New York City Marathon Hints, Warnings, & Suggestions
By Jean & Paul
The New York City Marathon is an outstanding race, huge crowds, diverse neighbor hoods, lots of runners and a neat place to visit. But there are things you need to be aware of and here is a list of good things, bad things concerning the race in no particular order: It has a late morning start time. This year they are doing a three wave start so know your wave, corral color and starting time, 09:40 am, 10:00 am and 10:20 am.
- Because of the late start you will be spending many hours at the park waiting so bring food, warm clothes, an old space blanket, something to read, etc.
- If it is raining or wet, bring an extra pair of shoes to wear before the start of the race and save your race shoes for the last minute.
- Don’t count on getting food or fluids at the park because the lines are long so bring your own, stuff that you like and can digest.
- There is a clothes drop so you can get your clothes after the race but a tradition is to wear some stuff you want to throw off at the start or during the first part of the run. You will see all types of clothes being left behind. They are picked up and donated to the homeless. Note the tossed clothes you will not get back but the clothes you leave in your bag at the clothes drop will be returned as long as you follow the rules, (everything goes in your clear bag).
- The Expo is located at the pier on the west side of Manhattan, near the warship museum. You can take the subway or get a cab to get there.
- We stayed at the ST. Moritz on the south end of Central park. It was inexpensive because they were remodeling it. This sounded like a close hotel to the finish but nothing is really close to everything.
- You have to catch the buses very early in the morning to get to the start. IT is a good walk to the bus location so bring water. Be cautious which bus you get on as not all of them have bathrooms and it is a 40-50 minute ride to the start. Only get on a bus that states “bathroom inside”.
- Bring a small disposable camera and a fanny pack. The neighbor hoods and people are so neat you will want to take pictures.
- If you have a choice, start on the top level of the bridge, that ain’t rain water dripping down on the lower level.
- At the start, run on the north side edge of the bridge and look out at the water. You can see the Statue of Liberty and usually they have fire boats shooting red, white and blue water into the air.
- The thousands of people you see squatting on the side of the bridge in the first mile are not trying to stretch out a cramp so don’t stare just watch out for puddles.
- Men, at the park they have the worlds largest/longest urinal but be careful when you use it, I looked up to see a woman snapping a picture of the contraption while in use!
- There are no hills on the course that are any harder than Sperry. Most of the hills are going over bridges.
- The crowds cheering you are enormous so enjoy it and use their energy.
- When you finish you are not done. The line of UPS trucks with your clothes is almost a mile long and you have to walk past them to the outside of the park. In other words, expect to walk 1-2 miles after the race to get to your hotel.
- Bring money. After the race in 1998 it cost us $18 a piece just to get a hamburger!
- Go to Katz Deli on Houston Street and sit at the table “Where Harry Met Sally” was filmed, (the fake orgasm scene), they have great pastrami sandwiches.
Enjoy the race, it is a truly fantastic place to run but be prepared for the late morning start, (food, drinks and warm clothes) and the walk after the race to get to your hotel.
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