If you have ever been in or around NYC during the New York City Marathon, you know that this is a citywide party, a celebration, a recognition of what the human body, heart and mind is capable of. The New York City Marathon was started in 1970 by its founder, Fred Lebow. He guided 55 participants through Central Park, completing the 26.2 mile marathon distance. By 1976, he had racked up 2,090 participants and took the marathon to all 5 boroughs. Fred continued to grow the race each year. In 1992, just in remission from brain cancer, Fred ran the race again and finished in 5:32:34. Just before the event’s 25th anniversary, Fred succumbed to his brain cancer. Today, over 50,000 runners take to the streets of NYC the first Sunday of every November to honor Fred and those who have paved the way before them, and to test their will, their endurance, their guts.
The course begins in Staten Island at the mouth of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. You can’t help the excitement that wells up inside you as you turn the corner and see the bridge come into sight. The starting line is barricaded with NYPD, FDNY, and military members saluting you and sending you off on your 26.2 mile journey. After the Star Spangled Banner plays, cannons thunder to signal the start. Frank Sinatra is singing “New York, New York” in the loud speaker and NYPD helicopters are sounding their sirens on both sides of the bridge, their way of wishing you good luck. For a moment, it all seems surreal.
Adrenaline takes you quickly over the bridge for the first mile as you come into the streets of Brooklyn. If the weather on marathon day is nice, there are 2-3 million spectators cheering you on throughout the course. Brooklyn, in particular, feels like one big block party. There is a moment of calm and quiet when you cross over the Queensboro Bridge, but when you reach the end, there is a whole new crowd screaming your name or your bib number, reminding you of how capable you are to finish, and what an awesome experience you are having. None of this compares to the feeling you have when you are coming up the hill on 5th Avenue for the 23rd mile, feeling like it will never end, and you enter Central Park where the sidelines are flooded with people screaming to you that you are so close to the finish line you can taste it. After you make your way onto Central Park South for the final stretch of NYC street you will see of this race, you can see the entrance to the park, the final .2 miles until your destination, the finish line you have been waiting to see since January when you committed to the marathon. When the finish line comes within view, something deep inside you, something made of sheer will, propels you forward making your numb legs move faster than they have the whole race. There are no good words to describe the emotions you experience during this journey but the best I can say is that at this point, you become flooded with both relief and sadness that it’s almost over, pride in your accomplishment, faith in human nature, the excitement from the energy the city emits, the pain in your limbs, the hunger in your belly, and finally the tears of satisfaction as you take your final step onto the last tracking strip- THE FINISH LINE.
There are very few things in life that are as emotional or as exhilarating as finishing a marathon, and there is no marathon like the New York City Marathon. It is bigger than just running a race or checking off your bucket list. It is a demonstration of citizens from around the world – runners from 130 different countries- inspiring a city full of people to come together and cheer on 50,000 complete strangers, proving that the human spirit is very much alive and well.
For more information on the NYC Marathon, or for details on how to enter, visit www.tcsnycmarathon.org