New York Marathon and Kokomo trip Nov. 2014

NYC 2014   3:57:03  131/1045in 60-64    12,751/50,000+ finishers

 

            So 2014 was finally the year for Amanda Whitten, Mark Dorman, and me to run the New York City Marathon; no Hurricane Sandy to blow away our plans this year. We did run it, but while there was no hurricane, there were high winds and cold to contend with. Along with Brandon Uttich, we picked up a bus from the traditional New York Public Library gathering point at 5:30AM and got to the staging area on Staten Island at 6:15. And then we proceeded to wait almost 4 cold, windy hours until we got to run. Thanks to Dunkin Donuts for providing stocking caps; I wore mine the whole race because it stayed biting cold with wind chill in the mid 30s.

            At the expo I heard a speaker describe how the best race times are made with negative splits and that only 1% of NYC Marathon runners achieve that. Just as I had encouraged Melanie Halajian to shoot for a negative split at TC Marathon, I set out to practice what I coached and be part of the 1%!

            I was in the 2^nd wave in the 1^st corral so I was only 10 yards from the start. I even made it into the TV coverage of the marathon. (I’m in black in the orange cap in the middle.) With the bitter cold, buffeting winds and no chance to warm-up, along with an uphill start on the bridge, it wasn’t too hard to start slowly. But by the time I got to mile 3, I was running the miles between 8:50-9:05. In spite of the cold, the crowds were large and loud and the neighborhoods were varied and colorful. We ran across 3-4 bridges as we went through Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. At 13.1, I was at 1:59:06. Miles 15-18 were on the long and loud and jammed-with-spectators stretch of 1^st Ave. Our fearless spectators Jodi Volkman and Jill Holstein saw Mark and Amanda, but didn’t see me. I ran a trio of 8:29s on miles 18 and 20 and 22 with the other miles in 9:15-9:40 range. At mile 25 I finally saw Jill and Jodi and got invigorated for the final stretch which seemed to last longer than usual as the distance on my watch read 26.81 miles. Usually it’s 26.4 or so, but with the crowds I had had to maneuver through, it was a lot longer.

            Finally finished and cold, I still had to walk a mile to get to my sweats; a mile opposite the direction I needed to go to get back to the hotel. So I ended up walking a good 3 miles after the marathon. Indeed a very long day as I didn’t get to the hotel until near 5PM and had gotten up at 4:30AM.

Overall Place

Gender Place

Age Place

Bib  No.

First Name

Last Name

Age

Finish Time

5 km

10 km

15 km

20 km

13.1 mi

25 km

30 km

35 km

40 km

Minutes per Mile

12715

9910

131

19290

JOHN

VOLKMAN

64M

03:57:03

00:28:56

00:56:24

01:24:18

01:52:35

01:59:06

02:21:08

02:48:18

03:16:34

03:45:07

09:03

 

This was Marathon #138;19 states on 2d go round; 8 provinces.

 

Pictures at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1JcNWbVkxZR8

 

Touring:

1. Jodi and I got a ride to and from FAT courtesy of Julie Arieas and Uber cabs. It’s a very nifty way to go and not have to park the car at the airport.
2. Our hotel was near Times Square. Lots of pictures in that area of brilliant lights.
3. Jodi and I ran Sat morning in Central Park and got to see the race finish area and the statue of NYC Marathon founder, Fred Lebow. Jodi ran 12 miles early Sun morning in the same cold we faced in the race.
4. We had some fun meals at Juniors which features 50s and Brooklyn Dodger décor.
5. Jodi and got some delicious baked goods at Carlo’s (Cake Boss) Bakery.
6. We took a tour of Madison Square Garden with all it’s sports and music history.
7. Our bus rides included views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the UN
8. We took a tour of 30 Rock with Amanda, Jill and Mark and saw great architecture and views of the city from the top of it, and saw its famous skating rank.
9. We had pasta at the same restaurant as Kara Goucher, ate at a great steak place and enjoyed special NY pizza.
10. We all took the boat ride out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
11. After that trip, Jodi and I got to see the new 9/11 building and the 9/11 memorials as well as Wall Street. We also got caught up in SEIU march as we were walking down the street.
12. We all went to see Matthew Broderick’s new play, It’s a Play, and enjoyed him along with Rupert Grint (Ron in Harry Potter) and Murray Abraham.
13. Wed morning Jodi and I got in a 6 mile run around Central Park. What a fantastic place to run; it dwarfs Woodward in its size.
14. Wed. we flew in Indianapolis and were picked up by Jodi’s brother John and his wife, Jenni, who took us to Kokomo where we stayed with Jodi’s dad, John, and step-mom, Judy.
15. Kokoko had a really wonderful, remodeled library which included our favorite book, Make Way for Ducklings.
16. Kokomo has a great car museum and historic home of inventor, Elwood Haynes who built the first commercially successful automobile and invented the important alloy, Stellite.
17. We also enjoyed “Happy Hour” at Steak and Shake two days in row where we got 2 for 1 milkshakes that were great.
18. We had a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel courtesy of Jenni who works there.
19. We got to see “Old Ben” the world’s largest calf and other fun things in Kokomo which is known as the city of Firsts.
20. We visited their high school basketball gym that holds 5000; Hoosiers ,anyone?
21. On Sat we drove to an Amish village called Shipshewana where we took the carriage ride we didn’t get to take in Central Park.
22. While there we had fun shopping, eating a great dinner, and then watching a Christmas Parade and the lighting of the Christmas Tree opening the season.
23. Arriving home it was great to see the CIM and Boston and Charlotte, Jodi’s Doxie/Chihuahua mix