NYC Marathon 2022 – Random Thoughts

-I was planning to do a full race review, but I’m going to be lazy and just mention some random thoughts and photos that popped into my head regarding this experience.

-I went with a “special” haircut for the marathon.

-It was kind of weird, but comforting running this marathon as an NYC tourist even though before this past July, I lived in NYC for 20 years. Since I was going to be a ‘tourist’, I wore my New York, 1978 T-shirt on my flight from Norfolk “International” Airport to NYC. Although I no longer live in NYC, it was comforting not having to figure out things regarding the city (eg public transportation) and the marathon.

-While I finished the marathon, I was quite disappointed with my performance. Although we had record high temperatures (around 70F) for this marathon, I never would have imagined that it would take me 6+ hrs to finish this thing. I will admit that I was facing some injuries coming into the marathon, but I was not impressed at all with ‘just finishing’. To be perfectly honest, I was honestly thinking of dropping out around Mile 11. Fortunately, I focused on my music, and I was at Mile 13 the next time I looked up. So, I figured that I might as well keep going.

-I’ll admit that the expo was quite humbling. I cannot remember seeing so many people at the Javits Center or having to wait in line to enter the expo.

*A couple of rants*

-Having run this marathon 7 times, I will say that the marathon’s organization was quite a mess. As many NYC marathoners know, getting to the start can be a bit hectic (and a marathon in itself), but it is organized (for the most part). Essentially, you have to take a ferry to Staten Island, wait for a bus, travel to the start village, go through security, and wait around for 1.5+ hours until your wave begins. This year, the organization for loading the buses seemed to be absent from previous years. While waiting in line, I overheard several people that were on several ferries before we arrived, and somehow they were behind us in the line. At one point,

-Unfortunately, there were SEVERAL fluid stations that either did not have water, Gatorade, and/or cups I could understand this situation if this situation occurred at Mile 20, but this picture is one of the fluid stations at Mile 8 (maybe even earlier). To make matters worse, I was in wave 4, which meant there was another wave behind me. To make matters even worse, we were experiencing very high temperatures for this marathon.

-For the stations that had fluids but no cups, it was such a sad sight to see volunteers pouring water into runners’ hands or folks running with 1L cartons of Flow water. You know, I would expect this from a smaller marathon, but this is unacceptable for a World Majors Marathon. especially when the organizers sent multiple emails throughout the week telling us to hydrate and to take things easy for this marathon. I guess NYRR should have sent themselves emails to ensure that they had enough supplies.

-Every year, I get some pushback from folks when I tell them that I use a handheld water bottle. They would say things like, why carry one if you only keep water in it? Even after my NYC Marathons, I have asked myself why did I even carry one because there were plenty of fluid stations. I’m so glad that I’m stubborn when it comes to things like this. However, I have to give great credit to the fans of the marathon because several bars and their patrons started to hand out cups and provide water for the runners along the course.

-A volunteer from one of my Facebook NYC Marathon groups posted this.

-While NYRR dropped the ball with some of the logistics for this marathon, I guess that I can cut the organization some slack for a couple of reasons.

1. Because of the Rebuild NYRR campaign, a lot of folks who had historical knowledge of organizing the marathon either left or were fired from the organization. I wrote about this campaign a while back (Link: ***)
2. The field was significantly larger than last year. This year’s marathon had about 50K registrants, but last year’s had around 30K.

*end rant*

-I was really happy to see my old neighbors while running around Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.

-While the crowd support is amazing, I have to give the best crowds award to Park Slope and Harlem.

-I was a bit shocked that the crowds were not super hype during the 1st entrance into Manhattan. I even had to hype up the crowd a little while after the Queensboro Bridge (Mile 16)

-LOL, I love when the race photographers catch me texting about how much “fun” I’m having. 😉 I probably was telling the hubby and company to find a post-marathon bar.

-While I’m more of a lone runner, I did have fun hanging out with my friend at the expo, the start village, and the first 3 miles of the marathon. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was worried about telling her that she should run alone since she said that she wanted to run with me. During the 1st mile, I could sense that the wanted to go a lot faster especially when she saw the 4:30 pace group. We decided after the Verrazzano Bridge that we would go our own ways and meet up sometime the next day for brunch or lunch. I think that plan worked well.

-What a coincidence. Typically, I bring I “throw away” book to keep me company in the start village. This year’s book was this gem that I picked up for about $8 at Walmart.

-While the hubby and I were preparing to leave the Airbnb during our last day in NYC, look what I found on one of the bookcases in our Airbnb.

-How cool is this guy who ran the entire marathon with a pineapple on his head?

-After this marathon, I told myself that I would give myself a break from NYC Marathon for a year or two especially since I signed up for the lotteries for Chicago and Berlin Marathons. Now, I kind of want to give NYC Marathon another shot, mainly because I just realized that I have to complete only two more races to complete the 9+1 guaranteed entry program. I’m kicking myself because I wish that I had run (or rather walked) the Abbot’s Dash to the Finish 5K the day before this year’s marathon to get one more 9+1 race.

-To be perfectly honest, I would like to run a NYC Marathon through a charity spot. However, I fear that I would not raise enough money. I’m really bad at asking people for money . . . or anything besides a gin-based cocktail. 😉

-I love to eat.

-A slightly funny/annoying story about the first photo. During our first day in NYC (Thursday), we met up with a friend at a bar in Hell’s Kitchen. After having several drinks, the hubby and I went to a second restaurant in Brooklyn. Upon arriving to the second restaurant, I realized that I did not have my iPhone. Long story short, we learned that my friend accidentally grabbed my phone (our phones are very similar) while we were at the first bar and did not realize it until he was on the bus back to Jersey. So the next day, the hubby and I went to Newark to get my phone, but my friend treated us to Brazilian rodízio (aka all you can eat meat).

-My NYC Marathon playlist

Question(s) for the Day?

-If you ran NYC, how was your experience?

-How do you get back into running after completing a full or half marathon?

-How do you get over a disappointing race performance?

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