Marathon Day 2006

It didn't occur to me until I got to Northeast corner of Central Park (110th Street and Fifth Ave.), but it is the perfect spot to watch the ING New York City Marathon. Why? Because right about at that point, twenty-three miles into the race, Fifth Ave makes a slight angle upward, just a couple of degrees of incline and about a mile long, a little grade that probably doesn't even register on people walking by, but for someone who wants to get to the turn into the Central Park, the last major transition in the run, it is a very long, long hill.

I haven't watched a race in a long time. It is like watching the opening of a floodgate, first, besides the obvious runners in the lead, there are the little knots of men and women, followed by bigger knots and then the scattered left behind runners.
Mixed in with the early leaders were the last of the wheelchair racers. These are not the rollers with the three thousand dollar chairs with the grinder handles and the sleek tilted wheels. Those guys and gals are long gone ( the winner finished in under an hour and thirty minutes.) No, the last wheelchairs are wheelchairs, regular blue and black, footrests in the front, straight wheels and push handle kind of chair you see in the front hall of hospitals. Making that kind of chair go 26 miles is a major effort. Major.

The hill makes this last stretch of roadway very tough. The crowd was tremendous, yelling the name of anyone who was smart enough to put it on their shirt. It must be a great boost to hear your name shouted in cadence at this point of your marathon. "You look great, Joe!" "Wow, Diane, Diane, Diane , go for it now!" Yea, Bill, the top of the hill is the turn into the Park!!" They flew up the hill, not everyone did. There were more than a few who stopped and stretched a hamstring, or an instep, or massaged a shin splint.

As the runners came on in greater numbers the noise the crowd made got even louder. Bells, horns, plastic noisemakers filled the air.


The blond lady waved her sign at every runner while she waited for her husband to come by. He was supposed to be in the three and a half hour finishers and as the time clicked by she got more and more excited, waving and looking and waving and looking. When he finally did arrive arrive, he STOPPED to say hello to her. "Why are you stopping???" she gasped! "Just wanted a kiss, hon."he said and with a little burst of energy in his step, he took off up the avenue.

He had some company.

I'm doing this next year.