So instead I ran a marathon in Montgomery County, Maryland. I was born and raised in Brooklyn but moved to Maryland in 1979. The marathon is called The Marathon in the Parks. There were supposed to be just 1000 entrants. Actually only 700 finished. Needless to say, it was very different from NY. There were parts of the race where I was the only one there. I mean no spectators, no volunteers, no other runners. I had to remind myself I was in a race. It was weird. Of course, there were no bottlenecks at the start or anywhere else so I can't blame my time on anyone.
At mile 20, the course went close to the finish area but then we went for an out and back to do the remaining 6 miles. My wife was in the finish area and got this picture of me approaching at mile 20.
Here I am approaching the finish line.
My time for the race was 3:53:58. Again, I didn't break 3:45. In general, I was running slow all year. The course though was mostly in a park and it was very winding and hilly so that took its toll after a while. My speed started out okay but near the end, I was really slow.
They sent me two photos from the race. I don't think either was from the finish line.
Other Runners I did ask any NYC Marathon participants to send me their thoughts and memories. I got the following response.
now we are back at home from The New York City marathon! Wow!!!! It was sooooooo great!! Unbelievable! It was my first marathon and Iīm so proud and happy: I finished it! And it was so much fun! We loved the spectators, they were cheering so much, we couldnīt imagine before! My net-time is 4:56, my clock-time was very funny: 5:00:00. Until the half-time-point I needed 2:19, that was a little bit faster than I wanted to run, but the start and the first miles were so exciting, so I couldnīt put the brake on. Then I had to slow down, but I never thought to give up! My husband and my cousin were enthusiastic about this wunderful race, too! We never had such spectators! Thanks a lot to all New York-citizens, who called our name, and thank you, Andy, for your idea, to wear a shirt with our name! The weather was very good for running, only the wind came from the wrong direction! So I hope, you īll enjoy your marathon, too! Have a nice time, Renate, Anton and Manfred from Vienna
Hi there. I'm the English guy that contacted you a few weeks ago concerning the New York Marathon after reading your web page. I finished it with a time of 3 hours 58 net, 4.02 official. What an amazing experience! It's the first marathon I've ever done, and those tips of yours were helpful. I wore socks on my hands at the beginning and tossed them away after about five miles. I also managed to run while drinking out of the cups. I may have saved a few minutes there. That crowd is mental! Like you said, before arriving in Manhattan it's lonely on that bridge (that seems to go uphill forever) then suddenly the mental people are all back, and it's great being on First Avenue. That road never seems to finish though, it goes on forever and ever. I was getting tired at mile 20, but kept going by recharging on chocolate and more Gatorade and water. The finish takes forever and ever to get to for the last few miles. You even reach the 26 mile sign but even then it's still not over because a marathon's 26.2! I have a new web page at http://www.oocities.org/drkeene . I shall be putting photos of the marathon on there soon, but they're getting developed at the moment. So far the only marathon stuff on there is all pre-marathon. There's also a link to your page on it. Did you run it? I think I read something saying you wouldn't be in it this year. Anyway, look forward to hearing from you. Huw