New York City Marathon WeekendDaniel Wellner's Penguins and Deads Pasta Dinner
Saturday, November 3, 2001
From L to R: (Back) Ken, Ryan, Mike, Ron, Richard. (Middle) Milt, Glenn, Cher, Peggy, Julia, Abe and Doug. (Front) Harriet and El. The whole Penguin gang at Padrone restaurant. Daniel, the dinner organizer, is playing gracious host inside!
Clockwise from back left: El from Brooklyn, Toronto Penguin Glenn, Abe (aka "Run Abe") from New Jersey, Ken from Connecticut, Milt from Ohio. Note: Daniel is in the background wearing a Penguin t-shirt!
PENGUIN QUIZ!1. Identify the Penguins on the left!
Very pink hat: Run Abe
Pink hat: Harriet
Orange/red hat: Julia
No hat: Ron2. What are they doing?
They're plotting a course for the Penguin "Scream Team." At least, that's what they said they're doing!
Toronto Penguins Glenn and Richard flank El from Brooklyn.
New York City Marathon Race Day
Sunday, November 4, 2001Race report from Richard... (short version)
Date: Mon Nov 5, 2001
Subject: NYC MarathonHello all,
I have just returned from N.Y. and this is a quick e-mail to tell everybody that everything went great. The weekend was great, the city is great, all the people I met were great and the race went great.
I am planning to write a more extensive race report plus a report about the weekend itself and publish it on the net but I can say a little more about the race here. I had a very consistent race. On Saturday I got a wrist band with split times for each miles for a 4:50 marathon (Finishing was my first goal but I hoped to stay within 5 hours) and that wrist band proved to be worth gold. I stayed very close to the split times and I even made up the time you loose at the start. Actually I made it up in one mile, between mile 4 and 5, but my wrist band info told me take it easy.
Things went pretty smooth. No big problems. When I hit mile 20 I was afraid of hitting the wall, but I felt very strong instead. I continued to feel strong in the following miles and instead of slowing down I was able to speed up!! At mile 24 my legs stiffened up because it was going uphill but that went away when we were going downhill again and I still felt strong. At the last mile, actually less than a mile, I got cramps in my right leg. Limped to the right side, walked 10 meters and started to run again. I completed the 26.2 miles in 4:43:45 (clock time); 4:41:00 (chip time)
Like I said, I am very happy how the race went and how strong I felt. I even ran a faster second half and than first half, but the cramps tells me that I went to the edge and let me tell you that I might have felt strong during race, I felt awfully and soooo tired and was in sooo much pain after the race. Everybody who I had passed, passed me right after the finish line. Even now I am still in pain and I have a painful knee but it was worth it. Even if I am limping for the next 6 months, it would still be worth it.
Race report from Richard... (long version)
Date: Tues Nov 27, 2001
Subject: Here it finally is: the race report of the NYC marathon 2001Sunday November 4, 2001
The day I had been waiting for for such a long time. My alarm went off at 5 o'clock. I had already laid out my running gear the evening before so I was organized for a change. I left the hotel at 5:45 and went on my way to the buses that would bring me to the start line. On the way several people wished me good luck. I guess the outfit and the NYC marathon bag with some dry clothes for after the marathon gave it away.
Getting in one of the many many buses went pretty smoothly. No big hassles and I talked with several people. Everybody was pumped and excited.
At the start line there is Fort Wadsworth where everybody gathers. I got at the Fort at 7:30 which meant I had to kill more than 3 hours but that time went by faster than I expected. At the pasta dinner the evening before the Penguins had told me that they would gather at this fort and they had a sign with them so they would be easier to locate. After I had found them I tried to close my eyes but of course I was not very successful. This was also because I had been drinking a lot of water and now that same water wanted to leave the body as soon as possible.
At the Fort you could get a nice breakfast which was of course free. If you wanted to, you could even attend a religious service because those were offered there too. And we can not forget to mention the world longest urinal.
The weather was great. We couldn't have wished for better: sunny and about 15 degrees during the race and hardly any wind.
Around 10:00, after some group pictures, I headed together with Donna, a woman from Hamilton (80k from Toronto), and another woman over to the area where were supposed to gather. One last pitstop. Around 10:30 everybody was guided to the starting area. Everybody took the clothes off (don't get excited here) that they wore to keep them warm and they were flying through the air. They would get collected and given to charity.
After some speeches, I asked Donna how long it was till the start. “2 Minutes” she replied. Oops, we are getting close and I hadn't done much stretching. Everybody was so excited around me. Just like little kids. “10 seconds”. One look around me and before I knew it the cannon made the noise we were waiting for. The marathon had started.
Hold it. It had officially started but I had not crossed the start line yet. There were 24,000 people at the start area so it would take some time. Luckily I was not at the very back so it took me ‘only’ 2:45 minutes to cross the line and I did not run one single meter on the way to the line. I had to run far enough. Through the speakers Frank Sinatra was singing “New York, New York” which was so appropriate. “If you can make it there, you can make it everywhere”.
Mile 0: And there we went. All those people running over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. As actors posing for that well known picture. The picture that I have been having as my background picture on my PC for such a long time.
Some people were carrying cameras and jumped on the railing in the middle to take pictures. I was running behind Donna and the other lady. Donna is a faster runner than me so I decided not to follow her pace. Everybody had told me that it is very tempting to start too fast and that is what I want to avoid. I even think that I started too much up front because people were passing me left and right. Slowly Donna ran away from me and I felt actually good about that. Knowing that I had been able to resist the temptation to follow her. This was going to be my race and my race only.
Mile 1: Towards the end of the bridge I saw a couple of guys who were taking “bio breaks”. At first I was stunned but I saw more and more men filling up the river below us. And the more men I saw, the more I realised that I had enough tension myself so I lined up too. Besides that, it was time for a “walking break”. During the long training runs I used to run 10 minutes and then walk for 1 minute. Since I was not carrying a watch I decided to walk after every mile which was about 10-11 minutes. Since stopping suddenly in the middle of the bridge would cause some traffic jams, the bio break was not such a bad alternative.
Mile 2: From Staten Island we got into Brooklyn, the borough where we would spend most of our running time. I walked again. People along the road shouted at me to continue but I guess they were not familiar with this tactic which is well known among runners. From then on I decided to take my walk breaks at each water/gatorade station which were located at every mile anyway. Those breaks felt different then when I was in training. I walked fast and the ‘minute’ probably lasted less than a minute. The funny thing too was that when I would start running again during a training session it would take me 30 seconds to get back to my rhythm while I did not have this problem at all.
Mile 3: Around mile 3 some of the Penguins supporters were standing along the road. They would be on the left side so I moved over from the right side. I heard Glenn’s bell and there they were. I heard Glenn yelling “Come on Toronto”. I stayed on the left side because some other Penguins were standing around mile 8.
That street where we ran on was a long one. All the way to the horizon you could see the heads of all my fellow marathon runners.
Mile 5: At every mile there was a clock so with the information I got from my wristband which had the split times for a 4:50 marathon I knew how I was doing. The first miles I was 2 minutes behind but that was because I lost time at the start although at that time I didn't really know exactly how much. At mile 5 I was all of a sudden exactly on schedule. “Take it easy, Richard” I was saying to myself. Because making up 2 minutes in 1 mile is way too much.
So I stayed at the left side for the people who were cheering us on at mile 8 but the left side was the side where the “Red” runners were supposed to run and I belonged to the “Blue” section. Those colours had to do where your official start was and the start line for the red ones was not the same as the one for the blue ones. As a result the red runners had to run an extra block (about 200 meters) but I hoped that it would happen after mile 8 so I could get back to the right side on time.
Mile 8: That extra block happened exactly at mile 8. I didn't see the people at mile 8 and I could not move back to the right side so my marathon was a little bit further than the normal distance.
Mile 9: Around mile 9 I passed a man who was crawling the marathon. He had started 30 minutes before us but it still took me more than 1,5 hours to pass him. He had thick knee and shin guards like a hockey player and his hands were strapped to thick wooden blocks so it would be less painful but boy if you see somebody like him, how can you not finish the marathon yourself. It almost makes your own marathon not significant.
Mile 13: The halfway point was on the bridge to Queens. I was confused for a moment because I did not know that we had to cross a bridge to get into Queens so when we did I though for a moment that we were going to Manhattan although I also knew that this would happen around mile 16. I passed the halfway point about 15 seconds under my schedule. That wristband was worth gold to me. In the last 8 miles I ran almost exactly the pace I wanted to run. So far so good.
Mile 15: Mile 15 was maybe the most difficult point of the race: the Queensboro bridge which brings you into Manhattan. One of Penguins, Run Abe, had just passed me and he told me clearly that this was the toughest part. Bridges are in general tough. First because the elevation changes and secondly because there are no spectators on the bridges. It was pretty quiet on the Queensboro bridge. Even a little bit mysterious. I saw more people walking and we were running on the lowest level of the bridge so it was a little bit dark.
Mile 16: Our feet touched the soil of Manhattan for the first time and it was no longer quiet. The opposite, it was loud. People had advised me to put my name on my shirt. I got a sticker from one of the Penguins and wrote “Rich” on it. Since I ran relatively close to the curbs, people could read it and they were cheering me on: “Come on Rich”, “Looking strong, Rich”, “Looking good, Rich”. Sometimes you just wanted to stop to thank the strangers who were supporting you but I kept on running and used all my energy for only my running.
There were places along the course where spectators were standing in several rows. It was especially busy on 1st avenue in Manhattan. There were even 2 pubs where a lot of Dutch people were standing, all dressed up in orange. I felt like shouting to them but somehow I couldn't find the energy and the wit to say something. All the energy was flowing downwards through my body, not upwards.
Nevertheless a lot of thanks goes out to all the spectators along the road. Without you this would be just a normal marathon. You made it such a special marathon.
Mile 17: Don't know why, but all of a sudden I felt a little bit weak. I got worried because there were more than enough miles ahead of me. Luckily it was temporary because I felt good a mile further down the road. Don't know what happened there, maybe I just had to recover from the bridge.
Mile 18: We received some Powerade gel at this point. I hadn't been too crazy about it in the past but I did consume one of them. A little bit further we got some sponges to wipe the sweat away and to cool down. That felt nice.
Mile 20: Oh, mile 20. Maybe the most important mile. The mile where your body normally starts a conversation with you and complains about its current state. It has been proven that around mile 20 the glycose in your body hits its low. You are about to hit the wall.
It is also the mile that brought us into the Bronx where you only spent one mile before you returned to Harlem, Manhattan.
More people were walking but somehow I felt strong. Surprisingly strong. But I kept telling myself to control myself. I knew that I was now a few minutes under my schedule but there was still 10k to go. It was too easy to kill yourself.
Mile 22: About 40 per cent of the people around me were walking. In the first 10 miles, people were passing me left and right. In the following 5 miles things stayed pretty constant, which was fun because despite that I took running breaks I still ended up with the same people around me. From mile 15 I started to pass people. Not many in the beginning but that number increased. I still felt strong and decided to speed up a little, but I kept loyal to the walking breaks at every water station.
A little bit further you saw Central Park. We were getting there but it was going uphill now and I felt my muscles in my thighs stiffening up. It was like they became cement. It was still a long way and later people told me that they experienced this part as the toughest part but my brains must have been turned off because I felt the pain in my legs, but it was like I didn't realize it. Luckily as soon we got to the top of the hill and down again, the muscles loosened up.
Mile 23: We entered Central Park. Despite the muscle problem I still felt good. Now looking back at those last miles, I must say that I must have gotten in that special zone. It was like my brain was only focussed on getting to the finish line and not on anything else. It ignored the pains my body was producing. It was even not paying much attention to everything around me. Finish, finish, finish and on top of that I was trying to finish as fast as possible.
Mile 25: We are getting close. For the first time I skipped a water station. We are getting so close now. All of sudden I saw Donna who was walking. I tapped her on the shoulder when I passed her and yelled to her “Come on”. Doubt for a second if I should stop or not, but I am on a mission and continued to run.
With just about half a mile to go I all of a sudden got cramps in my right leg. I limped over to the right side of the road. Swear, stretch my leg and start to walk again. Don't feel the cramps anymore and I start to run again but I run carefully without pushing too much.
Mile 26.3: DONE!!! With my arms up in the air I crossed the finish line with a smile from ear
to ear. This is something I wanted to do for such a long time and now I have accomplished that dream. I feel emotional because it wasn't easy to get here. This is the moment I have been thinking about so often. That's why you got up so early on Sunday mornings. This is the feeling for which you are doing it. The feeling that you have done something special. The feeling that you are special.After the finish line you get the medal and a blanket. I turned around hoping to see Donna who
couldn't be that much behind me. I really hoped to see her so I can share this feeling but unfortunately I wouldn't. I felt that I am getting stiff. I felt the pain in my body. ALL OVER MY BODY. I have cramps in my upper body. If I would sit down, I would probably still be sitting there.I got a little bag with water, bagel, apple, protein bar, fruit cup and some other stuff. Since I have no energy inside myself I forced myself to eat it even though I almost feel too tired to eat.
I picked up my bag from the UPS car which seemed to be located at least 1 mile after the finish line. I bent over to take something out of it but I feel the cramps immediately. Not a smart idea.
Slowly I walked to the family reunion section and from there I took the subway back to my hotel.
My legs felt sooo tired that I would have liked to lie down and sleep. I called some friends to say I did it and finally took a shower to get rid of all the salt on my body. I have so many salt grains on my face and my running tights are full of salt stains.
After the shower I changed into normal clothes and head out again. I ate something and get on the way to the official awards ceremony and the party after. The party looked nice and I would have had a good time but there was nobody there who I knew and I felt so tired. Even a beer, which I certainly deserved, didn't taste good (okay, it was American beer so what can you expect? :-) At 10 o'clock I decided to give my legs what they deserved: rest. I went back to my hotel and happily I lied on my bed. Oh, that felt sooooooooo good.
Postscript: After writing all this I suddenly realised that I didn't mention how it took me to finish the 42 kilometers and 195 meters (+ something extra :-) In a way it's not important, it was all about finishing. Nevertheless here are the split times and the finish time:
10k: 1:09:41 (clock time); 1:06:56 (chip time)
Half: 2:24:43 (clock time); 2:21:58 (chip time)
20 mil: 3:40:15 (clock time); 3:37:30 (chip time)
Finish: 4:43:45 (clock time); 4:41:00 (chip time)First half: 2:21:58 (chip time)
Second half: 2:19:02 (chip time)
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