A MARATHON HAPPENED IN NEW YORK CITY

After the cancellation of the NYC Marathon, I definitely looked forward to the Brooklyn Marathon, scheduled for November 18, two weeks after the NYC one, in Prospect Park.  I ran it today and made some mistakes that I believe prevented me from reaching a new personal record.

As usual, the night before the big day I set aside clothes, socks, gloves, Gu's, etc.  I left the house two hours before the 8:30 AM start time but lost some time because I did not know that Wild Bagels across from P.S. 97 did not open early on Sundays, i.e. not around 6:30 AM.  I ended up getting my bagel and coffee from Dunkin, not that further away but it took time to walk to two different places.  I was hoping to have a repeat of the Staten Island Half Marathon, i.e. by having breakfast before the race.  As feared, the MTA had disruptions and the F train, perhaps others, would not go near Prospect Park.  I could have made a transfer from the D to some other line but instead I took the D to Prospect Avenue and made the long walk from Fourth Avenue to Prospect Park West.  After emptying my bowels and again emptying my bladder, I got into the short corral just in time for to hear the National Anthem performed.  After the anthem, I held back to let other runners pass me to wait for my Garmin to pick up satellite signal, then off I went.  I did not stretch before the race!  Argghhh!

On the question "Should race shirts be worn on the day of the race?" I am all for it.  Some old-school people believe that it's simply wrong to do so, just because you haven't earned it yet.  Once you run it, then you can wear it.  For me, it's good for the spectators to know what's going on.  It's also good for the organizers and sponsors.  So I wore the shirt for the 2012 Brooklyn Marathon, which features white letters on a dark green background and is easier on the eyes than last year's, which had black letters on dark blue background.  With most races, I proudly wear the singlet for Prospect Park Track Club, but it was cold and I didn't have any other PPTC piece of clothes.  I had a Yonkers Marathon (short-sleeved) on the inside and the long-sleeved 2012 Brooklyn Marathon on the outside, and shorts for the lower half.  I used baggage service to put away a hoodie and a pants.  Running with fewer clothes should have helped me dissipate heat better, but I think if I had the PPTC singlet on the outside I would have gotten more cheers from other PPTC members.  Instead, I only got encouragement from some members that know me, which is not that many as I'm new to the club.  No stretching aside, I could have used the extra cheer.

A big part of the Brooklyn Marathon consists of six times around the big loop.  I should have brought at least six packs of Gu's, but somehow I only had five, a fact I discovered too late, at the beginning of the sixth trip around the big loop.  Last year I think I had at least 8 packs.  Maybe I dropped a pack or maybe I actually brought along only five packs.  After realizing the omission, I soldiered on and only stopped to walk at the west water station.  Before that I stopped to walk at every mile marker.  The strategy of walking a bit after every mile worked in Yonkers, but then again in Yonkers I also had a half-marathon finisher, some total stranger who I struck a conversation with, paced me for a few miles.  Could it be Yonkers is flatter compared to Prospect Park?  Yonkers' course included only two loops, so even though it was hilly you only had to run the hills twice.  With Prospect Park, there was only one big hill but the runners have to surmount it six times.  But then again, I finished the 2011 Brooklyn race in 5:08 and completed this year's Yonkers race in 5:10.

According to my Garmin GPS watch, I finished the 2012 Brooklyn Marathon in 5:11.  I was really hoping to have sub-5 marathon, but I instead I had a worst finish-time, not counting the two NYC Marathons in the 1990s (6+ hours, yike!).  Oh well.  Maybe I didn't train enough, what with the few days after Hurricane Sandy visited I didn't run at all.  There are always future marathons!

The front of the medal for the 2012 Brooklyn Marathon features fireworks over the Brooklyn Bridge.  Note the holes on the bridge's necklace, i.e. cables.

On the back of the medal, in the lower half, there is a circuit board and a button.  Press the button and the bridge's necklace blinks!  Cool, blinking bling!

WE STILL HAVE BROOKLYN

Once the 2012 NYC Marathon was cancelled, most runners immediately thought of other marathons to sign-up for so as put all that training to good use.  Some 3,000 took up the extra spots created in Philadelphia, others signed up with Richmond, VA or Harrisburg, PA to get their fix.  I wish I have the extra money for the trip out of town, motel room, etc plus marathon registration, but I don't.  Luckily, back in February I already signed up for the Brooklyn Marathon.  I ran the inaugural Brooklyn Marathon last year and like its size and simplicity.  Just a few hundred runners in size, it took no time to cross the starting line.  Sure the course was a few loops of Prospect Park but it was the first year, maybe things will change down the road.  For 2012, the race is set for November 18, or this coming Sunday, just two weeks after the cancelled NYC Marathon.

For the disappointed refugees of the NYC Marathon, the Brooklyn Marathon tried to get expanded but the request was denied.  Prospect Park was already used to store equipments and such related to the recovery effort from Hurricane Sandy.  Naturally, people who were hoping to get into the Brooklyn Marathon wait-list were disappointed, but at least they have credits for future race with NYCRUNS.  Life is full of chances.  I'm still counting on the very slim chance that I'll get some money back from the  cancelled NYC Marathon.  For now, I still have Brooklyn...

Casablanca, anyone?

BROOKLYN MARATHON RE-VISITED

A few days ago I finally got around to ordering photos from John Curry Studio for the Brooklyn Marathon, which I ran in way back on November 20, 2011.  Talk about procrastination, eh?  The deadline to order is February 23, I think, and I ordered in late January.  Somewhat like how my high school classmates seem to wait until the last minute to buy their e-ticket for the reunion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  But I digress.  If you ran in the Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon, or know someone who did, support the local business John Curry Studio / 211 Studio by buying the photos at

https://www.backprint.com/view_event.asp?PID=bp%12%7DCu&EVENTID=95178

The Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon

The Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon.  The day finally came and went, although at time time seemed to move too fast as I battle the nasty hills of Prospect Park.


I got up at 5:15 A.M. to get myself ready for the dreaded subway ride to the event.  Before going to bed the night before, I already packed the energy gels, some cash, a subway card, a few pieces of IDs in case I keel over.  For some reason I did not set the timing chip on my sneaker or attach the bib to the shirt with safety pins so those tasks I did in the morning of the event.  Being a recycler, I even set aside six previously-used rubber bands to bring to the event instead of using the new ones that BM organizers would no doubt provide.  Alas, I totally forgot about them when I got out of the house.  I will go into details about the rubber bands later.


I could have taken the Q or F train to the event if I was willing to make some transfer from the D train.  As it is with weekend track work, I decided to take the D straight to 9th Street Station and walk my long avenues to Prospect Park's Center Drive.  As it turned out, I overslept and got off a stop later.  No problem, I had plenty of time and it was a nice, cool day for walking.


There was some delay with the portable toilets.  The one I came across on West Drive was out there all along for the general public to use and there was no toilet paper - no surprise there.  The only usable toilet was a public one at a playground some long distance on the East Drive.  Even with the shining example of the Great Grete Waitz, there are still more men than women in most races, the exceptions being those women-only races, so the men's room actually had a line while the women's did not.  I still made it back to the start area with plenty of time to kill.  The race did not start at 8 sharp but instead at perhaps 8:15, no biggie.  By then I already had six rubber bands on my right wrist.


The course of the BM consists of 2 lower loops, 6 big loops, then one lower loop.  Or at least that's how I interpreted it.  NY1's report also said so, "6 big loop and 3 lower loops."  For my training runs, I almost never run in loops and usually head out x kilometers then back home, just tracing my way back.  The only time I run loops is on tracks and those runs are limited to at most 4 times, to make a mile, or 5 times, to make 2 kilometers.  On the track I would use different lanes as I finish a loop.  The two beginning lower loops are easy enough as it is hard to lose track of 2.  The six loops worried me.  I still do not own a GPS watch for running so I thought I might lose track of the six loops somehow.  Luckily, the rubber bands provide a somewhat reliable solution.  Each time I finish a loop I would shoot a rubber band to the side of the road.  I did it with a lot of fanfare and the cheerleaders on the East Drive was very enthusiastic with their volunteer job.  Mind you all the volunteers were great, just that those on the East Drive was more excited, perhaps because that's where people finish the big loops.


The rubber bands helped but I still had to actually run the loops so I can honestly take them off and shoot them away.  The hill approaching Grand Army Plaza was the worst, but the West Drive's hills were not friendly either.  After loop #3, I saw only 2 more rubber bands on my wrist but afterward saw band #3.  It was very discouraging but I pressed on anyway.  At some point my calves started to ache and then the thighs too.  I thought marathon pains only come in the form of "de agony of de feet"!  Fifteen years ago when I ran the NYC Marathon, with inadequate training, I probably felt aches in every leg muscles, but fifteen years is a long time enough to forget these tiny details.  I know with the races in the past two years I only felt aches above the feet when I sprinted for the finish line.  Luckily, my left foot was fine all along.  Eventually I shot the last rubber band away and entered Center Drive ready to do one more lower loop.  Remember the course?  Two lower loops, six big loops, and one lower loop, right?  It turned out after the six big loops you would just enter Center Drive to run to the finish line, which was just a tad beyond where the start line was.  I almost skipped the finish line by going to the right of it but an official corrected my course.  I didn't get to do my usual sprint for the finish line, to give the false impression that I was finishing strong.  My time was somewhere beyond 5 hours, maybe 5:15.  No Boston Qualifier :) but it was still a good finish for me.  I really need a GPS watch to avoid future scenarios.

The start line.

The start line before the 400 or so runners got behind it.

The inspirational Louis and Heather with me.  We regularly exchange messages and such on social networks - Facebook and DailyMile.  These folks are fast!  They may write about misadventures with stomach problems during races but then they still finish way before me, sigh.

A finisher.  Other than the St. Louis race in April where my great oldest sister took photos for me, I have to rely on pro photographers along the course to provide the photos.  They may be great or not but definitely cost a lot.  I planned to stay at the finish line a while to take photos of finisher but then I realized I had to get home to give my son a practice subway ride in case there will be school bus strike this coming week.

Countdown To Brooklyn Marathon

In about 24 hours, I will be running the Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon, 9 times around Prospect Park in Brooklyn (duh).  That is 6 times the full inner loop plus 3 times the lower loop.  The course sounds monotonous, especially compared to the NYC Marathon course, which touches all five boroughs.  Perhaps next year, the BM will cover other areas of Brooklyn instead of just Prospect Park.

It will not be the first time I run a marathon.  I actually did that about 15 years ago, in the NYC Marathon.  I even did it twice.  The first year I got in through the lottery.  The second year I was on standby and pretty much gave up but then I actually got selected!  Even though I was unemployed at the time and single, my "training" consisted of just a morning run to Astoria Park plus perhaps 3 miles around the track.  I did not sign up for any races - no LSD like a 15K or Half Mary, no 20-mile run on my own before the big day.  No social networks to learn from the pros or get encouragements from cyberspace friends.  My finish time was 6 hours 15 minutes the first year and worse the next year.  Back then the New York Times printed every finisher's name and I still have those regular newspaper somewhere in the attic.  Today, I understand the NYT only list people who finish with 4 hours and change, and only some special edition has every finisher's name.

With all the training the past two years, it seems like an easy goal for me to beat my younger self.  About two weeks ago I completed a 20-mile run in about 4 hours.  It was a lonely pre-dawn run from home to Chinatown, over the Manhattan Bridge, then back home over the Brooklyn Bridge.  Perhaps on race day, the cheering and excitement will nudge me move faster and complete the race in five hours.  Even if that stretch to 5:30 I still beat my younger self.

To quote Steve Lastoe, organizer of the Brooklyn Marrathon, GOTTA RUN!!!