The build up to the New York Marathon had been incredible! Starting the day out at 4.30am I caught a taxi in to 51st Street to meet up with the "Team For Kids" group that had 14 busses waiting for us all. The atmosphere was electric with everyone buzzing in the early hours of the morning with anticipation of what was ahead for us all. Following a police escort to the start line in Staten Island, we arrived prior to 8am and it was clear that the major challenge would be keeping warm in the hours before the race started. This was the first year in the New York Marathon that there would be a wave start with the lead group getting away at 9.40am, followed by the second wave at 10am and then the third wave at 10.20am.
I had been placed in the third wave start and it was a little alarming when I could not find a 4 hour pace group though could only see the 4:30 pace group so I made the decision to start out on poll position and catch up to the second group ahead. The initial rush of being the first out of the gate was quickly restrained when greeted by one of the largest hills ever over the first mile of the race. The advice of taking it easy in the first 2 miles was ringing in my ears and I maintained a strong position. It was after the initial few miles that I decided to tune into my iPod and turn up the music. Having run Dublin without turning on my iPod today I thought that it may be best to focus on my own race. It was a great decision and I managed to tune in to my own race and also take in some of the crowd along the course.
It really was amazing to see the crowds along the way with the highlight being at the 13km mark when running down the street and the bands playing and me feeling on a high I recall pumping the crowd up and running backwards and really getting into it! It was such a rush to be feeling so good and be in the middle of such a electric atmosphere. There were so many incredible sights and sounds along the way from crowds ten deep to church choirs! Mind you I did realise that there was still a long way ahead ...
Without the pace group having balloons to identify where I was travelling I spotted the 4:15 pace sign on the back of some runners and was fairly sure that this would have been from the second wave ahead of me and gave me a little more inspiration to continue pressing towards the 4 hour target time. As I continued passing through the crowd and making my way through a number of runners that were doing it tough, I was ahead of the 4 hour pace by more than 5 minutes by the half way mark and although favoring my right hamstring and achilles was feeling confident. By the 30km point I remained slightly ahead of the 4 hour target pace though could feel the pain and muscles tightening like nothing else. It was great to see a good friend at the 30km stage though this was the time where I lost a few minutes against the clock and was a few minutes down on the target pace by the 35km stage. In the homeward stretch towards Central Park there were few opportunities to pass by a number of runners at the crowd was massive and fellow runners were tiring. It was rewarding to track down and pass by one of the runners who had taken off early in the initial miles of the race though by the 40km mark I was down by 5 minutes on the target time! I pushed as hard as possible through the crowds of people now struggling towards the final line and crossed in 4:05:35 ... Missing the 4 hour target though still posting a personal best time in my fourth marathon in four weeks!
Time 5K 0:25:31
Time 10K 0:51:50
Time 15K 1:19:42
Time 20K 1:48:19
Time 1/2 Mar. 1:54:32
Time 25K 2:18:44
Time 30K 2:49:15
Time 35K 3:21:46
Time 40K 3:52:25
Final Time 4:05:35
Time Pace/Mile 0:09:22
Every runner had a story to tell and the adventure was certain to be memorable to each and every person that took part in the 2008 New York Marathon. Thank you so much to all the supporters that made the day so special. Now for the final adventure to Athens Greece to compete in the home of the marathon and take care of the 5th marathon in 5 weeks ...
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