NYC Marathon - Expo

The day started off rather amusingly with what appeared to be an intended physical impossibility on the Long Island Railroad at the Huntington station.

Typically, trains at this station showing "Huntington" as the destination are eastbound, and those showing "Penn Station" are westbound. So, having those last two trains arriving at the same time was an interesting sight. As it turned out, the Huntington train was westbound, and immediately in front of the other train. Surprisingly enough, no conductor ever wound up coming through the car I was in to collect the tickets. Free ride!

First off, I went up to the Runners' World Adidas Clubhouse for a couple of programs and to partake of some of the many freebies they had available, to include getting worked over (for about 10 minutes) by a Hypervolt massage gun. Oooh... that felt really good. Especially on my back. Alas, I wouldn't be able to do that for myself. I already have Normatec boots, so less inclined to get the massage gun.

Next up, making my way to the expo at the Jacob Javits Center.

Given it was the first day of the expo, it was virtually empty. Enormous space that had very few lines of any length. After making my way around to see the various booths and making a couple of signs that I plan to bring out to the Mile 25 area after I finish, I made my way to the Citizens Stage. I was there to catch the tail end of one program related to recovery from the marathon, and then caught the live taping of the Set the Pace podcast, co-hosted by the CEO of the TCS NYC Marathon and Meb.

There were several questions that were sent online that they started off with, and then about 20 minutes in they went to the audience for questions. I had the first question that I posed to Meb. Alas, he didn't quite answer it - not as I had intended, anyway. Where I was asking something specific to him (how does he deal with the silence of the 59th Street Bridge since he has virtually no other competitors around him), he gave a broad answer about what we should relate it to. Helpful for most people running it, though.

After leaving the expo and getting a pretty decent dinner near Times Square, I meandered briefly, stumbling upon the Dia de los Muertos festival in Times Square.

Finally, I made my way to the Barrymore Theatre.

Good show, with a totally packed audience, but it is VERY difficult subject matter. This is certainly not a happy musical. And, unfortunately (though not surprisingly), it doesn't have any songs that one would learn to sing like so many other standards. 

Alas, I won't be in the city on Friday to join in the Marathon Manaiacs photo. Looking forward to getting in on Saturday and then toeing the line on Sunday. Let the excitement build!