Many runners breathed a sigh of relief when there was no hurricane in the forecast leading up to the marathon this year. Andrew and I ran most of the course a few times during training, but I was excited to run the course on closed streets again! The week leading up the marathon is a mini marathon in itself if you are in Betty-land!
Marathon weekend started on Wednesday at the New York Running Company. They hosted a meet and greet event with Dean Karnazes. I went to say hi to Dean and ask him how he did in Chicago. Dean recognized me and I got a nice “Sweaty Betty” greeting from Dean!
Thursday night, Andrew and I went to the expo to pick up our numbers after work and we enjoyed the expo before it got too packed Friday and Saturday.
Friday, I picked up Sarkis from Port Authority and we went to the expo to pick up his number! Afterwards, we went to the NYAC’s pasta party! Olympic marathoner, Shalane Flanagan, was the guest speaker at the party and she gave us some words of encouragement. “Best efforts! Run until your teeth sweat!”
Saturday morning, Sarkis, Andrew, and I ran the Dash to the Finish Line 5K for a pre-race shake out. We saw Dave McGillivray in our starting corral and went over to talk to him. We introduced ourselves as DFMC runners and wished him luck on organizing next year’s race!
Saturday night, I had my family pasta party at Patsy’s. We had a party of 16 and Patsy’s was so awesome in serving us quickly since 8 of my party were children! Everyone left with a full stomach within an hour!!
Race Day! (Yes, after all the events, there was still a marathon to run!)
Many dread the long wait at Fort Wadsworth before the start of the race, but time passed quite quickly for me at the start. Runners have to understand that it takes time to get 40,000+ runners to get to Staten Island and to line up in the correct corral for the race to start on time and in an organized fashion. Andrew, Sarkis, and I got off the buses in Staten Island by 7:15AM and after a bathroom trip, pre-race prep, and pre-race photos, I dropped off my bag and headed to my corral by 8:20AM. My corral closed at 8:55AM and then we were herded to the start line on the Verrazano. See, time passed by quickly!
At 9:40AM (1st wave start time), canons went off and they blasted Sinatra’s “New York New York” on the speakers. A runner next to me said “This never gets old!” and I thought to myself after being here for the 11th time, “He’s right. This does not get old.” The NYC Marathon is one of a kind and despite all the negative publicity from last year, it is still my favorite race because of the course, the crowds, and the excitement.
At Mile 2, I overheard a guy giving advice to his friend “Pick a girl with a cute butt and nice legs and just follow her.” I said to him “Good advice!” His response to me was “I’m looking at you.” Unfortunately, the guy could not keep up with me so he did not look at my butt or legs for long!
My DFMC teammate, Sarkis, was running his first NYCM, but he was in a different corral so we did not get to start together. Sarkis found me at mile 3 and we ran together to mile 14 before the Queensboro Bridge. It was great to experience the craziness of NYCM together.
Running up the Queensboro Bridge is usually very quiet as no spectators are allowed on the bridge and all the runners are trying to focus on running uphill. As I ran up the bridge, I heard a runner behind me screaming to give the other runners a boost. I did not pay attention to him because I was in the zone, but then I heard “She runs for her dad, for her sister, and for Mrs. Chin!” I realized that he was reading the back of my singlet!! I gave a quick shout out to him and pumped my fists. I appreciated the small gesture and boost that it gave me to get over the hill. I felt pretty good running the bridge and made a mental note to myself to thank Andrew later for all the times he made me run this bridge in training.
As I ran, I also thought about my crazy race rituals and things that have helped me mentally and physically have a good race. Everyone does something a little different, but here are a few things that have worked for me. [I do not recommend you trying all of my race habits and do not take any responsibility if you try it and have a bad race! Do what works for you and do not try anything new on race day.]
Betty’s (crazy) race habits:
1) Have chicken parm the night before. Yum!
2) Run a few miles the day before the marathon. Since running the Goofy Challenge in 2009, I have run up to 6 miles the day before the marathon to loosen up my legs and ease my pre-race anxiety.
3) Be patient. Let runners pass you in the beginning because you will pass them later in the race.
4) Carry water for the first 10-12 miles of the race. Being able to bypass the earlier water stations allows me to get into a comfortable pace faster.
5) Run while needing to pee makes you run a little faster. This is totally not recommended, but it has happened to me at Boston 2013 and NYCM this year! I ran a PR in Boston! I did not have to go that badly, but I did not want to wait for a porto-potty on the course so I just held it in. If you need to pee, go pee! I was quite relieved to finally be able to pee after the race!
6) Take 2 salt tablets before and during the race. Gatorade endurance formula upsets my stomach so I take salt tablets to replace my electrolytes.
7) Carry packets of Biofreeze. I would have made it to the finish line much slower if I did not rub Biofreeze on my quads when they cramped.
8) Buy everything at the expo. Putting on a new marathon jacket after the race feels awesome . =) [Please do not send me your credit card bills! hahah!]
There is a lot more to the list, but I do not want to expose all of my weird habits all at once! Besides my race habits, having my family at mile 17 and 23 were a huge boost along the way and they helped push me to the finish line. I was overwhelmed with emotion after crossing the finish line this year because I had a great race despite my quads cramping at mile 23. I was so happy to have finally crossed that finish line again. I was grateful for the perfect running weather and I was grateful for so many of my family members to have come watch me run by for a few seconds after waiting for hours!
I am so proud of Andrew for running sub 4 hours in NYC and doing it just two weeks after Chicago! This was Andrew’s second official NYCM. Although this was my 11th official NYCM, people ask if I am bored of running the same race over and over again and I always say “No”. Like the guys at the start said “This never gets old.” I am looking forward to future NYCM’s with Andrew and 40,000+ runners from around the world!
Here are some race numbers:
Total Finishers: 50,304 (new record!)
Men’s Champion: Geoffrey Mutai 2:08:24
Women’s Champion: Priscah Jeptoo 2:25:07
Men’s Wheelchair Champion: Marcel Hug 1:40:14
Women’s Wheelchair Champion: Tatyana McFadden 1:59:13
My Finish Time: 3:36:58 (NYCM PR!)
Andrew: 3:55:12
Joe: 4:06:29
Sarkis: 3:48:00
Winston: 4:30:22
BQRunning 