My first visit to the New York City Marathon was in 1986. Working at Runners World at the time, I worked the expo all weekend and then, tried to bravely stick to my racing plan of breaking 2:50 at the marathon.
I went out well, and was still on sub three hour pace at 20 miles, when, I fell apart. My 3:23 was not my slowest, but it was sure not my fastest. I did find the neighborhoods that we ran through fascinating and shere numbers of runners astounded me. Over the next 31 years, I have missed one race, in 2001, and I have enjoyed watching the runners finish and the enthusiasm of a dream made a reality.
In 2002, 2003, I walked the Columbus marathon. i was in the middle of reclaiming a bit of my life back, loosing 100 lbs and I walked Columbus in just over eight hours, with a very good friend. Race Director Mike Collins supported me on the journey and finishing the marathon was tougher than my 2:47:12 marathon all those years ago.
I was looking at the picture below from New Balance UK’s Peter Riley. It shows the essense of the race, and that each of the 50,000 runners and walkers have their own story, their own journey and their own challenges.
I focus on the elite in my coverage, but I think of the citizen runners, the strength of our sport, each and every day.
