OMG ING NYC!

(Taking it to the bridge! Onward Racers!)

Congrats to everyone who ran the ING NYC Marathon today! It's such a great event and whether it was your first time or your 20th time I applaud you taking to the streets of the five boroughs to complete your 26.2 mile journey. I'm so thankful (as I'm sure all of you are as well) that our freak snowstorm hit last weekend and not this weekend and that instead of a windy slushy nightmare, you were treated to an absolutely beautiful fall day for running!

Knowing how important it is to have cheering faces all along the race, I took the N in to Queensboro Plaza and got out to watch the masses of runners take that important turn around mile 15 up onto the 59th street bridge. Running on that bridge is tough because you are running on an incline, there are no spectators, minimal sun, maximum wind and it's just TOUGH. I was happy to take an hour and stand on the corner and wave and shout last words of encouragement as people made their way onto the bridge. The crowd was great, the cover band that was helping everybody run to some rockin' tunes was awesome and it was just a really inspiring experience.

 (Birdseye view from the elevated platform at Queensboro Plaza!)

I stood with these two women on the corner who were looking for separate people and charting their progress along the route on the iphone apps set up for the race. Those things are great. The NYC Marathon really is a the forefront in making the race a really interactive experience for spectators. I didn't see the people my new friends were there to support but I did spot Top Chef Winner Richard Blais running by as well as Survivor Winner/Amazing Race contestant Ethan Zohn amongst the runners (for the record, Blais was running ahead of Zohn, but Zohn seemed to be holding up better physically at that point in the race.) It's fun just to see people with their names on their shirts and you can scream for them and most of the time they don't actually see you, but you can see it register on their faces and sometimes it gives them a little boost of energy. That's a great feeling.

(the runners just keep coming!)

I love Race Day in New York. It's so inspiring. And it makes me realize I have been too lax in my prep up until now for the Disney Marathon in January. November now has to be all about running and writing. those are the two main focuses for the end of the year. It was great to watch the Race today and remember how gruelling it is but also how personally rewarding. I can't wait to be ready for it again!