{"id":514,"date":"2018-11-04T19:52:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T00:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salticid.com\/marathon\/?p=514"},"modified":"2018-12-31T12:53:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:53:39","slug":"marathon-part-2-the-actual-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salticid.com\/marathon\/2018\/11\/marathon-part-2-the-actual-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon part 2: the actual race"},"content":{"rendered":"

This would be the normal race report if it weren’t such an ordeal to actually get to the starting line (and to finish – part 3). Mostly made from notes shortly after the race, then re-thought about while consulting my photos and Google Maps. Posted 12\/31\/2018, giving up on the sucky photo placement – hey, I made it before 2019!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Approaching the starting line – not too crowded!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We moved out of the corral to the strains of “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop, and I guess because the corrals are so far from the start we spaced out pretty well – it was actually much less crowded than it would be later on.<\/p>\n

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The actual starting line<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everywhere along the start, and this would be true for most of the first section of the marathon, there were piles of trash and discarded clothing – all the detritus that didn’t make it into proper receptacles. This actually worked out really well for me, since I had really wanted one of the Dunkin’ Donuts fleece beanies – I saw and grabbed a discard before the start, so that was one goal checked off. I saw DOZENS later too!<\/p>\n

We filed on to the bridge approach, heard the anthem, the cannon, and Frank Sinatra, and we were off! Even at the starting line it wasn’t as crowded as I expected–I crossed the start line within less than a minute of gun time.<\/p>\n

The granular grouping into corrals works really well. I had lined up on the right to get a view off the side of the bridge, but even though the northbound lane was closed, we were all confined to the southbound lane (I guess to allow emergency traffic). So I veered over to the left. The bridge surface was extremely rough and we all had to watch our footing, especially with clothing and food that had been just dropped, or had rolled over from the sides. I hopped up onto the tiny sidewalk for photos of the great view over the river. Taking photos slowed me even further than I expected because of having to get well out of the way of the crowds, and then making my way back into the runners. The first few miles still went fairly quickly – looking at the splits, the second mile was my fastest pace at 10:31.<\/p>\n

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First of more selfies than I take in a normal year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Crowds on the bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Battery Weed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Mid-point of the Verrazano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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We had been instructed not to pee on the bridge under pain of removal from the race, but a bunch of guys were using the bridge supports right at the exit.<\/p>\n

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A rare sight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our first spectators were gathered as we got off the bridge, solidly lining the street even though the green course is split from the yellow and blue. I got a text from our friend Harold who lives in Bay Ridge, telling me where to find him, so that was my first goal to look forward to, at about mile 3, just before the dogleg back to 4th Avenue. I saw him on the right and my impulse was to stop and chat for a bit but he encouraged me to keep running.<\/p>\n

We rejoined the other colors on 4th Avenue but we were on the right and the other colors were on the left; they didn\u2019t actually merge until mile 10.<\/p>\n

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Runners from the top section of the bridge at left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hydration stops were a sea of volunteers in green, and they made it very easy to get either water or Gatorade. But running through was treacherous because the street was littered with ground down cups and sticky with residue; there are just too many runners to keep on top of cleaning up.<\/p>\n

I relished the huge variety of handmade crowd-support signs, although mostly they repeated a few themes in their own ways. My favorite jokes were:<\/p>\n