“If I was American, or in a cold/seasonal country, or without an existing training plan, or if I had no big races planned in the next few months, the Runners World Run Streak would be a great idea.”
NYC Marathon Part 6: Bonk
“…shortly before the ascent up Mount Fifth Avenue began, a massive brick wall jumped out of the road in front of me and I slammed into it. I looked down at my legs in puzzlement, half-expecting to find a small child hanging on to each of them”
NYC Marathon Part 5: First Avenue
“DO NOT SPEED UP!”, they said with sympathy but an undertone of eye-roll. You’ll mess yourself up for the last three miles, they warned. Mile 16-17 along First Avenue is by 5% the fastest of the race. The two NYRR trainers giving their advice at the Expo put this down in large part to the…
NYC Marathon Part 4: ‘The 59th St. Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)’
Paul Simon is one of the best singer-songwriters in history, but he clearly didn’t have a clue what he was talking about when he wrote this song. In fairness he wrote it before the first ever NYC Marathon, but I owe it to him and you to correct some of the misconceptions in his lyrics…
NYC Marathon Part 3: Of Signs and High-fives
One of the best features of the support during marathons is the cheer signs, some of which were very common (“Keep chafing the dream”, “Go, random stranger, go”, “You can do this!” etc.). Others were more topical, from the plausible “If Trump can run for President, you can run 26.2 miles!”, to the painfully misjudged…
NYC Marathon Part 2: Brooklyn-Queens (miles 2-15)
NYC Marathon legend has it that the Green-bibbed runners crossing the Verazzano Bridge on the lower level are showered by the orange liquid emanating from the Orange-bibbed runners on the upper level. Whilst I cannot speak to previous years, I can tell you that definitely didn’t happen this year, perhaps because of the threat of…
NYC Marathon Part 1: Belvedere Hotel-Brooklyn (0-2 miles)
“In the meantime 49,000 of my newest and worst dressed friends were doing the same thing in an unsurpassed festival of sartorial dissonance.”
Training for the NYC Marathon
As I hobbled into the front garden after my cooldown walk with our dog Sushi I just lay down in the foetal position, unable to take the six steps up into the house. Sushi licked my face and I didn’t move. Then the sprinklers came on. I still didn’t move.
Renaming the [coughs] Half Marathon
The marathon is essentially an arbitrary distance anyway (26 miles, 385 yards). Some dude called Pheidippides ran that distance from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to deliver a victory message…and promptly DIED. Doesn’t that tell you something?
Singer Island Half-Marathon
A trip to the US requires me to combine the original purpose of the trip with either a half-marathon, attendance at a baseball game, or both. During April’s trip I went to see the Clearwater Threshers and Palm Beach Cardinals play home games in the Florida State League, and I had a great view for…
PORK ROPE 