What a week it has been.
It was scheduled to be a full week. I had a decent amount of work coming my way and then there was the countdown to the Marathon. Watching every news release, waiting for the expo, finalizing pacing plans.
Then came Sandy. I was in New York City during Hurricane Irene last year, but this was something else. Fortunately, we live in the northern half of Manhattan and we didn't experience any damage unlike the southern half of the island and the outer boroughs.
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| East River washing onto the pedestrian path and then onto the FDR |
The super-storm, as they were calling it, complicated the matters immensely for the NYC Marathon organizers. It was on for a while, then it was off at the last minute. It couldn't have been an easy decision. Runners, officials and even NY Times was conflicted. First publishing a strongly worded opinion piece basically saying "Stop this marathon now!" and following it with an article listing all the downsides once the race got cancelled.
At the end cancellation turned out to be the right decision. The NYC Marathon is a very special event. Not only for the participants, but also for the city. If you have seen it live, you know what I mean. Every year the whole city comes out to celebrate and cheer for the runners. However, in the light of the news coming from Staten Island and other parts of the region, the Marathon was going to be a dreadful chore instead of a joyous event.
I won't lie, I was disappointed when I heard the news about the cancellation. Like everyone else, I had been preparing for this day physically and mentally for a while. If you count the qualification process, my journey to the NYC Marathon took about 2 years (which you can read about in the archives of this blog by the way).
I moved on quickly though. About 30 seconds later, I had already gone through the five stages of grief and made up my mind: "I will run the old course". For those of you not familiar with the history of the NYC Marathon, Central Park is where it all started. In 1970 Fred Lebow convinced his running buddies, who until then were running in the Bronx, to bring the Marathon downtown and run 4 laps around the Park. The five borough Marathons didn't start until 1976.
I moved on quickly though. About 30 seconds later, I had already gone through the five stages of grief and made up my mind: "I will run the old course". For those of you not familiar with the history of the NYC Marathon, Central Park is where it all started. In 1970 Fred Lebow convinced his running buddies, who until then were running in the Bronx, to bring the Marathon downtown and run 4 laps around the Park. The five borough Marathons didn't start until 1976.
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| Dressed to run |
I had a suspicion others would come up with the same idea. A web search later that night (Friday) returned a Facebook group: Run Anyway NYC Marathon. Founded by Lånce Sven, the group quickly settled on meeting at the original finish line at 8AM with donations and get running at 9.
Saturday I went to the Expo, not sure what to expect. A marathon expo without a marathon. Kinda like a zombie. I was glad to find out that I could still get my number and my shirt (by the way, if you didn't get your number, looks like they will send it to you). Also, everything was 50% off at the ASICS store, with all the proceeds going to the victims of the storm. I got some cold weather running gear I needed, all branded with the ING NYC Marathon 2012 logo. Unfortunately, I won't be able to wear the running sweater I bought, because my girlfriend has decided that it is too nice to be worn for running.
Walking to the Park Sunday morning I was expecting to see a couple hundred people at most. Who on Earth gets out of their bed on a cold Sunday morning to run a cancelled marathon. Boy, was I wrong!
There they were! All of them! On my way to the old finish/new start line a dozen Italians ran by me. The French passed in a huge group, cheered on by the crowd filling the bleachers. The Germans were there in their three colored cowboy hats. New Zealanders, Australians and South Africans traveled from far far away; Chileans, Colombians, Mexicans had shorter flights. Belgians, Hungarians, British, Danish, Indonesians, Brazilians, Americans... Turks, all the way from my hometown of Istanbul. Name a country and someone was wearing its name on their shirt. Not to mention us New Yorkers, playing host and giving outsiders tips on battling the Harlem Hill. A couple thousand runners had taken over the Park in their orange shirts.
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| One of the start waves |
I met my training partner and we joined one of the start waves (one of the earlier waves is shown in the video below). Turns out "Run Anyway" wasn't the only impromptu marathon in the Park that morning. Other groups organized their own runs. So, there was no way of telling who started when, running which way, what course, what pace. We were just runners, running. As the hours passed, spectators also started to trickle in. Some had signs and cowbells for motivation, while others came bearing Gatorade and water to cover the nutritional end. The Engineer's Gate became the finish line we passed again and again. The crowd moving onto the route from both sides, helping us reenact the last meters of the battle between Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter.
No technical details on this report. Nothing about my pace, the hills I climbed or the gels I ingested. Hurricane Sandy damaged a lot in the Northeast USA last week and the NYC Marathon was one of them. A grand tradition became a point of dissension and eventually got canceled. Yet there were no angry faces, no frowns in the Park on Sunday. There was just an energized running community. Runners just running.
Finally, please help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. We are having another storm right now and there are still people who can't go back home. Here are two links for donations:
Thank you.
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| Me, finishing in a blur. |
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