Quick impressions from today’s #NYCMarathon:
- By far my favorite part was the long 12-mile run through Brooklyn. Brooklyn, to me, is America’s biggest small town. Population: 2.5 million, but an endless stretch akin to Greenwich Village, with small business, mom-and-pops, and it seemed like the whole borough was out to cheer runners on.
- Also, the smells of Brooklyn. I saw the sign: “Here begins the Donut Mile.” And for a mile, all we could smell was bakeries. Followed by a half-mile of pizza, and later another half-mile of barbecue. I want to move to Brooklyn. Not that I could afford it.
- Harlem was really cool. DJ Kool Herc, an old-school rap pioneer, was spinning tunes live at 135th. Damn, that was awesome.
- The noise from people cheering the runners on was so loud that I had a splitting headache beginning about mile 10. That says a lot about how NYC supports the marathon. I needed Excedrin.
- Random people on the side of the street were giving out bananas, oranges and candy bars to runners. There were official food stations, but I made sure to take the food from the residents, because that was so cool, that folks would do that.
- You get serenaded at the start of the race with Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blaring over the loudspeakers. Nice.
- There was a guide service offering assistance to the visually impaired. I ran beside one group for a half-mile midway through the race. The sighted runner described the view from the bridge to the visually impaired runner. Awesome to be there for that.
- Seemingly thousands of people wanted to high-five you on your way by. I made it a point to high-five the little kids who held their tiny hands out. One little kid, maybe five years old, gave me a Snickers bar as I passed. Awesome.
- Practically everybody in my pack was running for some cause. Among the causes: pancreatic cancer, cystic fibrosis, early childhood education, Fred’s Team (cancer research). Lots of folks wearing shirts in memory of individuals who had passed on. I don’t know that I saw anybody who wasn’t running for at least one other person or important cause.
- What a team effort this whole thing was. I applaud the locals who took time out of their Sundays to cheer strangers on, family members who hustled to far-flung spots to cheer their loved ones on for literally a few seconds, then trudged to the finish line to do it all again, the army of volunteers, all of whom encouraged the idiots out there running about what a great job they were doing, the NYPD folks who kept us all safe. Wow, what a day.
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