New York City Marathon 2011

Plaatsingsdatum: Nov 10, 2011 6:19:23 PM

The New York City Marathon. Probably the most well-known marathon in the world, even though others are faster and older. But not bigger. A massive number of 47000 runners started the race in three waves, which were subsequently subdivided into three start groups, and further subdivided in eight corrals. Staggering logistics.

Steffi and I were here on an organized marathon trip, which is a way for non-Americans to get guaranteed entry into the race. Very unfair for Americans, but good for tourism and city income (they sell it as promoting the international spirit of the race). This also meant we had to put up with group-travel stuff, which we managed to avoid as much as possible by, for example, not taking the organized bus to the start, but the Staten Island ferry. Two advantages of that: we left 45 minutes later, and we had a scenic ferry trip along south Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

When we arrived in the start area it was approximately 1.5 hours before the start, so perfect timing to take of all the extra clothes and hand them in at the baggage drop-off.

One other disadvantage of the organized trip: bib number assignment was not really according to expected finish time: Steffi and I were assigned to the same corral in the back of the Orange start of wave 1. I did manage to sneak in a few corrals ahead, so I ended up in the fourth corral of the Orange start, which turned out to be quite ok.

The weather was very nice, sunny but cool, but became a bit too warm towards the end (where Steffi poured a cup of Gatorade on herself to cool down). Probably better than a week earlier, when there was a big snow storm... My biggest worry was my ankle that had been bugging me for the last week. It was painful the day I arrived (but also due to too much walking in Manhattan), and now it was acting up a bit. I rubbed it, will it bother me, or is it just nerves?

45 minutes before the start we were ushered to the starting line, where we were just in time to witness the start of the elite women. More nervous waiting, until it was finally our time! The big canons went off, and Frank Sinatra started singing "New York... New York....".

The start of the New York marathon is on Staten Island, but in reality on the bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn. This bridge spans the first two miles of the race, and is at the same time the biggest hill in the course. But with legs still fresh, this first uphill, even though it was the longest, was the least of my troubles. Manhattan in the far distance, all the nervous energy released, and too tempting to go too fast (fortunately not really possible because of the crowding right after the start).

Things picked up after half a mile, and from that point on I could run my own pace without any clogging problems.

So. The goals for this race. I had no real hope of breaking 3 hours given the difficulty of the course. But I did have my eye on setting a new PR, and therefore set my pacing goal according to a 3:02 finish. I also wanted to enjoy the race as much as possible, so I chose an even pacing strategy, with the goal to run easy as far as possible, at least until mile 15, but maybe even a bit further.

The first mile was slow (up the bridge), but the second was super fast (down the bridge). I am using miles to talk about my progress, because that is how the course was marked (1 mile = 1.6 km, total distance: 26.2 miles). That was when we arrived in Brooklyn, where the course went along fourth avenue until mile 8. A nice broad avenue, with an amazing crowd of people, gospel choirs, rock bands, encouraging signs, etc. And at a time that you can appreciate it maximally. I managed to set a good pace, and keeping it was very easy. My early pace was between 6:50 and 7:00 minutes/mile (6:58 was the goal. Translates to 4:14-4:20 min/km). At the 8 mile point the blue, orange and green starting groups merged, but by this time things had thinned out, and we turned into shady Lafayette avenue. I am still feeling great, and the running goes fine. A couple of turns, and we arrive in Williamsburg, still part of Brooklyn. This part of the race is known to be quiet, because the Orthodox Jews don't approve of the race passing through their neighborhood. Still, some bands are playing for us in defiance, but few people cheer us on.

Time to say goodbye to Brooklyn and say hello to the half-marathon point (1:31, still on track for 3:02) on the Polasky bridge, which leads the Queens. This is the first uphill to tax the legs, but unfortunately not the last. Running feels good, but I have to be ready for the next bridge. So I ease the pace a bit for the two miles through Queens, to be ready for the Queensboro Bridge. And there it looms in the distance, with the Empire State building in the background.

Up and up the bridge, no one to cheer us on... But this is the crucial 15 mile point, where the easy first part ends and the tough part begins. All goes well running up the bridge, but it does slow me down and costs me precious time. But after the halfway point of the bridge, down down down we go into Manhattan, where the madness of First Avenue awaits. This is where Haile Gebreselassie dropped out last year, on the treacherous downhill. But I survive, and there is Manhattan! The crowds! First Avenue, broad with tall buildings! This is maybe the best thing of the whole NYC marathon, the fact that at the point where you need it most the crowd support is best (compared to: Amsterdam: industrial area, Rotterdam: deserted Kralingse Bos, Berlin: Max Planck).

On and on First Avenue, the crowds propel us forward and I am on the right pace again until mile 20, the temporary end of Manhattan and the bridge to the Bronx.

Where I still took the Queensboro bridge in a good stride, the Willis bridge to the Bronx and the 20 mile point knocks the breath out of me. Fortunately, it is not as long any earlier bridge, and the Bronx people start yelling "W'lcome to da Bronx" on a background of heavy hiphop. They are proud of their small stretch of marathon route! If only they had been earlier in the race, maybe I could have paid more attention...

But soon it is back into Manhattan again, and even though the Willis bridge and subsequent hilly Bronx had knocked me off pace, I now pick it up again on nice and level Fifth Avenue. For a moment I think that I can even pick up the pace, and that even pacing is going to work. If only the road had stayed level... But at mile 23 the road starts climbing, and continues climbing for almost a mile until the entrance into Central Park. If only I can reach Central Park... But this last uphill stretch saps the remaining strength out of my legs, and when I reach the Central Park entrance, with just over 2 miles to go, I feel I have no energy left for the hilly last stretch.

On and on in survival mode. At least there are downhill and uphill stretches, instead of just uphill. But my pace drops back to 7:30-ish. Out of the park, onto the street south of the park, and back into the park for the final 500 meters....

And then it is over. No collapsing on the finish line this time, and the time is 3:06:45.

In retrospect I have been too optimistic about the difficulty of the course, and the lack of hill training in the Netherlands is definitely a disadvantage. The pacing strategy had worked reasonably well in the sense that I ran comfortably up until late in the race (as opposed to Rotterdam), but in the end I just came up short in the final miles. If only they'd been flat... And each of these bridges and hills can add 30 seconds to your time, which adds up in the end. Finally, my ankle had behaved very well, so those worries had been for nothing.

Steffi finished in 3:50:23, a very good time, and an improvement of her Amsterdam PR (which was 3:50:38). She faster than Leontien van Moorsel (former women's World Champion in cycling), and Edwin van der Sar (former Dutch Soccer team goalie, thank you, Kor, for looking this up).