The Day after the day

Hello Blogland...

I wanted to try and express a life altering event for me. On Sunday November 4th I ran my first marathon. Location: NYC

What an experience!

I have been running for a few years and always had the goal of completing a marathon. (26.2 miles) Earlier this year a fellow runner nudged me toward this event. If you have ever been to New York it can be an intimidating place.

I now feel like I am part of New York. (perspective) Running through the five boroughs was an amazing thing. The people and the spirit of the city carried me to the finish line in Central Park.

Just to get in to the marathon was exciting. Back in the spring I entered a lottery along with almost 90,000 other hopeful souls. Roughly half get in; many try for years. Me, first try - BOOM I'm in! I actually projected the positive thought that I would get in... my neighbor teaches Sunday school @ her church and had her students pray for me... IT WORKED!

Let the training begin. 18 weeks, over 500 miles; hot sweaty summer days, aching feet, chaffed body parts, my family was very supportive. "Gotta run" was my mantra, 5 days a week, one long run per week... the longest was 18 miles. Tick-tock, tick-tock, counting the days until the race.

Finally the day came. Up @ 5:00AM to get to a bus that dropped us off in the staging area along with the 39,000 other runners. Surreal. Helicopters buzzing overhead, loud speakers emitted instructions in a dozen different languages. The language thing confirmed to me that this was a WORLD event. I imagined for a second that this must be what it is like during a catastrophe, masses of people huddled together waiting. Only, we were waiting for something good.

The excitement grew as the start timed crept closer. Checked my after race bag with the UPS teams and figured out where the BLUE starting corral was. (we were all sorted into one of three different color groups to facilitate the density of bodies)

A red Coast Guard Chopper hovers overhead, very low; taking photos? Or, are they scanning the crowds for bad guys? Eerie thoughts mixed with anxiety mixed with anticipation.

Now all I have is the heat sheet wrapped around me, I have discarded my expendable clothing.(most folks had on sweats or warm up gear that they knew would be discarded right before the start) That too was kinda weird, were we moving towards a race or a orgy? We shuffle towards the Verrazanno; more helicopters... BOOM, the cannon blasts signals the START! NEW YORK, NEW YORK blares out of the loud speakers.

As the sun is shining we begin. It still seems like a dream. 26.2 miles, what was I thinking? I just tried to absorb in as much as possible... I am still processing the thousands of faces, the hundreds of hands slapped on the side lines... Streets lined with people. Many of them cheering - "Go John, You Can Do It!", "Looking good John" - the eye contact with a stranger for a mili-second that I will carry with me for life. Un-$#@%ing believable!

Inspiration to get through the many hurdles life holds. Cramping up in the last few miles introduced me to pain I had not felt before. Keep moving. "C'mon JOHN, you can do it!" I heard another hundred times....

In Central Park - just two mile to go, cramping agian. A medical volunteer hands me a salt packet, "you'll be fine, keep moving" - My favorite sign read "Finishing is your only F---ing option!"

Finally I MADE IT! Got my medal!

In reflection I have thought of the many instances were masses of humans get together with a common goal. D-day came to mind... Hurrican Katrina, 911, my mind swirls... GOD is amazing, the Human Spirit is undeniable. I am in awe of the sheer diversity of people invlovled in this event.

Please take a moment to remember the family of Ryan Shay.

He was a world class runner who died in NY competing in the Olympic Trials on Saturday Nov 3rd.

Say a prayer for Anna Marie, Helen A's sister who is battling with cancer. Helen and I shared the bus ride in to the start... Helen is 75 years old and was competing in her 10th consectutive NYC Marathon!

Grateful to be alive.

John