I know that I haven't written a lot recently. Partly because blogging hasn't brought me as much enjoyment recently as it did when I first started. I think that it's in part due to the lack of interaction with other runners. That interaction was what I was really hoping to accomplish by starting this blog in the first place. These days, it's become more of a convenient way for me to log my races, times, and PRs - and analyze them to death... The other reason that I haven't written, is because I got injured, and was really bummed out because the injury occurred during the peak week of my marathon training. In other words, I never got that 22 miler in, and I barely ran at all during the last 3 weeks prior to the marathon. Onto other things...
The Empire State Marathon:
I'll try to include everything that I'm always searching for when I'm scoping out a race - in the off chance that someone finds this page looking for information to help them with a race day strategy, or simply to help them decide whether he/she wants to choose to register for this race, or perhaps pass it up for a different one.
The Expo:
Nothing special. Small, and not a whole lot to look at or purchase. I came to the expo thinking that I would likely leave with a new pair of running shoes, but only one vendor had shoes, and they were all the same brand (yes, I know - the vendor was THAT brand - New Balance?). If the expo doesn't grow for future years, plan on only spending about 10-15 minutes at the expo. I was disappointed that Fleet Feet didn't have any merchandise on hand.
The Vitals:
There were 522 marathon finishers. I don't know how many were registered and/or DNF. The fastest time was 2:39 and the slowest was 7:06. The temps were in the high 30s when we started, and were somewhere in the mid 40s when we finished. The skies were clear, despite the threat of rain in the weather report the night before. Oh, and it was windy - so waiting around before the gun was a tad uncomfortable.
The Race Logistics:
We did not have any trouble getting to where we needed to in order to park. The cluster of hotels was roughly 5 minutes from the stadium parking lot. There was a slight back up getting into the lot itself, but it wasn't too bad. I would imagine that it may have become quite more difficult 15 or 20 minutes after we arrived, as the bulk of the runners were doing the half, which started 30 minutes after the marathon. So, although I'm not entirely sure, I would imagine that getting there no later than 6:45 was the right move. The volunteers were great, the aid stations were plentiful and well placed - and the port-o-potties along the race course seemed to be equally plentiful and not too crowded. Many of them actually looked unoccupied. Their energy drink of choice (I assume that they were a sponsor) was horrible. I've never had "Accelerade" before, and I'll never (hopefully) have to have it again. YUCK!
I'll be back to write more...
