Running the New York Marathon Like a Pro

Last night I sat with my laptop for 30 minutes trying to find words to describe all that I experienced Sunday as part of my "Marathon Like a Pro" opportunity. You are likely wondering what I'm talking about, since the title doesn't do justice to all that I shared on Sunday in New York.

It seems best to rewind a few weeks to an evening when I received an email from New York Road Runners (NYRR), the Marathon's sponsoring entity, describing an auction being conducted to raise funds that would be used to support youth running programs conducted through the NYRR Foundation (you can find information at http://www.nyrrfoundation.org/).
The note describing this opportunity was included in an overall newsletter about the Marathon, which proves it pays to read through your "in box" material on occasion. The fund raising auction included items such as a private tour of the Guggenheim Museum (I was interested in seeing the new addition designed by Art Vandeleigh), a chance to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, a spot at the Marathon Eve (aka Halloween night) pro-athlete pre-race dinner along with several other unique experiences. Without much thought, after receiving a second email, I submitted a bid and watched. As the bidding window closed, I sat in a meeting watching time tick away while expecting any number of people to jump in with significantly loftier bids.

Much to my surprise, I won!

Before bidding I did read a description of the VIP package, which is printed below:

Running the ING NYC Marathon 2009?

Enhance your experience with our VIP package and have your pre- and post-race needs completely taken care of by the same team that ensures our professional athletes have a fantastic race day.

We aim to take excellent care of each and every one of our runners but the winner of this package will receive top-notch treatment from start to finish including:

· One seat in the professional athlete bus caravan on Marathon Morning, departing Midtown at approximately 6:30 AM

· VIP Start and Finish Line Experience, including access to the pro-athlete warm-up and staging area (read: warm & cozy!) at Fort Wadsworth and expedited baggage pick up at the Finish Line

· An escort to the very front of your corral’s starting line.

Like me, you can probably read this description without having any appreciation of the experience that might be provided. Just know I was hooked by the "warm & cozy" description of the pre-race staging area. The result of my winning bid was that rather than being one of 42,000 runners, I became one of about 200. Rather than being in a mass of people riding the Staten Island Ferry (which I did in 2007...and enjoyed), I rode on a bus with a police escort. Rather than finding a resting spot outside among the masses on Staten Island, I was able to sit in a heated tent among people much fitter, faster and more flexible than I. And my race number went from 25 thousand and something to number 206.

For those who have followed this blog, you noticed the absence of a "sign of the day" from my race day post. That's because the sign of the day for my New York experience appeared in the front window of my bus. The bus--my bus-- took us from midtown Manhattan directly to Staten Island by crossing over the Verazzano Narrows Bridge...a bridge that was otherwise closed to traffic.

We arrived in a private location and were escorted to a tent for "sub-elite athletes." To be clear, they were all elite...I was the sub.

It is worth noting the young woman in the orange jacket (in the picture to the right) is giving me the, "you don't look like you really belong here" examination. But, she was great as I explained my presence within the confines designated for elite runners. The tent was warm, which was good on a cool morning. The tent was also dry, which was very good as the final morning mist dried up following a night of rain. Rather than pack my own bagel, fruit and Gatorade, all that and more was laid out on a table with easy access. I did notice I was pretty much the only one who ate anything prior to the race. I hate to run on an empty stomach. Since all the fast people skipped the food it may be the key to increasing my speed is to eat less. I'm still processing that particular lesson.

All that was great stuff, but the really, really cool part is we were right next to the elite athletes area. I had not really thought about being that close to the people who were about to lead..and win...the race. My proximity to the elite athletes offered some photo opportunities, which I tried to access in only the most discreet of fashions. Keep in mind during the hour before the race we are all...fast or slow, male or female...victims of our hydration plans. Which is a nice way of saying everyone is going to need to use the port-a-john a time or two. So, in the background of these pictures you may see blue plastic memorials to human biology.

The iPhone came in handy for a picture of 3-time New York winner Paula Radcliffe (right) and current Runner's World cover boy Ryan Hall (left). Yes, the pictures were taken near the port-a-johns...but notice the absolute lack of lines when we needed to go potty.

As race time approached, we were escorted as a group to the start line. At one point we walked through a lane in the crowd that was created by security holding back the throngs. So, picture average runner me walking with a group of very fast marathoners through thousands of people who were looking at us, trying to figure out who was in our group, all while taking taking pictures of the procession. Let me take a moment to offer an apology to everyone who ended up with a picture of me. They will be disappointed to learn the picture shows a 4:17 marathoner who was on cloud 9 walking with a bunch of highly tuned athletes.

During the transition from our tent area to the start line, I walked right beside Joan Benoit-Samuelson who won the gold medal in the first Olympic Women's Marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. She also won the Boston Marathon in 1979 and 1983. Needless to say, it was pretty cool to walk with her to the start line. In fact, I opened a bottle of water for her as we walked to the start. By the way, at age 52 she ran the Marathon in 2 hours, 49 minutes, 9 seconds breaking the NYC Marathon 50-plus division record of 2:53:53 set in 1993. I should have stayed with her for more than the walk to the start line.

I was joined in this experience by Hugh, who was successful in an identical auction earlier this year. We had a great time visiting, sharing the experience and soaking up the memories. Most of you can't appreciate feeling like a "kid in a candy store" just before running 26.2 miles, but that's the attitude both Hugh and I had was we watched the elite athletes prepare to compete over the New York Marathon course.

In addition to all that I have already described I also had the benefit of an easy drop process for the big plastic bag containing my warm ups, which also contained a journal I used to record thoughts on race morning in both 2007 (my first NYC Marathon) and 2009. 26.2 miles after handing off my plastic bag of warm clothes I picked it up from a helpful volunteer, sat in a chair, ate an apple, drank a Gatorade, soaked up the atmosphere in Central Park, remembered why I Love New York and began to enjoy the memories. For me, it was fun to sit, think about the day and start plotting on how to run at least 18 minutes quicker next time. After about 30 minutes of enjoying the moment, and not being able to call home due to the 3G network being busy, I headed out of the Park to catch a taxi back to my hotel. The final picture of my day was of a pretty fall day at the lake in Central Park.

I'm going to run some more, but I'm not expecting to run up front. The experience and its accompanying challenges have come to mean more than winning. But, this past Sunday morning, for a couple hundred yards across the Verazzano Narrows Bridge, I was ahead of the pack.

Finally, many thanks to the NYRR Foundation staff and volunteers, those that I met and those I did not meet...Lydia, Elizabeth, Sam, Jonni, the young woman in the orange coat in the tent, the two young woman in the Orange Room on Saturday who kept me straight despite my checking in with them about a dozen times to make sure I was doing things correctly, John Anthony of Anthony Travel, to Mary Wittenberg for a kind email last evening, and to Hugh for a really wonderful shared experience!