If you're not familiar with the course or the city, go to the NYC Marathon homepage that has the course map..

General Impressions of the Race

The Start in Staten Island
You start at one of the three starting areas at the beginning of the Verazzano Narrows Bridge (in the toll plaza). The race usually begins a few minutes earlier than they said it would. You can expect it to take about 2 minutes before you even get to the starting line after the race begins. The volunteers along the sides are applauding and that feels great. As you cross over the bridge, you see many of the guys peeing on the sides. Someone told me this has become a tradition. I don't know about that. When I've done it, it was out of necessity. As you cross, there are helicopters overhead and fireboats in the water spouting water in the air.

Brooklyn
You cross into Brooklyn and end up after some twist and turns on Fourth Avenue. You go for several miles on Fourth Avenue then wind around some more streets in Brooklyn. All of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn are so varied. You see Italian, Spanish, Orthodox Jewish...everyone. And the bands are playing all over the place. Where there's no band, someone is blasting music out their window. There was one place in 1997, where they were playing "YMCA" so, as we passed, we made the "Y", "M", "C" and "A" with our arms.

Queens
When you get to the Pulaski Bridge, you cross into Queens. This is also the half-way point in the race. Most of the parts of Queens you see are industrial areas. There are not a lot of spectators here. But it's usually here that you first see the Sri Chinmoy people. They have 2 or 3 stands set up along the course and give out lots of goodies--bananas, orange slices, candy, bagels. It's great and much appreciated.

The race winds its way through Queens for a few miles. It's usually around here that the word will spread that the winner has already crossed the finish line. You've just gone a little over half way (well, he didn't have to fight the crowd at the start...yeah that's right...that's the reason). Finally you get to the Queensboro Bridge.

The Queensborough Bridge
This is my favorite part of the race. It's a steep climb up and you're already very tired. It's very quiet because there are no spectators and the runners are no longer very talkative. So why is it my favorite? Because at the end, when you enter Manhattan, you make a left turn and it hits you like a ton of bricks. The noise. The cheering. The loudspeakers. The music. It's exhilirating.

Manhattan
It's now about 16 miles done. You go up First Avenue in Manhattan for about 4 miles. The crowd along First Avenue is huge. And for these people, the lead runners passed by an hour earlier. Somewhere at mile 18, they hand out sponges. Before 1997, the sponges had that year's NYC Marathon logo on it so I usually save mine as a souvenier. In 1997 however, the sponge didn't have the logo so I tossed it. Shortly after you cross 90th Street, the crowd thins out a lot. At the top of First Avenue, you cross the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx.

The Bronx
You spend a very short amount of time in the Bronx. It's usually here that you see the Sri Chimoy people again. It's also here that you hit the 20 mile mark; aka "The Wall". You get to the Madison Avenue Bridge to return to Manhattan.

Manhattan II
The next couple of miles is an endless series of twists and turns through Harlem. Finally, at about mile 22, you're on Fifth Avenue heading South. At mile 23 you enter Central Park. The trip through the park is an endless series of ups and downs, lefts and rights. The crowds are back, cheering wildly. At this point, I'm in a daze.

The Finish
You hit mile 26 and wonder where is the Finish Line. It takes forever to see it. Finally, you see it. There's someone cheering on a loudspeaker. The volunteers direct you to a chute. As you cross, make sure to smile and raise your arms for the picture.

Recovery
It feels great to stop. At the end of the chute, you give them your bar code and get your medal. You then get your space blanket, some water, and a food bag. I've always been surprised at how small the food bag is. There's not much there. Now begins the death march. They won't let you stop. So you're pushed along and now the pain and exhaustion is setting in. The chills can start here too so keep the space blanket wrapped tight. Finally you get your bag from the baggage bus. Eventually you get to the Family Reunion area to meet your family. It usually takes about 30 minutes to get there after finishing the race.