I normally wouldn't forward such a long report but I found this one about the New York Marathon to be quite interesting for those of us who compete in events more socially rather than seriously.

Paul.

----- Original Message -----

From: Rahn Lieberman

To: 'Rahn Lieberman'

Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 7:58 PM

Subject: [marathonwalkers] My NYC Marathon race report

Here's the play-by-play of my NYC marathon.
My performance was a little on the slow side...I blame my mouth for that. I
was having such a good time talking to everyone, I slowed down quite a
bit...
In the 25 minutes it took me to get to the start line, I talked to a guy
from Austria and a gal from Vancouver BC. (And a couple more in passing).
It was going slow enough that it was a great chance to jump out and use the
port-a-potty then get back in without missing out on anything.  (And for the
first time in 3 hours, there was no line to wait in!)
The first couple of miles were good going over the first bridge. I talked to
a couple from England and two gals from Seattle. (Had to talk to them to see
if they'll ever make it out to the Pacific Pacers second Saturday races).
I could see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance as a little green
blob.  The fire department had their boats out spraying red white and blue
color water into the air.
Then in the next few miles in Brooklyn, I was busy high-fiving all the kids
along the course. I was also going the same speed as a few people so we kept
passing each other. It was two gals from Ireland, and everyone kept yelling
out to them about beer...they were keeping track of how many comments were
made, but I didn't see them at the end to find out the final tally.  There
was also a lot of band playing.  A number of churches had their choirs out
and the preachers were preaching.  (which really made me laugh - yeah, like
I'm going to stop a third of the way into this marathon and be saved.)
The north end of Brooklyn was a bit on the quite side.  This was in the
Hasidic community.  There were a lot of schoolgirls out that were just
adorable.  As you go close, they politely ask "what's your name?"  Then they
would all say "Good Job Rahn."   
At the half way point, I bonded with some people as we went over the second
bridge into Queens. 
Everyone was feeling the heat at this point...it was well into the 60's.
(10-15 degrees hotter than I planned for.)  It dawned to me at this point
that I could take my pants off because I had shorts on underneath...duh!  So
just after passing the 13.1 mile marker, I stopped for a couple pictures and
to change. 
Queens was mighty quiet in comparison to what I had just come from, but it
was great because I started seeing and talking to the Team Achilles people.
They were truly amazing. The first person (team) I can across was a guy who
was missing a leg and doing the race on old crutches. He had to pause
because it was getting a blister on his forearm. That's something I had
never thought about.
Then just up the road from him, was a 70 yr old birthday boy. he couldn't
move the left half of his body from what I could tell...but he was having a
blast doing the race with his daughter and some other folks. (A lady running
had a sign saying "Happy 70th Birthday."  He had the biggest smile as I
asked whose birthday it was and he said "I'm the birthday boy! And that's my
daughter.")
I then ran across a lady who was in her seventies and cruising along...she
was getting a bit tired, but felt like chatting, so we spent a half mile
together trying to figure out where we were, since her friend was going to
meet her at 88th avenue.
Leaving Queens, I headed up the third bridge.  This was at mile 16, and I
had an arrangement that someone was supposed to leave me a pizza that this
point, but that didn't quite work out.  Okay, it was really a joke when we
said it months ago.  And I would have thrown up all over the place had I
actually eaten anything at that point, so it's a good thing it wasn't there.
But it did give me something to laugh about as I went over this bridge.
This bridge was a long one.  It went up and up and up. I actually didn't
think it was terribly miserable, just long. (Advantage to training in
Seattle-Lots of hills) I talked to a few people on the way up. One gal from
New York was excited since First Ave. was coming up, and that's the best
part. (It was her second time running it.)
I was far enough back in the pack that we had been moved to the sidewalk
instead of going over the street part of the bridge...I'm glad of this,
since the sidewalk was solid and easy on the feet, unlike the grating
covered by carpet.
As promised, First Avenue was around the corner. It was close to being hit
with a medium size wall of noise... (There was still quite a bit of a crowd,
but it wasn't 6 deep except outside the bars.) The next few rolling miles
weren't too bad. I stopped and hugged the wife at mile 18 and snapped a
quick picture. (Yeah, I'm blaming her for my time!)
I also saw Bill at this point. He was a Team Achilles guy in a wheel chair,
but he had to go backwards for some reason.  He was looking pretty
determined.  Tired, but determined.
I then hooked up with Michael. He looked like he needed company, so I slowed
down and spent a couple miles with him as he ran and I casually walked.
(Yes, I slowed down a lot to talk to him...19-20 minute mile. But I was due
for a rest.)
He was from the neighborhood, so he pointed the good pizza places out as we
went. The best part was him yelling to his buddies-"Hey Frankie!" - "Hey
Mikey-whatcha doin' out there?" "I'm runnin' a marathon." (All in a good New
York accent.) He had run the marathon last year, and was really upset with
his time. It was when they were referring to him as a straggler on the radio
that he got pissed. Then there wasn't really anyone left to give him a medal
when he finished. So this year he was trying to beat his time.
Well, after he slowed down to talk to one of his buddies, I wished him adieu
and promised to save him a medal. Heading into the Bronx, I ran into the
lady from Vancouver again. She was now joined by her husband and they were
casually finishing up together.
From here on out, I was on my own...everyone was too focused on finishing
and their own inner turmoil to chat. (Except a Team Achilles guy who was
walking backwards. He must have seen something on my face as I looked at
him. He just smiled and gave a thumbs up from about 15 feet away. When I
caught up, we passed a few comments and went on. He was doing great.)
I saw the wife again at mile 24 for another picture moment. (But no
stopping, since I had momentum going and couldn't afford to lose it!) I
offered to have her join me, but she was uncomfortable hoping onto the
course, so we would meet that the finish line.
Mile 24 was a struggle...the feet were like lead. Most of the crowds had
dispersed, so we had to be self-motivating.
Mile 25 flew by. Knowing there was only 1.2 miles left, I put the lead on
and started booking. I was passing people left and right. Things were
great...I heard the band near the finish line up ahead around the corner.
Then some teenager paying attention to her buddies and cell phone stepped
onto the course to cross...of course, it didn't occur to her to look first
(since it's New York, and no one does that apparently) so we almost had a
head on collision...I saw her coming and started yelling at her to move
(since I sure has heck didn't have any sort of ability to dodge her.)
But, we made it through... About a ½ mile to go... I'm playing phone tag
with the wife to try to figure out where we're meeting. I'm trying to judge
my energy to finish up (and who was around me, because I wanted a good
finishing picture instead of having people cutting off the camera during my
moment.)
And there it is...the finish line, oh, the sweet finish line. My "official"
time per the clock, 7:15. That's 45 minutes longer than planned. Take off
the 25 minutes it took me to get to the start line, we're down to 6:50.
Okay, I can live with that...next time I'll try not to slow down to talk to
people.  Of course then it will be pretty boring, since the fun part is
meeting all the people.

I'll post this to my Web site with pictures soon as I get them developed.
(www.theliebermans.com)
Thank you all for the support as I prepared for this!










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