Picky and Healthy

Another year, another marathon. We headed up to 4th Avenue around 9:15. The water/Gatorade was in place and we were ready to go.

We missed most of the wheelchair participants, but we got to see some.

Now this is going to sound awful, but do you think they sell these so that people can exercise with them? I have such weak arms and this must be such an amazing arm workout. Or does something exist where I can propel myself forward with my arms?

Moving on…

This guy is truly my hero. Can you imagine having no legs and doing a marathon using crutches? He was right by us when he switched crutches (see how the people are carrying different kinds?). It just blows my mind. It’s really remarkable.

Then came the cop cars

The pace trucks

And finally the elite women

Then they started roping us off and preparing for the men

There were some serious looking SUVs

And then there was Mayor Bloomberg

Finally there were more pace trucks

And then there were the elite men!

Then there started to be larger groups going by

But there was some time for pictures

This is one of the first women we saw in the main group. Overall I feel like there were far more men than women. I don’t remember that from last year.

It started to clear out after about 2 hours

Then some Nike people came around handing out Paula Radcliffe crowns

The Eiffel Tower was towards the end of the pack

It was a good marathon. I stayed out for just under 3 hours.

I have to say that I thought a lot about the NY Times article about what it really means to run a marathon. Clearly if you’re one of the people stopping to get food I don’t really think of you as being a marthoner. After reading the article I was all on board with people that needed to take as much time as they needed to finish.

However after actually watching the marathon I’m not sure. There were some racers today who were talking on their cell phones, chatting away as they were walking, or just walking at a leisurely pace. In my opinion, that’s not really trying.

I want to run at marathon one day, but I want to run it. I want to train and push my body and go through all of that so I can run it. Not so that I can finish 8 hours later. Something to think about.

On a funnier note, why are there so many Italians running the marathon? I swear a large, large percentage of runners were Italian. And they all had matching singlets. Does the Italian government issue these? Really, it was remarkable. But I feel like it bodes well for my running future with all my Italian heritage.