New York Marathon 2014-My Summary: I finally made it to the Big Apple, and here is how it went Pacing the 4-30 Bus -4-30 for me should have been a piece of cake, relative to my current level of fitness, but the weather gods were not looking down kindly on NY 2014, I don’t think I have run in such hostile conditions since Traralgon 1978, Canberra in 2011 (Minus 8ºC at the start) and Ross in 2010, with the wind blowing directly off the snow, were comfortable relative to NY yesterday. It was about 3ºC at the start, with a 40kph wind gusting to 60+kph, so you can work the chill factor out, and as the day professed it didn’t get any better. -As a pacer, we should have had a tent at the start, with a heater, but because of the winds, the walls were removed and so was the heater and except for luke warm coffee, we froze for 3+ hours waiting for the start (My bus dropped me at 7am, and I started at 10-55am, so how much energy did we lose/waste shivering?) -The winds were so strong the they wouldn’t let the Wheelies race over the 1st Bridge and shortened their race to 23.2 miles. -On the bridge, the wind at one stage literally blew me across 2 traffic lanes. -My plan was simple, get to the halfway mark between 2-13 and 2-14 and cruise home. -Once we crested the bridge, conditions were so bad, that I let the pack run, and when we got to the 3km mark, we were already 1min 30secs ahead of schedule. This was an on the spot decision by me to get out of the wind ASAP. Once clear of the bridge, there was soe protection from the wind, but not very much, but the gusts etc appeared not to exceed 30kph. -We cruised to the 12 mile mark with 1min 45 sec in the bank, and started the 2nd of several bridge climbs, where because of the grade, and heavy traffic I allowed the group to drop 30 secs (with hindsight, a mistake). -So we went through the halfway in about 2-14, which I thought was reasonable. What I never knew about, and couldn’t factor in was the fact that we started in Wave 4 of 4, and by halfway the slower runners from the front 3 waves were falling back onto us, and on the 3rd Bridge (25km), traffic was so heavy we couldn’t get a clear run, and were down to 7mins/km or slower. -By the 30km mark, our 1 minute buffer had become over a 2 min deficit, so some running had to be done, and unfortunately, those few hardy souls who were hanging in there, were about to get burnt. -Where there was open road (rarely), I was back to 6mins/km, but generally averaged about 6mins 15secs/km, but I wasn’t running alone, as I started to pick up those who went out too fast from Wave 4, and a small group of us fought our way through and Army of despondent walkers from waves 1, 2 and 3. I the last half, I must have passed 30,000+ runners. (For Australians, picture the 1st 3 or 4km of the Sydney City to Surf, and try to run 2mins/km faster than those around you, this was the type of congestion we were negotiating, in the last 17km, and it was still freezing, and I never warmed up until I got to my hotel room and a hot shower) -So I ran up 5th Ave, and into Central Park, and back out into the streets, and back in to Central Park for a 4-30-20sec finish, frozen, but happy. -The course, crap course (too many long straights), but nobody really noticed, because of the crowds, and New Yorkers know how to celebrate a Marathon like nobody else on Earth. The bands, the cheering, the roadside party’s, the encouragement, the views, etc etc, and if anybody who ran yesterday and says that they didn’t enjoy it, then they are lying, as it was a great day in New York. -If anybody says that it was easy and they ran well, then unless they either live at the South Pole or unless it was their first Marathon, they too are lying, as it was a tough day at the office for all. So here are my results, and another box ticked ( I was supposed to average 10mins 18secs/mile, I’ll try harder next time):
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 21:48:22 +0000
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