We were at this year's NYC Marathon last Sunday, the 1st of Nov. I had never seen a Marathon so far and decided that the best way to watch it would be to sign up as a volunteer for the race. I picked the fluid station at mile 22 which is on 5th Avenue and 117th Street just 4 miles north of the finish line in Central Park. The course that comes along 5th Avenue is broken by Marcus Garvey Park from 124th and 120th streets. So it goes around the park and the runners get back on to 5th Avenue from 120th Street just three streets from our fluid station. I thought it would be great to see as the runners turn from 120th on to 5th Avenue. The reason I picked this spot was that I wanted to see how the race looks after many people hit the dreaded 'wall' after mile 18 or 20. I also definitely
wanted to see how the elites handle themselves at this advanced stage of the race. Moreover, what better way to accomplish this and experience the race from the outside than performing some useful function while I am at it? I had signed up for the first shift at the fluid station which was from 8:15 AM to 1:15 PM. Geeta and Tara also joined me wanting to see the Marathon as a way to get a sense of how things may look when I will be running next year if all goes well.
We got there just in time. The coordinator was beginning to brief the volunteers on what to do, what not to do, how to handle various situations, etc. etc. The fluid station was about one block long on either side of the street. We were to provide Gatorade to the runners and there was a banana station at the end also. In addition, on the opposite side of the street there was a medical aid station as well. After the brief I checked in and picked up my volunteer ID badge, a beanie to protect my head from the cold and a green poncho. The ID badge was pretty rugged and waterproof, and also had additional leaves with essential information to cover all kind of contingencies that one may encounter showing the meticulous planning that the organizers New York Road Runners is well known for. The list showed that for the total race distance of 26.2 miles, there were 25 locations with fluid stations and several with snacks as well. In addition, at each of those locations there were medical aid stations. If our station is any indication, there must be fluid stations on both sides of the course. Our station also had a row of toilets for the runners. I assume several, if not all, of the 25 locations had them as well. I estimate at least 70 people but may be up to a 100 at mile 22 on my shift. There are two or three shifts at the station. That gives you a sense of the number of volunteers along the course. In addition there are course marshalls, and additional people at start and end as well.
We got about our business pretty quickly. There were tables to be set up, Gatorade to be mixed, filled in cups and kept ready for the runners. Before I started off with the fluids a NYPD cop requested if I could help him set up a barricade across the 117 st. which is across the course along 5th avenue. Of course, I always wanted to block traffic in NY without getting a ticket!! We erected a
barricade across 117th st - "Thou shall not pass!" After that we started mixing a gallon of Gatorade Endurance with five gallons of water. Like an army of ants each of us automatically fell into different functions, occasionally shifting as well, into mixing, filling, removing empty cans and boxes, etc. etc. In the next hour or so we had three stories of cups (this is New York - everything is multistory here) with Gatorade and had them covered with thick cardboard sheets with cans of water or Gatorade on the cardboard to prevent it from getting blown off by the strong breeze in the morning. We were ready for whatever forces of thirst may come from around the corner about 1500 ft from us in the north. We will hold our position with a smile, cheer each and every one of them and make sure their thirst is quenched no matter at what speed they may be coming at us. Strong or week, they will leave us energized. No exceptions.
Next half hour was quiet, like the calm before the storm. A fellow volunteer, Andreyer Tripp, who was a leader at our station, had struck a conversation with me. She had her granddaughter and her friend both running this year. She was going to cheer for them. About 200 feet ahead of us (up stream along the course) was the fluid station for elite runners. They are the royalty of the race. These guys have their own bottles with their names on it. There were ten tables each with two or three bottles. I recalled how Meb was saying that you shouldn't do anything new on race day. He always brings his own drink whatever he is accustomed to during training. Geeta and Tara had found a nice bench right across the elite fluid tables. Andreyer said she was working at the elite fluids tables last year. I used to think the elites may have their friends or partners passing on their bottles, but she said it is just the volunteers. She said someone picked up the wrong bottle once and how the right guy didn't get his. Incidentally, Meb had also mentioned that it had happened to him that someone wrongly picked up his bottle and how that messed up things for him.
My volunteer friend got a call that the wheel chair guys should be coming in pretty soon. First came a couple of cars checking the course and the stations, and about 15 or 20 minutes later the cyclists
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| Van Dyk |
who lead the wheel chair racers closely followed by the first wheel chair (or was it two, I forget) came along like an express train. I suspect it was Ernst van Dyk from South Africa who won that section. Man, these guys are F-A-S-T! A few men and women followed on various models of wheeled vehicles - some were push rim style, and others were 'pedal' pushing type. No matter what they came in, they all came in faster than you would imagine. They all looked strong and great! One look at their faces and whatever stereotyped images I had in my mind of what a 'handicapped' person on wheelchair may look
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| McFadden |
like got a make over. In fact, I don't think I can ever again think of these people as handicapped as in weak and in need of some kind of assistance. Such high were their spirits, such radiant were their faces with confidence, so powerful were their thrust that I seriously think a lot of able bodied people can benefit from a few lessons from them. I simply watched in amazement as many of them just whizzed past us. The finish time of van Dyk was about 1 hour 30 minutes - just imagine 26.2 miles in an hour and half on a wheel chair! We cheered each and every one of them right from the moment they turned the corner til they were well on their way leaving our stations behind. There were a lot of spectators cheering bringing in more energy. A band playing just after our stations added to the festive atmosphere.
Next came the elite women. As a helicopter was following them it was easy to tell when they would show up. As we watched the chopper come along southward and make a right turn and then a left and one more right we expected the women at any moment. Then came Mary Keitany, last year's champion, all by herself. I couldn't imaging someone would be running that fast at mile 22! I just watched her stride in and stride away in amazement. There was no contender anywhere near her. As she approached us I could see that her skin was shining probably due to the sweat working its way out through the millions of micro pores, or perhaps her extra large forehead was reflecting some of the skylight. I really felt there was a certain beauty about the way she looked as she worked her way towards us before speeding away. She was followed by the other elites and each of them was a treat to watch. Moreira of Portugal and Mergia of Ethiopia were a beauty as they strode away elegantly in
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| Moreira and Mergia |
their own characteristic styles. Thweatt, Tufa, Kipyego, Jeptoo, I wasn't keeping track or count. It was simply amazing to watch each one of them. Somewhere in between, suddenly I noticed that one runner was coming close to our side. Everyone was cheering as she came closer and closer but then I noticed that she didn't have a bottle with her like most other runners who were drinking from their bottles and throwing them on the side, which were then promptly picked up by one of us and returned to the elite station. I suspected that she may be looking for Gatorade and quickly took a cup from a side table and held it out for her. She came straight at me with an expression, "Yes, Yes, that's it... Thank you!" and grabbed the cup from my hand as she continued. I went "Yay! She took water from me!".. From that point on we made sure that if anyone was even looking at us we had cups in our hands in case they needed it. The girl who took the cup from me was Ding Changqin, a pro athlete from China who represented her country in World Championships and Asian Games. She finished first in her age group and 17th among overall women clocking 2 hours 44 minutes 2 seconds. Of course, with a bit of help from my Gatorade:-)
I could go on and on at the risk of making this inordinately lengthy. But then how can we not talk about the pro men! I was somehow expecting to see Wilson Kipsang, last year's champion, turn around the corner and show himself among pro men. But then, last year was last year. There were three men who were in a bunch perhaps a half step or one step behind each other. Kamworor was leading followed by Desisa and then Stanley Biwott. They were moving at a blistering pace, perhaps 4 min 30 sec per mile. It felt like they were barely touching the ground as they passed. What a sight! Later I read that around until about mile 21 or so there were many runners all together. At that point Biwott decided to make his move and set off at a blazing pace of 4:24 per mile. The next few miles were 4:25-4:30 as they shed the other runners like discarding layers of clothing. As they turned into 5th Avenue from 120th, it was Kamworor, Biwott and Desisa. You can't do anything except watch in amazement and scream at the top of your voice. The crowd went into a frenzy. The trio were moving like wind. Kamworor and Biwott had their typical forward lean and mild swaggering left and right as they took their long strides. Although Desisa was ahead of Biwott at that point, I think you tend to notice the 25 year old a bit less in the presence of his taller adversaries. The footsteps of the trio appeared to be quiet - perhaps due to the loud noise the crowd was making.. Biwott would eventually take the lead and win. It appears that Kamworor missed his water bottle at our station. If so, he paid for it dearly - he still finished second. He is only 22, so something tells me we will be seeing more of him in the coming years. Back to our station, as the lead pack of the trio moved ahead, Wilson Kipsang appeared a somewhat distant fourth. He looked strong, but looked somewhat disappointed as he fixed his gaze out front on the trio that was leading him. I gave him a good cheer - "Go Kipsang" as he sucked his drink out of his bottle and flew off. It is surprising that when you look at each of these runners it is really not possible to tell who is running faster or slower. We are talking about differences in speed of one step or half a step over a span of something like 1800 or 2000 steps - my rough approximation. Then came Tsegay
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| Tsegay grabbing his bottle |
quickly followed by the american hero veteran Meb Keflezighi and Yuki Kawauchi. I was so thrilled to see Meb show up from around the corner. Looked like Yuki was right along on his hips on the left side, it was hard to tell, but a picture take by Tara shows Yuki slightly behind at that point. As they both came in together, it seemed like Meb reached out to a bottle without even breaking a hundredth of a step and kept drinking from it through the side of his mouth - in his characteristic style. I kept shouting "Go Meb.. Go Meb.." This time I was hearing the runner's feet thumping the road, "phut..phut..phut..phut..phut..phut.." at a very high pace. It felt like
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| Meb and Yuki passing the fluid station |
their feet were turning over something like 240 times a minute. And, drinking from the bottle at the same time. I was simply amazed that how someone can drink and run at such a fast pace.. It is not for nothing that Meb is called the "master of small things". He is definitely a talented runner, but what makes him stand out is the attention he pays to every small thing and little detail, the meticulousness of his practice and training handling the small things to make sure everything comes together when you need them - on race day. I recall he talks about the importance training to drink your water without breaking speed. To Yuki's credit he was doing the exact same thing as well, and the Japanese runner appeared to gain an edge over Meb as they passed me causing me great heart ache. I shouted in even louder voice, "Go Meb.. Go Meb.." as they passed hoping Meb would hear and know that there is someone who knows him in the crowd which may be all he needs to dig a little bit deeper to help him prevail and overcome. I learned later that Yuki Kawauchi and Meb had been using each other to push themselves harder and harder. They were switching positions 6th and 7th from mile 21 onwards or so. The young Japanese is a hero in his country. His training regimen and the extremes to which he pushes himself is kind of folklore in Japan. He is a very consistent runner, competes in a lot of Marathons, and has finished under 2:10 several times - more times than many american runners put together! Eventually, Yuki finished 6th ahead of Meb by a couple of seconds, who was himself very happy to break two Master's records in this race. Yuki had pushed himself so hard that he came down on the ground just after the finish line. One could see Meb walking up and congratulating him. A video posted by a Japanese blog seems to show Yuki in great pains lying on the hood of a car. Yuki's performance was the best Japanese performance yet in New York. He thanked Meb for pushing him so hard, and the 40-year old American hero on his part was talking about how he latched on to and used the young Japanese runner to help him push harder to get to the pace he needed in order to finish fast enough for the records.
More pro pictures here.
Other pro runners trickled in and dried up over the next several minutes at the end of which opened the flood gates! It felt like a stampede scene from movies but one without panic and more orderly, as
hordes of runners turned on to 5th Avenue from 120th. The New York Marathon this year fielded a pro line up that is arguably stronger than the World Championships or the Olympics race, but the Marathon is truly about the tens of thousands of regular people who are running it. These are people running the 26.2 for their own motivations - 50,000 people running for 50,000 different motivations
united by the one race they all are running. It was an amazing spectacle.
Here are a few great moments captured during the race. As the crowd came in an endless flow the atmosphere filled with energy. Every face had a different story to tell as each one was running his or her own race, for their own causes or goals overcoming their own individual challenges. At this stage, for a lot of people the race looked at least as much mental as physical, if not more. However, there seemed to be a collective energy to the flow of the crowd itself. It felt like while each runner was drawing from his or her own energy was also adding to the collective and drawing from it as well. The runners were not in the race in isolation - the volunteers and the spectators were very much part of the race. If any runner looked in need of a bit of inspiration or motivation, we went, "Awesome job! Looking great! Central Park is just around the corner.." and pointed forward.. If someone seemed to be working at it, "Looking great! Keep going!"... Everyone got a cheer, regardless.
We got busy, very busy, very quickly, as Gatorade cups started moving out at a fast pace. The crowd cheered on and the band played louder. Runners kept coming in an unending flow. The three stacked levels of cups we had filled in the morning were all but gone. Volunteers behind the tables worked harder to mix and fill new cups so runners won't have to wait. I was only looking at cups and hands for a long time as runners kept coming in. The course was looking like an ocean of runners, each one running at his or her own pace. Stopping to grab a drink, a banana or whatever. Some had their family or relatives on the side. The runners would wave, give a shout, or stop for a quick hug and move on with that extra kick you get when you see a loved one.
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| Brett with his finisher medal |
As I walked in to the office on Tuesday I was greeted by a TCS NYC Marathon 2015 finsher heat sheet on the wall nearby. To my great surprise, my colleague Brett Mahy had run the Marathon on Sunday! Apparently, he had got one of the few sponsored spots I had mentioned in an earlier post. Great job, Brett! A non-runner, Brett started training in March and slowly built up his endurance over the course of the next nine months. Speaking of his experience at the race, he said around mile 20 or 21 things were so tough he was cursing himself for getting himself into this. However, the crowd and the energy kept him going. His eyes were glittering as he narrated how he was grabbing a cup or two at every fluid station and kept pushing himself against all the pain. How he was mentally segmenting the remaining distance and focused on tackling one part at a time, and finally about the exhilaration and the feeling of accomplishment when he crossed the finish line. He said that at that point he forgot all pain and was thinking of signing up for the next year's event! Even though he was still recovering from soreness and was walking down the stairs backward due to his tight quad muscles, Brett's confidence is sky high. The confidence that one can do anything - the confidence you get when you do the Marathon. Go Brett! What's next? Mt. Everest? We are with you!
If THEY can run, WE can run.
Pictures by Tara: Volunteers, Moreira & Mergia, Tsegay, Meb & Yuki
All other pictures except Brett's: NYRR
