A Guide For the NYC Marathon 1st Timers

This guide is provided with the following disclaimers:

• I am not an expert or elite runner. I am running the NYC Marathon for the fourth time. I think it’s the equivalent of a kid coming into their freshman year taking advice from someone going into their senior year. There are a lot more people wiser and smarter than me.
• This guide is specific to the New York City Marathon.There are probably similarities with other big marathons, but this is tailored just for anyone who is about to run in New York.
• I am not going to be able to tell you how to run faster or better (see above).

Okay so here we go:

1. Don’t worry about helping people who are coming to see you on the street. Be polite and let them tell you where they will be. This is your day. You put all the training and hard work in so they need to work a little to make sure they see you, not the other way around. Also, don’t let the fact that people are watching or tracking you add any pressure. Use any anxiety only for your benefit and when you need it the most.

2. Staten Island is probably a beautiful place, and this is not meant to disparage the borough in any way. However, you will end up spending way too much time just sitting around in Staten Island, dealing with the elements. I usually show up before the sun rises, so I spend about four hours there. Literally, four hours in what can be cold weather, sitting or laying down in an open field or parking lot that goes from desolate to jam-packed in this incremental way that you don’t actually notice as people surround you. I purchase the following in preparation:

• Cheap throw away sweat suit that will get donated in the corrals as I strip down before the start;
• A blanket or something to put on the ground to sit and lay on;
• Some snacks and toilet paper; and
• If you enjoy the pre-race discourse and people discussing every possible detail about the race, then you will have plenty of that…but if you are anything like me, bring a magazine and make sure you can tuck yourself underneath a hoodie (see sweatsuit above) that can help tune everyone out. The first year I went, it was cold and windy, so people were huddled together. I lay down on a small patch a grass and crunched some leaves, pulled my hoodie over my head and closed my eyes and eventually, I just smiled listening to the wind and the indiscernible murmurs around me. Find that moment in Staten Island if you start getting too anxious.

3. Brooklyn is sneaky exciting. I have said this a couple of times, but the first seven miles in Brooklyn are as exciting as any race you have been a part of. You are not prepared for the volume of people who will be outside watching. To add to that, you can’t imagine running with that many people. Its exhilarating and no matter how much you have trained and drilled that you need to pace yourself, your legs will surge. Don’t try to fight that too much. Unlike First Avenue in Manhattan, Brooklyn has tight streets with people lined on either side that make them feel like they are on top of you. I have warned myself every year and every year, but no matter what I get a shit eating grin and run too fast at some point in Brooklyn.

4. The stories about First Avenue are true so I won’t go into too much depth about the sound of the crowds and the excitement. I tried to fight it the first year, but the rumble that you hear as you emerge from the darkness and quiet of the Queensborough Bridge is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It is the closest I have come to feeling like a professional athlete. Even the cops, who are relatively stoic everywhere else, can’t help but excited on the corner of First and 59th.

5. Unfortunately, the cruelty of the New York City Marathon is that right when you need those crowds the most they seem to dissipate. As your approach the Bronx and Miles 19–22, there is still an energy and vibe, but it isn’t what you just saw so suddenly the fire in your legs from Brooklyn starts to sputter. This is the moment when you need to tap into the people I mentioned from number 1. Use those people now as your audience and your motivation. It could be the person rooting for you or tap into the venom of the guy from work who you know isn’t rooting for you and will likely be salty when other people congratulate you for running the marathon. Borrow a little Murakami and convince yourself that maybe you can slow down but you don’t to walk.

6. Don’t forget to look around and listen. I stopped running with music for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest ones was that I wanted to be able to hear on these big days, to be present. Even if you need the music, find some way to pause it throughout the race. The best beat in the world can’t compete with the sound of humanity that surrounds you in New York City.

7. If you get the right weather, the last two miles in Central Park will feel like you are in a movie. I know there may be more objectively pretty things in this world, but I don’t know if there is anything more picturesque for me than Central Park in the fall with crowds of people crammed against metal gates smiling and cheering. Just understand as you are heading up Fifth Avenue, that once you get back into the Park it will all be worth it and you will once again find a new surge.

8. The Finish Line is emotional even for a guy like me who isn’t relatively emotional. And then it feels like you have to walk a cruel distance to get back out of the Park. I always choose to take the post-race poncho, which is a long blue insulated cape with a hood. I always leave a bag at a friends place on Central Park West, so I grab my things from his doorman, pull on sweatpants and change my shirt before I drape the blue cape back over me and start making my way home. I also keep the medal hanging from neck even though it sometimes hurts as it bangs against my chest and stomach with each step. I navigate the streets wearing this cape, through these crowds and back to the subway. My advice to you, keep that cape and medal on as long as you can. You will witness a rarity here in New York, every person who sees you will smile and look at you with respect and sympathy (some will even congratulate you).

9. After you finish, do whatever you want to do. Don’t let anyone else make your plans unless that is what you want. If you want a cheeseburger and cold beer — do it. If you want to take the longest hot shower you ever have taken — do it. Regardless of gender, this is the day where every runner is a bride.

10. Finally, stop listening to people about the marathon. You probably shouldn’t have read this, but I hope it gets to you soon enough that you stop talking about it. You are less than 24 hours away so stop discussing the weather, the course and anything else in between. All you have to do is show up now and run. You are going to be nervous and excited. Guess what, I am about to do this for the fourth time here in New York, and I am excited and nervous. I don’t think it ever really goes away and I kind of like that.