By Gladstone “No-my-name-is-not-Jack-Brooks” Thompson
Apart from running in the London Marathon, I have always wanted to head to the Big Apple and take part in the New York Marathon.
So, after 3 years of being rejected through the ballot system, I was finally guaranteed a place for November 2010.
HOWEVER, after a Striders night out at the Peahen some 15 months previously, I somehow found myself committed to the Amsterdam Marathon just 3 weeks prior to New York as well.
The Jack Brooks of this world wouldn’t find this to be a problem but for me, I just wasn’t sure if my running CV would be up for such a challenge.
As it was, I decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and go for both races.
Amsterdam was going to be my autumn ‘A’ race and New York my ‘just get around and enjoy the atmosphere then head to the shops’ race.
So, first up was the Amsterdam Marathon.
In the year leading up to this race interest within the club had increased such that 9 striders had signed up, along with a support crew consisting of Mike’s Jubb and Jack, plus Antonia Jubb.
I had previously run Amsterdam in 2008, so I was really looking forward to taking part again and sharing the experience with my club colleagues.
On the morning of the Marathon, 10,000+ runners assembled on the track in the 1928 Olympic Stadium for the start of the race.
The weather conditions were spot on, about 10°C, a slight breeze, and very sunny so dark glasses were the order of the day. The course was very flat, as you would expect for Amsterdam, so there was definitely potential for a PB.
With this in mind I set off at my Marathon pace with the aim of picking it up in the later miles.
The race had three distinct sections, the first took us on a 4 mile loop lined with enthusiastic crowds, which made for a fantastic atmosphere.
The crowds then thinned out down to just a few spectators watching from their gardens as we headed into the ‘like it or hate it’ second section of the race, which took us down and back up the banks of the River Amstel.
We were treated to a live band playing music from a riverboat but otherwise this was a very quiet part of the race.
At 16 miles we were back off the river and into the enthusiastic crowds again who cheered us on for the third section and “business” end of the race.
At this stage I started to feel a few of my pre-race niggles and a few doubts started to creep in.
But then I was fortunate to see the Striders Support Crew who helped spur me on.
In the latter stages I managed to catch up with Carol Mooney who was running well, and then Shane Ryan who looked like a man gunning for a PB.
Ordinarily I would have been happy to hang around for a chat, but by now I was “a man on a mission”. With the finish just a few miles away I decided to push on and chat later!!
We finally finished back in the stadium were we started but now the stands were jam-packed with spectators cheering us all the way to the finish line.
Post-race I managed to meet up with most of the Striders just outside the stadium.
We all sat around for a while to recount some of our race experiences and to allow enough time for our legs to stiffen before eventually setting off like zombies back to our hotels.
Katie and myself were very pleased with our day’s efforts.
I ran 3:49 a PB, and Katie 4:11 her best Marathon time for 2010.
There were several other great performances from the Striders including PB’s for John Ockenden and Gill Jubb who knocked out 3:04 and 3:21 respectively, and Shane Ryan who achieved his aim of doing a sub-4 by coming in at 3:58.
Later that evening a few of us met up for post-race drinks.
We all had tales to tell of ‘if only I did this and that’, but I think it would be fair to say that we all learnt something about our running abilities that day. Experiences that would hopefully serve us well in future Marathons.
However for two of us, our minds now turned to how we were going to fare in New York in three weeks time.
For our next outing in New York we were joined by Linda Powell who was running her second Marathon.
Katie and myself picked up our race numbers at the Expo the day before only to find out that the organisers had for some reason changed our pre-race 7 am bus tickets for 6 am ferry tickets.
The bus was going to take us from just outside our hotel directly to the start. However, our new tickets meant making our own way to the ferry terminal, getting across to Staten Island and then getting another bus to the start.
On race morning we hopped into a taxi to get us on our way but it turned out that our driver didn’t know the way to the ferry terminal! Apparently, it was his first day on the job.
Exactly what we didn’t need!!
How I envied the Elite runners and Celebrities at this point, all of whom would have been chauffeur driven to the start line.
As it was, I told the driver to head south and “stop when you see water”!
Miraculously, following my instructions, he eventually got us to the ferry, but NOT before driving the wrong way down a one-way street!
We then made it across to Staten Island for the start.
In near freezing conditions, the 44,000 runners taking part set off in 3 waves, first heading along the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, then on through the other boroughs of New York, before eventually finishing in Central Park.
As with the London Marathon there were super-enthusiastic crowds along the whole course. The noise coming from them was relentless.
If you ever wanted to do a Marathon just for the atmosphere and crowd support then New York is for you.
I would say that it rates just as high if not higher than London.
Whereas, if you just wanted to race in “peace and quiet”, and increase your Marathon tally, then sign up for Luton!!
In amongst the cheering crowds I noted loads of banners referring to Chuck Norris, with most of them saying that he had never run a Marathon.
For those who don’t know, Chuck Norris was an 1970’s and 80’s all-round tough guy, stuntman, American karate champion umpteen times over. On one occasion he even gave Bruce Lee a run for his money.
However, as tough as he was, he had never run the New York Marathon…maybe he should have joined a running club to toughen up!!
One of the more notable points on the course, and some would say a highlight, was at about 16 miles where the crowds started shouting ‘one more drink before the bridge’.
They were referring to the notorious mile long double–decked Queensboro bridge, which crosses the East river from the Borough of Queens and takes you for the first time into Manhattan.
Running along the lower deck this bridge just seemed to go up and on forever, while sapping the energy out of most who crossed it.
However this didn’t deter loads of runners stopping to take photographs as proof that they had conquered the bridge.
For me, this wasn’t the time for “holiday snaps” as there was still a “job to be done”!
Coming off the bridge and turning into First Avenue we were faced with a long stretch up to the Bronx before turning around and heading back down towards Manhattan and the finish in Central Park.
I used to think Central Park was flat. How wrong I was! This park had hills, not Watford/Berkhamsted Half Marathon type hills, but at this point in the race they might as well have been.
By now the crowds were 10-deep and their support was just what I needed as I started flagging big time.
My mind was saying the usual negative things. It just does at this point in a Marathon, plus my Garmin seemed to be doing crazy things as well. That finish line couldn’t come quick enough!
I then saw the marker for “800 metres to go”.
‘Great, twice around the track’ I thought, however as with all Marathon finishes, that “twice around the track” is a very long way, but I eventually got there and crossed the line saying:
‘Never again…..ok, maybe until next time!!’
I finished in 4:03 and Katie did 4:22. No PB’s this time.
Maybe our times would have been better if we hadn’t run Amsterdam, BUT we didn’t care as this was our race to ENJOY.
Linda Powell who had been nursing a leg injury in the weeks leading up to NY, came good on the day and ran a PB of 4:18.
Following our Marathon efforts we had several more days in New York doing some much deserved retail therapy before heading back home to reflect on our achievements for the year.
In summary, Amsterdam was race I enjoyed just as much second time around and would certainly do again. Maybe another Striders trip will be on the cards?
New York, is just the biggest Marathon in the world! While a challenging course it’s well worth doing just for the experience.
Overall, I achieved my running aims for 2010 and now looking forward to ‘kicking some butt’ in 2011…..
Now, where’s Chuck Norris???
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