2024 NYC Marathon

This year had some big races, one of them being the largest marathon race ever, on November 3rd me and 55,000 others took trains, ferries and busses to the start line in Staten Island to run 26 miles through all 5 boroughs of NYC. It was quite an experience.

Race Planning 2024

Some training and racing recap before the all the NYC marathon info. My plan for 2024 was to use USA Triathlon nationals in September in Atlantic City to qualify for 2025 World Triathlon Championships, that was my A-race, the ultimate goal of the season. I also knew I was signed up for the NYC marathon in November, and some people on my swim team were doing the Jones Beach 70.3 triathlon so I signed up for that as well. Turns out USAT Nationals was 2 weeks before Jones Beach 70.3 which was 5 weeks before the NYC Marathon, I had a crowded fall race schedule and was still getting over a running injury

The Summer and September Triathlons

Over the summer on what was supposed to be a typical easy long run, about a mile in, I came down hard on an uneven part of the sidewalk and sprained my ankle pretty bad. The picture shows the swelling, it hurt to walk and I took a week completely off from running. I did my best Internet Research and saw many differing opinions, but the most recent (and the one I liked the best) tended to agree that if you could do something (like walk, stumble or just flex) and the pain didn’t get worse that was the best way to help heal sprained ankles. So that’s what I did, slowly I tested with easy running and got back into it.

September came around and I made my way to Atlantic City for USAT Nationals, which was a very well organized race. The day turned out to be really humid and I felt that on my run. But overall a fun time. Two weeks later I was at it again for a 70.3 in the opposite conditions, 55F and rainy and windy. So windy. Again my run was a little slower than I wanted, but overall finished pretty good and finished about 10 minutes faster than I was 15 years ago at the same distance. Actually looking through the pictures from these races and I think I should make separate posts for them, so stay tuned.

5 Week Marathon Build

Between my 70.3 race and marathon I had 5 weeks, and I was focused most of the year on an olympic distance triathlon which ends with a 10K run. My long runs over the summer topped off at 14 miles. When I was planning this all last January I thought I would have plenty of time to get some 20 mile runs in, and I’d just be OK with a slower time. But after two slightly disappointing times for my triathlons (and looking back I feel better about those times and performances, but in October I was not very pleased) I wanted to finish the year strong. I knew this wasn’t going to be a marathon PR, or a sub 3 attempt, my legs did not have the miles in them, but I figured I could do sub 3:30 and maybe crack 3:15 if I got lucky.

The week after Jones Beach 70.3 was planned as all recovery bike rides of 30-45 mins with a very easy 10 miles run the following Friday and a 2 hour run on Sunday. Turns out I got sick and had to sit out from training all together. I replaced the Sunday run with an hour easy bike ride and was rather dubious about my prospects in the marathon that was now just 4 weeks away, especially without having run more than 14 miles all year.

The second week I felt better so I was able to get 40 running miles in with an 18 mile long run. But boy were those runs long and slower than expected. Now just 3 weeks away, when most marathon plans start the taper I was building to my highest mileage week. The third week I hit 48 miles with a 20 mile long run on the weekend. The next week I started my taper with 2 weeks to go and rounded out that week with 41 miles and a 14 mile long run. After the 20 mile run I was pretty confident I could do 3:15 and my running was feeling good, no pain from either foot.

Pre-Race Logistics

NYC requires race number pickup before the race, and does not have a bag check at the race start, which makes things slightly more complicated than your typical race. Normally I would show up early the morning of, grab my race number, leave my stuff in my car, run the race with only my car key on me, and that’s that. With NYC I had a hotel in Brooklyn the night before the race, but only the one night, and had to leave the hotel at just before 5am for a 9am race start. And everything I brought to the race start I had to either leave or run with. I don’t normally run with my phone, but got a storage belt that could hold my phone and all my energy gels.

The day before the race I took the train to the city and walked about 3 miles to pick up my packet and get to my hotel. Ideally I’d have wanted to not walk around at all the day before a marathon. Packet pickup was massive and went very quickly for how many people were there. I only wish it was closer to a subway or Penn Station or Grand Central.

The night before the race I had pizza and cookies. I also watched “Brittany Runs a Marathon” which is a heartwarming comedic tale inspired by the true story of Brittany as she takes small steps to improve her life and run a marathon.

Race Morning

We got off the ferry and I heard cheering, and as we walked through the ferry terminal we were guided past about 20-30 race volunteers (I think) who were cheering their heads off for us. It really hit me then, this is a very special moment. I think going in treating this race as kind of my second tier race of the year put me in a certain headspace that the movie the night before and the ferry ride and the cheering knocked me out of. I got tears in my eyes and really felt that the marathon as a race, and the NYC marathon in particular holds a very special place in peoples hearts as “The Big Race” and what it means to be part of it, the first small idea that maybe I can run it, then the dream forming of actually doing it, the struggle of training for it, the lottery or other ways to get a spot, all culminating in 1000’s of runners getting off the ferry heading to the start line. This was something special. Even the week or so before the race I mentioned it casually to my coworkers like I do for most of my races, and they were all alot more interested than normal, asking my bib number to track me and talking about expected finish times. It all kind of hit me at once seeing these people cheering so enthusiastically so early in the morning. I tried to hold onto that feeling throughout the rest of the day, I knew it would be important later on when I was struggling and slowing down.

A long bus ride to the base of the Verrazano bridge and then waiting for the race start. Turns out I was on the pink course, which put me on the lower level of the bridge, but was in the first wave. I had 2 bagels and tried to take a nap in the sun, but ended up pretty much just laying down in the grass and closing my eyes for 2 hours.

The Race

I hung back when lining up at the start, almost towards the second wave and a bit behind a 3:00 pace sign. The race started and I went out pretty comfortable and trying to take it all in, and not go crazy trying to pass everyone in front. I knew the first mile was uphill on the bridge so kept that in mind when pacing. The bottom deck of the bridge was not bad at all, crowded and people along the edges sometimes stopped to take a pic or something, but here I was, actually running 26 miles in NYC. The first mile was kinda slow but I tried to take it real easy and so I wasn’t too worried about pace just told myself to enjoy the ride. The next mile also on the bridge was downhill and I picked it up, but still felt very comfortable, like 25 more of those wouldn’t be too bad at all.

It went that way, steady and a little quicker than expected, as we got into Brooklyn and went up to 4th street. I was pleasantly surprised at how good my legs felt and how fast I was moving with not a whole lot of effort, even kept an eye on my HR to make sure pace wasn’t deceptively too fast. The crowds were massive, like 4-5 deep on each side and cheering and loud. And on the course too, usually in a race I’ll find myself all alone, even the NYC half marathon with 20,000 people I was alone for a bit, not so today – it was never very hard to make my way around people, but there were people all over. It was a really cool experience. I was taking it in and almost missed my first nutrition gel at 30mins. About mile 4 or 5 or so I saw a 3:05 pacer, probably from another corral or wave or something, but kept him in sight kinda by chance as we were going similar paces and the crowd around him made it easier to pace.

It was very easy to run with the pace group until around mile 8 when I had to purposely keep him in sight and hung onto him. Not an all out effort, but now I was running and not just floating. About mile 10ish or so was a small rise and I expended some effort (first time HR > 175) to catch up to the pacer, this happened after water stops too where I would slow down to get water. I’d catch back up to the pace group and move ahead on downhills and he’d catch up on uphills/when I slowed for water. I felt a little strained, but nothing too bad by this point considering I was over 10 miles in. But I could tell it would be bad by the end of the race and that I would be lucky to hold this pace for another 10 miles.

At mile 13 or 15 or 16? is the queensboro bridge which is uphill again and I slowed way down, was completely left behind by the pace group I was with and passed by another pace group. I didn’t want to pick up the pace because I knew I would pay for it later, so I waited until the downhill and got back to my previous pace, and by this point felt it in my quads.

Running up 1st ave and going forward I could feel the strain and slowed down a bit from about 7:00 to about 7:30’s. I held on here and it was starting to get hard but doable and started to split it up in my head a hundred different ways, 12 miles left, just 2 then 10, or 4 and 4 and 4, or 90 mins, or just get to 20 miles, then its a 10k, etc. All mind games all the way to the Bronx to not think about how far I actually had left. Meanwhile my legs were getting more sore and pace slowing gradually the whole time.

Coming back into Manhattan and I was waiting for the big hill, just telling myself I could still finish well below 3:30 if I keep 8 min pace the rest of the way. But I was starting to fade. Near the the base of the hill was the Northport Runners Club and a co-worker who is in the club and came out to cheer on other runners. It was a great motivation – I didn’t see anyone else I knew all day even though they were out cheering for me at multiple spots. It gave me some good support and I was able to get through the hill without much more slowing down and remembered the people who were supporting me.

After the hill it was 24ish miles done and by this point my garmin was about .2 or .3 miles ahead of the mile markers so it was some more mental math to get the actual distance to the finish between the mile markers, but I could feel the finish approaching, and I could feel my legs were going to be very sore and just tried to hold on. Telling myself 2 miles to go, then 1.75 to go and 1.5 more and thats like 15mins at the outside, I can do another 15mins. It was around this time I saw my boss which was a great surprise and took me out of my mental struggle with the numbers to go down.

I finally hit the mile 25 sign and thought I would be able to cruise through to a sub 3:15 for the final 1.2 miles. Then after what felt like another mile of running I hit the 1 mile to go sign and realized I couldn’t really slow down and still get under 3:15 so I picked it up as best I could. Just wishing for the finish, not really taking it in anymore, just holding on, finally after what felt like far too long I saw 800m left sign, and thats just 2 laps around a track. At this point that seemed like a lot. But head down and grind it out. Then after what felt like another mile later I saw the 400m left sign, and oh man, that’s only 1 lap around a track. Just hold on, then the 200m left sign and saw I was real close to sub 3:15 so stopped looking at the watch and decided to look around the race again and try to take in the finish. It slightly worked, I remember seeing the finish line and trying to put in one last burst of speed and finding nothing left but sore legs. And finally crossing the line I felt real happy to just be able to stop running.

Post Race

After the finish I immediately started walking, feeling relieved that I was done. My legs were getting more sore by the second and I wanted to just sit down. But we had about 1/2 mile to walk/shuffle before even exiting the finish chute and central park. I was heading to a nearby apartment that was only about 3/4 mile away, and that was an adventure to stay upright. Stepping up or down curbs took the most care, stopping even briefly at intersections caused more soreness to invade my battered legs. The apartment was up a flight of stairs that I had to use the wall lean on while going up.

I am really happy with the race, and my time. It was a great experience and worth it. I am also impressed with my time given I had only 5 weeks to bully my legs into marathon shape, of course it helped that I was in 70.3 shape, but the pounding running does to your legs for 3+ hours really has to be trained for by consistently running for long periods of time. As the splits show from about halfway in you can see my average pace per mile jump up by 20 seconds, and then by 3/4 into the race my average pace per mile jumps up another 40 seconds per mile and then another 20 seconds on top of that for the last 5k. I was able to run the last mile in 7:35 which was all I had left to run. I feel like if I had run more mileage my pace would not have dropped off by so much. As it is, I’m happy it took more than halfway into the race and that my early pace was quick enough to still run sub 3:15. NYC is a tough course as far as world marathon majors go.

Splits

Overall time – 3:14:42 (7:26/mile)
Overall place – 4159/55522
Overall male – 3580/30699
Male 35-39 – 636/4441
US – 2211/33363

As you can see my first half was about 10 mins quicker than the second half:

1:32:14 (7:02/mile)
1:42:28 (7:49/mile)

And 5k splits show the same story with more detail:

Distance	Overall Time	5K Split	Avg Mile	Avg HR
5K	21:57	21:57	7:03	159
10K	43:38	21:41	6:58	167
15K	1:05:36	21:58	7:04	170
20K	1:27:17	21:41	6:58	173
25K	1:50:17	23:00	7:24	174
30K	2:13:10	22:53	7:22	174
35K	2:38:07	24:57	8:02	173
40K	3:04:10	26:03	8:23	173
42K	3:14:42	–	7:35	174