiting. Anticipation? Yes. But both of us – me and Mark – agreed that we are too relaxed. That something wasn’t right. But that wasn’t first time I had that feeling. Had to stay focused. Toilet, done, twice. Stretching routine to get body into shape. Waiting before my wave and corral gate. At 9AM they suppose to let us in. They did. 9AM still 50 minutes to start. Inside my zone, nervous. Toilet again, waiting. Made a mistake, I took my warmer clothes off to fast. It was cold. About 15 minutes before start we begin to move towards starting line. Runners who knew that race they just now started to lose their clothes. Walking we got to bridge connecting Station Island and Brooklyn. American anthem during which all US runners turned towards flag which was behind us. After that and see words from organisers we have started. In front of me I had 3:25 pacer. In Europe pacers are running either with balloon or flag in here they have small board on the stick with time on it. They are running like that for whole way. Fair play to them… Read more
