Running > Report

2002 Nov 03 - New York Marathon #6. Time 3:27

(1) Intro Special warm thanks to Nangel for her welcoming kindness and generosity this past weekend. Thanks also go to Daniel Wellner for the highly successful and enjoyable Penguin & Dead encounter on Saturday evening. Sincere thanks to Karen Bingham for the surprise t-shirt prize for being the "one who travelled furthest" at the encounter. Thanks to Ron Horton and the other Penguins for the pre-race gathering and great race-start strategy at the head of the red section. Thanks everyone for making my first ever visit to NYC, and 3rd time in the U.S. so enjoyable. I just loved it! Despite the huge mass of new impressions collected over the past few days, I'm hoping that this report will turn out to be more or less coherent. Nevertheless, feel free to skip with abandon! :-)

(2) Pre-Race Arrived Boston on Thursday directly from a business trip in the Middle East. Drove to NYC with Nangel. Had a great time visiting the expo, drinking Murphy's stout and eating steak at the Irish pub where Penn Station Fire-fighters hang out. Saturday morning's cold 6K freedom run starting at the U.N. building had a very international flavour, and it was good to sit in a warm diner for a hot breakfast afterwards. Daniel Wellner's encounter with the Penguins & Deads was excellently organised. There was a moving speech given by Karen Bingham. It was great to meet Abe, Jeanette, Paulette, Debbie, Mel and other Penguins, and to see the Deads who were at the Boston encounters in April, namely Joe, Lauren, Harriet, Julia and Mike.

(3) Race report up to mile 20 The race started on the long high bridge joining Staten Island with Brooklyn. The view from our starting position on the left side of the bridge was sensational. The Manhattan skyline and the rainbow coloured water display given by the fire tugs shone clearly in the cold crisp late-morning sunlight. Watchless as usual and high on adrenalin I raced easily through Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, hi fiving, chatting to other Austrian and Brit runners, looking out for pink hats like the one I was wearing. Somewhere in Brooklyn I heard a "Go Penguin Brigade"... but by the time I had turned round, I couldn't see who was calling. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and the sights and crowds were carrying me on a wave. Ellen Druckenmiller had written that she might be standing on the corner of 94th Street, but unfortunately missed seeing her. She later told me that she had yelled my name but I didn't stop.... I was tiring fast at around mile 18, and my mind was losing concentration.

(4) Beyond mile 20 (Or: What went wrong?) In the Bronx the wall hit me like never before. It was almost impossible to go on. My pace slowed from the excellent 7:36 pace prior to mile 20, down to around 9 minutes per mile for the final 6.2 mile stretch. Gone were the crowds and fascinating sights. I was on my last legs, with a single thought screaming in my mind: "Let this be over now!". Around mile 25 I realised that I had forgotten to eat the small sachet of salt, that had proven to be helpful in the past. Suddenly eating gels or drinking made me want to throw up......... The finishing time was 3:27, nine minutes worse than the PR of September. So what went wrong? Was the NYCM course really as hard as it seemed? Were the half dozen 20 milers I did for training up to 10 days prior to the race were too much? Was the tiring 7 day business trip in the 110°F heat of the Middle East just 3 days previously responsible? Anyone got any ideas? All suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading this far, and look forward to seeing you all at the Disney encounters. 
Jerry Worthing (Looking for a running watch)

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