NYC Marathon 2024, Race Recap Part II: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens.
Along the way, we saw tons of famous landmarks and smelled those New York City smells (for better or worse). I didn't catch all of these, but loved reading this after the fact: NYC Marathon course landmarks.
And these are particularly beautiful pictures of race day from: Back Left Media.
Staten Island: miles 0-2
We started in our first borough, Staten Island, and immediately left. The Pink start took the bottom level of the Verrazzano Bridge, which disappointed many, as we didn't get the iconic top-of-the-bridge views. I actually enjoyed the bottom level: it had slightly less elevation gain, plus shade! And the views of the water and Manhattan were still pretty.
I started my 3:1 intervals (run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute) and my music. I made a playlist NYC Marathon 2024 for the quiet parts of the course. There was such good camaraderie on the bridge, everyone was fresh and excited!
An aside on fueling and how I carried everything
Fueling this year for me was Skratch Hydration Sports Drink Mix, Salt Stick chews, Hüma gels, and, because they were the on-course nutrition, SIS isotonic gels. I follow Featherstone Nutrition's advice of fueling early and often (she assured me it's even more important to do this when you'll be out there for as long as I will), so my tactic in training was to take my first gel 5-10 minutes into the long run and then every 25 minutes after that. I alternated Hüma and SIS to keep textures and flavors interesting, and caffeine and no caffeine. Give or take timing with my running intervals; I'd wait for a walking break. That meant in order to make sure I didn't run out in a worst-case scenario, and knowing SIS was on the course at miles 12 and 18, I carried 16 gels. How? In my awesome SpiBelt and shorts' pocket. I also had my inhaler, toilet paper, and a couple sanitizing wipes in a second belt (I needed all three, so no space was wasted!), my phone in my other shorts pocket, and my credit card and battery pack in a pocket on the back of my bra. I had a handheld water bottle full of Skratch, with extra Skratch powder and salt chews in baggies in its pouch. I got tired of holding the bottle during long runs in training, but I never once thought about it during the race! (Until the final time I saw my family, when I tossed it to Jasper.) I had a salt chew when I took lower sodium gels. (If it had been hotter, I'd have taken several more than I did.) My plan was to *not* take Gatorade from aid stations, but in the back half of the race, take candy and whatever else sounded good from strange-I mean, spectators. More on that later. I am so pleased to report that I had zero stomach issues and zero emergency portapotty stops (I stopped twice but it wasn't an *emergency* iykyk). Thank you, Meghann Featherstun!!
Brooklyn: miles 2-13
As we ran into Brooklyn, we were still mostly alone, with the few spectators up on overpasses. They had good signs though, and hearty cheers! Eventually we entered cute residential and small commercial neighborhoods, where the streets became increasingly lined with people. I loved the variation in character of housing and shops in Brooklyn! This was a theme throughout the day: nothing has shown off the diversity of New York City to me like this marathon! So many different bands and DJs played all genres of upbeat music along the entire course. I kept my music off for most of this borough.
As soon as they were close enough to read my shirt, spectators started yelling "OMG, BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" At first it was incredible, I waved and beamed and called "Thank you!!" back. But then that got tiring, so I just smiled at them.
A runner asked, "do you regret putting that on your shirt?"
"A little, actually!!"
"Yeah well *points to her shirt* try being Adele in London..." Apparently it was raining the time she ran it, and they kept asking if she'd set fire to the rain for them. Bless.
I'm really happy with many of my official race photos, but for some you just have to laugh. One caught me texting Jasper that I was about to use the restroom and to not worry if my pace dipped, and another gave me proof that I fueled.
One of the prettiest and also most overwhelming neighborhoods in Brooklyn was a gorgeous tree-lined street of brownstones. The crowds were loud and intense, several deep on each side in places. This is where I started to feel sort of panicky and the screams of "Happy Birthday!!!" started to get exhausting rather than encouraging. I felt like I had to acknowledge everyone and couldn't focus or get in a groove. I started to not be able to catch my breath even on walking breaks. I wondered if I breathed something in that was starting to trigger an asthma attack? Or was it just overstimulation???? Eventually I stopped to use my inhaler and that helped. I think I skipped a gel or two in Brooklyn just because I got distracted. (In the future, I would work out a timer on my phone or something to remind me to eat I think. Or just not have my name or "BIRTHDAY GIRL" on my shirt, so I can zone out a bit better. :P )
Queens: miles 13-16
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