2021 NEW YORK CITY MARATHON RACE REPORT

Lined up with my corral about to start and run over the Verranazzo Narrows Bridge.

I'll start off by saying that the New York City Marathon is hands down my favorite marathon experience to date. It really blows the other marathons I have done out of the water. If you want "big city spectacle," look no further! I was also lucky that the weather was absolutely perfect and I had a good race experience. Overall though, if you enjoy completing a marathon, New York has to be on your bucket list!

I left for New York on Thursday morning. My flight out was at 7am, meaning a 4:45am wake up call. I didn't do the work I should have to adjust to east coast time before then, so I went into that flight with about three hours of sleep. However, it all worked out because at midnight New York time that night I was wanting to go to bed. So I was able to slip right into an east coast sleep schedule after that first day.

In the days before the race I tried to not be on my feet all the time to varying success. New York is such a cool city and I need to go back there without a marathon looming over my head. So many sights to see, good food to eat, and people to watch! I enjoy a big spectacle race, but I also enjoy a big spectacle city. I need to get myself to Hong Kong and Tokyo at some point. I love just the mass of humanity and sheer unfathomable amount of things to do and see. Really makes Portland look like a podunk shanty town.

Anyways, onto the race!

THE MORNING OF

So, despite my best intention and being tired at midnight the night of the race, I got ZERO MINUTES of sleep before the marathon. That's right, not a wink. It was really frustrating. My mind was just racing and I was really nervous about the race. I think the uncertainty of my training this year was the main culprit... could I really comfortably run the marathon on two four mile runs and a long run each week? Would my legs hold up? Was I in for a completely miserable experience? I just could not get my mind to stop worrying. The room I was in was also a bit on the warm side, which I don't think helped. I just could not get comfortable.

On the bus after the ferry.

Anyways, I got good sleep the night before so I just hoped laying there with my eyes shut for seven hours would help. My alarm finally ended my torment so I was able to get some breakfast (leftover pizza) and coffee into my system. By the time I left for the subway, I was feeling decently awake and ready to confront whatever the marathon would present. I almost felt as if I had slept, so that gave me a little bit of confidence I could avoid a major fiasco.

I took two subway lines (transferred halfway) to the Staten Island Ferry. I then took the ferry and got on a race provided bus to shuttle to the start. I finally arrived just before 9am... about an hour and a half before my start. The starting village was huge and divided into three different colors. Each color had their own sea of portable toilets, food station, coffee/water station, clothes donation, etc. I grabbed a bagel and munched on it and also drank a couple cups of water. I also was able to do my "business" real quick which was a big shot of confidence.

Mostly though, I just sat around and waited for my starting time. Luckily the weather was clear, hardly a cloud in sight, and there was little wind to speak of as well. So I was able to find multiple curbs and sit on them to pass the time. I would sit for about fifteen minutes, then go do something. Then sit again for fifteen minutes. Eventually they asked my starting wave to get ready in the corrals. I backed into the slowest corral I could, but that took the pacer near me from 4:00 to 4:05. I just wanted to start near the very back so I wasn't in people's way as I targeted my slower pace.

MILES 1-7: START AND THE FIRST SEVEN (11:02, 10:13, 10:49, 10:39, 10:52, 10:50, 10:44)

I had bought "throwaways" at Goodwill before leaving on the trip, knowing I would be hanging out in the corral for hours beforehand. Luckily, they had donation bins right in the corrals themselves, so I was able to keep them on until the very last second. Eventually they moved our corrals forward toward the start line. This walk wasn't too bad, maybe a quarter mile at most? Eventually we were all lined up at the start near the base of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. They did the national anthem, the countdown, then we are off!

If you've seen pictures of the New York City Marathon, you've probably seen one of the start on this bridge, packed to the gills with people. It did not look like that this year. I think they opted for smaller, more frequent corrals due to COVID. Don't get me wrong, there were a ton of people and it was busy, but it wasn't the shoulder to shoulder affair like I was imaging. Also, I was able to settle into my pace at the back and there seemed to be a lot of people right there with me at that pace. So between those two factors I didn't feel like I was getting in many runners way, which was nice.

The hill up the bridge is definitely a long and gradual one. I could see this being a real problem for someone who wasn't used to hills. Luckily, running where I do, it was no issue. It crested about a mile in and then we got a nice extended downhill as we cruised toward Brooklyn. My pace up the hill was right around 11:00/mi and my pace down the hill was right around 10:00/mi, so I was curious what it would be once I settled into flatter territory. Eventually that question was answered and "Thomas The Human Metronome" settled into a very consistent 10:49ish pace. That was slightly quicker than my usual long run pace but it felt easy like my long run pace. My heart rate was also right where I wanted it. Things were looking good!

After the brief start in Staten Island before the bridge, the remaining distance of the first thirteen miles takes place in the borough of Brooklyn. The crowds were fantastic! Seriously, they were lining the entire course and being very loud. Whenever you ran past a series of bars it was basically like a party in the street. There were a lot of people hitting the sauce early to cheer us on! Pretty fun. This part of the race was also pretty flat, so I was able to churn out some consistent miles and get into a nice groove. At times you could see the race stretching before you for miles and the mass of humanity moving in the distance like a wave. It was pretty cool but also a grim reminder of just how long this frickin' thing was!

MILES 8-13: METRONOMING IN BROOKLYN (10:54, 10:51, 10:49, 11:00, 10:40, 11:02)

The race continued on in the relatively flat Brooklyn. I really settled into a groove here, the pace felt good and I was able to enjoy the sights around me. The New York City Marathon doesn't have a lot of bends and turns, so you could often see quite far ahead. I was trying to run the tangents where I could, but honestly, there weren't a ton of tangents to begin with! Luckily, they did mark them down on the road with a light blue line for the elites, so I just used that as my cheat code. My friend Jon was there to cheer me on about mile eight and I was happy to spot him in the large crowd.

Mile 8

Not a lot I can say about this part of the race that hasn't already been said. Amazing crowd support, cool sights from different neighborhoods in Brooklyn, relatively flat course... hmm. I guess I can talk about my fueling strategy! Like most marathons, I stopped at every aid station had tried to get one electrolyte drink and one water. One thing I did not want to happen was dehydration. Except for a few instances, I was able to get both cups at the aid stations. New York had a lot of aid stations, as one would suspect, so I was never wanting for fluid. In addition to that drinking, I ate 180 calories of gummies every six miles. So a big handful of gummies at 6, 12, 18 and 24. That worked out well and I really liked the Gatorade branded ones I bought at the expo. They weren't super chewy and went down very easy.

All those fluids did cause me to pee twice during the race. Luckily, in each instance, I was able to duck directly in to the bathroom without waiting. While I might have lost thirty seconds in there, I usually ran a bit quicker once back on the course before settling back into my normal groove. So while I definitely lost some time, I think overall for the race it was well short of a minute. All told, I think my drinking/eating strategy is a pretty good one. It's basically the same one I have used since my first few marathons.

MILES 14-20: QUEENS, MANHATTAN, AND THE BROX (10:45, 11:11, 12:02, 10:36, 10:36, 10:43, 10:48)

The half marathon mark was actually on one of the few places without hordes of cheering people... a bridge. These bridges were probably the toughest part of the race because not only were they uphill (for half at least), there wasn't the usual cacophony of sound to encourage you onward. At this point though, I didn't need it, as I was still feeling pretty good and motivated. You can tell a lot about your marathon by the halfway point... if you are tired and wanting it to be over, you are in for a rough time. If you still feel kind of fresh and like you haven't exerted yourself too terribly... you have a chance.

Mile 17ish.

Unlike normal, I didn't really study the course to death before running this race. I did know that we would touch all five boroughs and that there was an uphill about mile 23ish that was "killer" but for the most part I went in blind. It was honestly fun to be totally surprised, it felt like kind of an adventure. It was kind of funny, however, when we crossed the Pulaski Bridge into Queens. After the long time spent in Brooklyn, I had to figure we would be in Queens for a good five miles or so. So I was pretty surprised when after less than two miles we were routed onto a bridge over to Manhattan. You were fun while you lasted, Queens (seriously, the crowd support there was awesome!).

The twelve minute mile is because of said bridge. To me, this was the hardest part of the race. It seemed like an incline that was going on forever, every time I thought the Queensboro Bridge was cresting it just kept going up. I knew my mile time on that part wasn't great, but I just reminded myself to keep an even effort. I was not going for time, and trying to push it up the bridge would ruin the rest of my race. So I just kept chugging upward. Again, there is no crowd here and it is mile 16, so this was the first time any sort of doubt creeped into my mind. I was tired from the uphill and there was still ten miles to go. Would my legs be gone after this incline?

Luckily, once over the hump, my legs came back just fine. Whatever doubts I had were mostly relieved as I continued to be able to hit my pace without issue. I wasn't even hawking my watch at all, I just ran by feel and each time my watch beeped it threw back a number right where I wanted to be. The stretch in Manhattan was multiple miles of a literal straight road (1st Ave)... again, you could see the wave of humanity in the distance as far as the eye could see, which was awe inspiring in one respect but also depressing in another. Really reminded you how far you had to go!

MILES 21-26: BRONX POP BY AND THE PARK FINISH (10:41, 10:33, 10:45, 10:49, 10:16, 9:50)

Right at about mile twenty you cross over the Willis Ave Bridge and end up in the Bronx. If I thought the stopover in Queens was short, the stopover in The Bronx was even quicker. You cross the bridge, run about a mile there, then take the final (thank goodness) bridge back into Manhattan. Compared to the Queensboro Bridge though, these ones were a piece of cake. Short little bumps if anything. As expected, the crowd support there was great as the residents of The Bronx wanted to make sure you appreciated your brief time in their borough!

Mile 23 hill... feeling spry!

Once back in Manhattan there more long, straight stretches. These totally work in New York though because there is so much to see! I probably looked like such a tourist at times, my head craned to the sky admiring all the super tall buildings. The craziest part here was my body still felt good. I was a little tired and it had been four hours, sure, but overall this was definitely the best I had felt at this point in a marathon. Thank goodness too, because I was about to encounter the feared uphill at mile 23 that swallowed runners alive. This was where marathons went to die.

It was no biggie. Try to pick out my uphill time in those series of mile times, I dare you. It was the 10:49. It was about 100 feet over the course of a mile, so really nothing too terrible. I can see how it would have totally kicked my ass in some of my previous marathons, but since I was taking this one easier and just doing my long run pace... it was fine. I mean, I would have rather it had not been there, but it was fine. I honestly sped up a little because doing so used a slightly different set of muscles and I actually felt pretty fresh.

By the time I crested the hill, I was ready to push for the finish and push I did. You can see by my declining mile times, I was feeling pretty good. Honestly, I couldn't believe how much energy and how good I felt for being the final two miles of a marathon. I was really worried about this one between my legs and subpar training, but my commitment to stick to my pace really paid off. I wove through those final two miles in Central Park like nobody's business. It felt awesome to be zipping along as so many people were in zombie mode. Now, my time sucked, I know, but still... to finish a marathon feeling like that... amazing! This was the first, and likely last, marathon I had a negative split on.

THE FINISH AND THE AFTERMATH

I crossed the finish line and was able to stop and walk around no problem. I think that's another first. Usually my legs feel some sort of trashed and I have a little limping session. Sure, they were tired as hell, but I was able to walk around and I didn't have the urge to sit down and cry in pain like usual. So that's progress I guess. Like always, however, the chute seemed to go ON AND ON AND ON. The thing never ended! Finally I was able to exit into the masses. It took a bit but I was able to find Jon and then demanded to go to a restaurant with a cheeseburger. I'm typically not hungry after a race, but usually I feel way more trashed and exhausted.

Anyways, I got my cheeseburger and fries and then took the subway back to Brooklyn. For running a marathon on no sleep, I was feeling pretty okay. My legs were very tired but I was able to get up the three flights of stairs to the room no problem (a real worry earlier in the week). I even stayed up until 11pm watching Sunday Night Football before calling it an evening.

In all, it was such an unexpectedly amazing marathon experience. I went to New York knowing it could be an absolute shit show... or it could go okay. I honestly didn't expect to have one of my best marathon experiences ever. Yes, it was a PW by miles, but who cares. I loved the whole experience and didn't suffer through it. A definite win in my eyes.

Official Chip Time: 4:43:22, 10:49/mi. 14,582/24,949 overall, 9,100/13,584 male, 1574/2166 M35-39.