Erie Epilogue

Well, I submitted my BQ-2:36 time. I'll find out by the end of the month if I managed to squeak in to Boston 2026.

Separately, in the post-race e-mail sent out by the Race Director for the Erie Marathon thanking the various volunteers, racers, and others for this past weekend, she indicated that she was retiring as the Race Director. She noted that there wasn't currently anyone set to succeed her in the role, and that if they can't find someone to do the needful, that this will have been the last running of the Erie Marathon. Time will tell whether this destination race continues. (It's definitely popular given that about 1/3 of the field gets a BQ, so this would be a bit of a blow.)

Erie Marathon - Last Chance?

Last year I ran Erie in a time of 3:17:24 which, given the Boston Qualifying (BQ) standards for 2025, was a BQ-7:36 for me. It was enough to get me in this year, given the cut-off wound up being 6:51 under your respective age group's BQ time. But they also wound up tightening standards by 5 minutes for all of the age groups under 60 years old for the 2026 marathon. So, this turned my time, useable for 2026, into a BQ-2:36. Ever since they started having an unpredictable buffer below your BQ necessary, common wisdom has been that you should not feel "safe" with anything less than 5 minutes under your BQ. (Granted, I think the only two times that it has been more than 5 minutes have been the last two years.)

So, given my lack of confidence that BQ-2:36 would suffice, I decided I would run Erie again for time this year. Not only was the goal finish time the same as last year (3:15 or better), but this time there was actually a pacer for that time (since 3:15 is now a BQ time again, whereas it wasn't last year). And the weather was IDEAL for the race: crisp in the low 50s to start, possibly hitting 60 by the finish time; mostly cloudy, no rain (but a wet/slightly puddly course from rain in the wee hours), and a light breeze (though there were some bouts of pretty stiff, sustained gusts). Could it come together any better than this?

I arrived at the parking lot about 6am (I guess it was about 15 minutes later than I did last year), and it was a VERY slow slog to get in to the lot. But once I was, finding a spot was pretty painless, and relatively close in, surprisingly enough.

The last time I ran the Chicago Marathon, I wound up picking up a couple of extra pace band tattoos, to include a 3:15 one. They've been sitting around for a couple of years just waiting to be used. Well, now was the chance to put 3:15 to good use. Sure, I was running with the pacer, but I still wanted to be able to see for myself if *my* splits were on (since we weren't crossing the start line at the same time, and most pacers won't say something alerting to indicate being off pace).

My most notable observations for my running of the race surround how they handle the water stops. While it's fantastic that they have one every mile on this two-loop course (so, in effect, having 26 water stops), and I generally don't use them unless it's very hot (since I carry my own water to drink), I did take notice of three really problematic things:

1) They don't have two different styles/colors of cups for the water and the Gatorade. Having a visual indicator (e.g., white for water and green for Gatorade) is the easiest and best way for people to instantly know who is holding what, and what they want to grab.

2) They didn't have a uniform order for the fluids. While some of them had Gatorade first followed by water (which is pretty standard), there were several that alternated water, Gatorade, water. This is HIGHLY confusing.

3) The lengths of tables from which the fluids are handed out are very short. (Was it two 6-foot tables only?) This makes it very difficult to grab on the run if you're trying to avoid other runners doing the same, and very difficult to know which fluid you're getting, given the preceding two issues.

My biggest lesson of the day (I suppose foreshadowing the ending) is to fully discuss the pacer's strategy (preferably in advance, but doable during the run). While even effort and even pace are the same thing on as flat a course as Erie is, there are other factors at play. This pace group company (like many others) aims for the "pin", set at 30 seconds under the goal time, and gives 30 seconds leeway on either side. So, true goal should have been 3:14:30, allowing for 3:14:00 - 3:15:00. I didn't verify in advance whether he would be shooting for the pin from the get-go (so, ~1 second faster per mile than his pace band would indicate), if he was planning to gain those extra seconds during the second half, or if he was "merely" shooting for as close to 3:15 as possible. That lack of a conversation was a bad move on my part.

Ever so gradually, it appeared to my eye like each time he called out our average pace, it was ever so slightly sooner than the actual mile marker -- seemingly indicating to me that we were off pace. When we crossed at the half, I was at exactly 1:37:30, as indicated on my pace band. But I was shooting for better than 3:15, and wasn't sure when the extra time was going to be made up. I didn't ask the pacer -- again, bad on my part. I simply panicked a bit and decided to pull out in front of him at the half (where my original plan called for doing so at Mile 22 or 24). I figured if I simply run 2-5 seconds faster than the pacer (not so bad), I'd be able to keep him in earshot but also get closer to my true goal of 3:14 or better. with little additional effort.

It was working for about 5-6 miles, based on my hearing him further back and the amount of time after I passed volunteers before they cheered for the 3:15 pace group. Great! The fact that Garmin's indication of pace was ridiculously off on my watch was rather confusing, but I didn't push overly hard to try to "correct" Garmin -- the pacer being reasonably close behind me was a good enough indicator.

Well, I was slowly swallowed up by the group around Mile 18 or so. OK, fine. Stay with the group, now. Get back to the original plan. Given I wasn't SO far out, hopefully I didn't expend an excessive amount of energy. (No good way of really knowing.)

Around Mile 20, something happened with one of the other runners in the group -- it sounded like someone inadvertently cut him off and I think he went flying. I'm not entirely sure. I hope he was only slightly scraped up and not seriously injured. On we went, though.

Within the next couple of miles, however, the pacer ever so gradually pulled away from me. Ugh! My desired 3:15 or better was slipping through my fingers. My glutes were tightening up -- it was definitely more of a struggle to keep moving. By Mile 22, I was trying to give myself "acceptable" intermediate goals: sub-3:16, then simply improving my BQ time by any amount (and I didn't even know the exact time, just that it was about 2:30 under), and then once that was clearly out of reach, even though no other goal was going to be useful for Boston registration, at least getting a BQ. Well, 1 out of 3.

Slowly and stiffly, I made my way back to the parking lot (chatting with another runner and his parents about the Boston Marathon), and back to the hotel room to shower and change before heading back towards the course to grab lunch at the iconic Sara's eatery. (My first time doing so.)

It's a very cute place, and apparently well-known specifically for its ice cream. Well, as is my wont, I decided to get a bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, and a milkshake (rather than just straight-up ice cream).

While it satisfied the immediate need, and I might even be inclined to return for just an ice cream cone, the burger and onion rings were just average. Still, it was a fun experience.

Hmm... what does it say that I have more photos of the restaurant decor than I do of anything around the race? Ha!

By the time I finished lunch, it was just after 12:30pm, and the race was scheduled to go to 1pm. And Sara's is literally at the turn-around spot on the course that marks the furthest point before heading back to the finish line, just 1/4 mile away. I decided to head to the turn-around spot to cheer on the back-of-the-packers (as did one other finisher).

To say that I was appalled at how the race handled the situation would be an understatement. They had NO race official or volunteer there, and the park was already opened back up to vehicular traffic. Runners this late in the race were on the shoulder for their safety (given the lane of traffic they were otherwise in was opened up), but then they needed to cross two lanes to get to the turn-around point, which they couldn't necessarily even see.

The other runner and I were standing in the middle of the street (right next to a few remaining cones), cheering runners as they approached us, holding up traffic (which obliged), pointing the runners to the correct side of the turnaround cone, and then onto the other shoulder to continue the last 1/4 mile of the course.

With about 10 minutes remaining (still viable for runners who were just walking at that point), the truck that was picking up cones on the course arrived and picked up all of the other cones (save for the one that marked the turn-around point). The race wasn't technically over, and those last two ladies certainly had enough time to make it over the finish line. They should have had support and protection from the traffic for the entire time by the race organizers until the official finish - at which time runners are on notice that it's "on them."

It's not so dissimilar to what happens with the New York City Marathon on Central Park South. After a certain time, the runners are put onto the sidewalk and all of the barricades are removed, but there is no signage around pointing the way, despite the multiple possible entrances into the park. So, while there is a huge cheer section that remains at the finish line, there's no one (save for potential spectators who decide to help, like I did in 2022 and 2023) to help get them there.

Well... wish me luck that I can get in on last year's time. It's the last time that a "double-dip weekend" time can be used, given the restructuring of their qualifying window to be exactly one year starting with the registration window for 2027. While we get to register this week (before 5pm Friday), we don't officially find out if we're in, let alone what the cut-off time is, until late September. Talk about tense!

Some flagging confidence but reason for optimism

Having gone out of town unexpectedly late last week, my confidence was starting to flag for the upcoming marathon given that I wasn't hitting my needed paces on my various runs -- all outdoors, all on as flat an area as Erie is.

Back on the treadmill today, the pace was feeling nice and comfortable. So, maybe it was the change of routine or time of day? Other pressures that I wasn't consciously feeling? Who knows? Things went well today, so hopefully the remainder of the week will continue apace.

And I just looked at the forecast.

Temperatures look fantastic, with the entire race being in the 50s. (Sure, it'll be a bit chilly standing around  beforehand.) The trickiest part is the winds. So long as I can draft off of the pacer (yay, there should be a 3:15 pacer!), I should be all set. The main thing I'll need to figure out in advance is when I want to break away to pad some more time. That will depend, in part, on just how far under the goal time the pacer is in the late stages of the race.

Congratulations!

Yes! Yet another person I've been able to mentor through the process with Guinness that was able to do the work to get a world record.

In the wake of Missy successfully pacing me and taking the needed documentary photos for my record attempt in Boston (for which I'm still awaiting communication from Guinness), she decided to take the leap and make an attempt of her own: fastest marathon run dressed in a qipao (female). A qipao is a traditional Chinese dress. And, as you can see, they are rather restrictive. So, attempting to run, let alone a marathon dressed in one, is no small feat.

Turns out she wasn't the only one in Sydney who was attempting this record. In fact, there were THREE women who were trying for the record. Her she is with one of the other two women vying for it. Two things that she was definitely pleased with (and rightfully so): 1) when comparing their respective race paces, hers was the fastest of all three, and 2) her additional tweaks to the costume made the full ensemble even more appropriate, as opposed to having some of the extra runner-specific add-ons (e.g., gloves, sleeves, non-covered sneakers -- zoom in on what she did to the sneakers).

Sydney had fabulous weather (about 50F at the start). And, despite the very hilly course (the most difficult of all of the majors, IMO), she crushed it! She finished in a time of 3:51:27 -- her seventh star. As she crossed the line, she would have gotten the most welcome signal she's likely ever gotten on a marathon course: a thumb's up, indicating that she was officially a Guinness World Record holder.

Congratulations on a very well- and hard-earned feat! Keep your eye out for the 2026 (possibly 2027) book to see if you're actually published there. (They don't make any guarantees, and there are far too many set every year to publish EVERYONE's record each year.)

Self-Care is not Selfish

A couple of days ago, I got a phone call that a close family member was in the hospital (in the wake of a freak accident) awaiting surgery the next day. It took a little while to figure out the arrangements, but I came up to keep her company in the hospital, be a conduit for information for some friends and family, etc. (NOTE: All is well. Surgery went well, and recovery looks like it will go swimmingly.)

Going out of town, for me, generally means eating somewhat poorly. Yesterday I was supposed to run 7 miles, but in order to get to my destination in a reasonable amount of time, I had to leave at the leading edge of rush hour. While it sounded like surgery would be mid-afternoon, I didn't bother doing my run when I arrived, instead, relatively soon thereafter, going to the hospital. Surgery kept being bumped further back in the day -- ultimately not starting until 10pm. So much for the run. OK, no worries, swap my rest day and do the 7 miles Friday.

After I finished the run Friday morning and showered and changed, I was getting rather bombarded by texts and phone calls looking to get updates (that I didn't yet have). It was important for my own sanity and stress level to take all of those slowly.

And since I had taken her cell phone back with me overnight (so she wouldn't have her post-op sleep disturbed prematurely), I was getting all of the traffic she would have otherwise been seeing, in addition to what was coming directly to me on my phone. And without that phone, she wound up using the hospital phone to talk with friends; once that number got out, it was virtually impossible to break through the noise. In fact, I had to send a text to her friends asking that they hang up so I could call and get through before I headed over to the hospital.

Making sure to take care of myself and not rush through things on others' timetable not only helps me maintain some semblance of routine -- to help in the lead-up to Erie Marathon next weekend -- but also helps me do everything needed to help out for the current situation.

In short: self-care is not selfish. Be good to yourself, so that you can be good to others.

MCM Update

 Earlier today, MCMO live-streamed a Q&A session. See it all here:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=488824364325862&rdid=lhmRMkdjkGAXqAio

Stephen Chan, a contributor on the Marine Corps Marathon & 10k Club FB group wrote up the following notes. Mine follow his.

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Most of what he covered was in the new updates published on the MCM website:

https://www.marinemarathon.com/.../50th-marine-corps.../

The slides he showed will be available later. (Update: MCMO posted the slides: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1S4VEwb6ox/ ). Also, the shirt on "Manny" the mannequin behind Alex is this year's 50th MCM participant quarter zip shirt (back design was on display).

My notes of additional/new items not covered on the website:

• 40,000 runners this year, so larger than Boston Marathon and 3rd largest marathon in the US.

• Video livestream will be available in the MCM app:

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mcm-organization/id6467168326
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details...

• Finish line will have a video camera so people can watch finishers crossing the finish line.

• Alex reiterated no regular access to the start line from the north (Rosslyn). He explained this will be used by Armed Forces runners, seeded runners, elites, adaptive athletes because they need to be at the start line by a certain time.

• Due to the large number of runners, Alex estimated 6 runners/sec will be crossing the finish line.

• After crossing the finish line, there will be MarathonFoto photo stations at the War Memorial to take your photo.

• Alex mentioned "surprise secret premiums" (especially if you're cold), as you make your way to the exit from the War Memorial.

• Alex pointed out the beer tent at the Finish Festival, so maybe he saw Fogell Mcloving's post about his Quantico 12K beer coupon? 

After his presentation, Alex and the MCMO staff answered some of the questions posted in Facebook and Instagram during the livestream. My notes on some of the information from the answers:

• Race starts at 7:20 am, hope to clear all runners by 8:20 am.

• There are course changes this year, and updated maps will be published after course certification. For example, the 2025 start line to be moved closer to where the 2023 start line was (Note: the 2024 start line was moved further back closer to the Pentagon parking lot/Runners Village). Also, if I heard correctly, the 2024 out-and-back loop by the Jefferson Memorial is eliminated this year.

• This year's 50th MCM participant shirt is a quarter zip.

• For regular runners coming from Rosslyn: Use the Rosslyn Metro station to travel to the Pentagon Metro station; or use rideshare/rides to the Kiss & Run drop off on Army Navy Drive.

• There will be breaks between the waves of runners at the start line.

• Charity runners: MCMO will meet with charities this Thursday at a "Charity Summit." Afterwards, your charity will communicate how to access the Charity Village on race day.

• Real beer from Stone Brewing at this year's beer tent.

• Bib pickup scheduling to begin Oct. 16 via e-mail sent from MCM.

• Advised coming to the Expo/bib pickup on Friday, since more traffic at the Expo on Saturday.

• Expo shuttle info will be in the MCM app; highly recommend parking at the Eisenhower Metro station, and using the Expo shuttle from there because Expo parking will be limited and not free.

Whew!  I know this is not an exhaustive list, so for anyone else that attended the livestream, please post anything else you heard that I didn't cover above! Given all the questions I saw posted during the livestream, I love how we can share info with one another in our group! 

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Some additional notes from me (trying not to duplicate what Stephen wrote):

Race morning shuttle service:

    From the Gaylord National resort to the Eisenhower Metro station, take the Yellow line to Pentagon, then walk (~.5 miles) to Runner's village. (Metro opens at 5am)

    From Crystal City (near 23rd St. & Crystal Drive) to Army/Navy Drive entrance approach to Runner's Village. [Rideshare and kiss-and-ride can also drop off here. But give LOTS of time.]

Post-race shuttle service:

    To get to National Harbor area/Gaylord National, get on Rosslyn Metro Yellow line back to Eisenhower Metro station and catch shuttle from there.

    To get to Crystal City area, go to buses north of the finish area at Oak St. & Wilson Blvd.

While he notes that taking the Metro from Rosslyn will be the best way to exit the area, based on previous personal experience and the fact that the field is SO much larger than ever before, if you are finishing anywhere from 3.5 hours or later, it will be a MADHOUSE to get into the station, onto the platform, and into the trains. Bring your patience. It could easily take 30-60 minutes just to get to the turnstiles if you're there at peak finishing/departure times.

It came across as if there will actually be more "formalized" wave chutes for red, gold, and green waves (based on expected finished times). In previous years, while still color coded, there was pretty lax enforcement of the seeding. There will be about 4-5 minutes between waves. Unclear if all of Red, Gold, and Green are three waves, or if each of the different time-related "towers" will be individual waves.

The Finish Festival is restricted to runners only. That is very different from previous years, where friends and family would not only be there, but they would be crowding around the exit from the finisher's chute after we get our refreshments. Family link-up area is at the bottom of the UPS truck baggage pick-up area at Wilson Blvd. & N. Lynn St. (Previously, they had some of the trucks on this area and some of them further up along the road where the beer tent and watermelon stand are located.) But they also indicated that family will be able to join in on at least some of the finish festival, at least on Wilson Blvd. (A bit confusing the way they were presenting it, frankly.)

Gauntlets are based on last official starter in Green wave crossing the start line at approximately 8:20am (an hour after the elites cross first).

Beat the Bridge gauntlet: 1:15pm (14 - 15-minute pace needed for this last person to hit that mark; while advertising a 14-minute pace needed, they expect to be able to give a 15-minute pace -- but still train as if it will be 14 minutes per mile, don't rely on extra buffers!)

To find the app (once it is updated), look for MCMO or Marine Corps Marathon Organization inside your App Store. It likely won't have all the updates until sometime in October. Keep it year-round for all of the other races that MCMO puts on.

Expo hours at Gaylord National are Friday 10am - 8pm (Armed Forces Opening Ceremony to take place at the National Harbor plaza), and Saturday 10am - 6pm. Interestingly enough, they said that the shuttle service from the Metro to Gaylord National Harbor will start at 8am (despite expo not opening until 10am). There's also a shakeout run on Saturday morning from 8-10am

E-mail with the e-card/QR code for bib pickup will be sent out THREE times in the days leading up to the marathon. Check your e-mail and spam early and often. Time selection window of when you plan to arrive at the expo will be a SEPARATE e-mail from the QR code.

Coming down fast

While I returned home of Sunday, I didn't get back to my regular diet in full swing until Monday night -- after I picked up groceries (since I had whittled them down to nothing before leaving last week). After two days of normalized diet of food, including a normal level of sodium and water, I've dropped 5 pounds -- surely all water. Hopefully I can drop that much again over the next 2-3 days. Running is SO much easier with the decreased weight and non-bloated feet and legs.

Talk about ballooning

As I mentioned last week, my biggest challenge during this past week, most of which was in New York, was the expected change in diet and the corresponding increase in weight. Boy howdy, was that an accurate prediction.

My regular diet includes a lot of vegetables and fruit weekdays, a slight decrease of them on weekends. I also regularly consume slightly more than the suggested 2300mg of sodium average daily. And I usually have about 110-120 oz of water throughout the day. All that amid a generally healthy diet has kept me in the low 160s (dipping lower after really long runs).

During my trip to New York, I consumed very few vegetables or fruit, consumed about 4300mg of sodium  average daily (and on one day I hit 6800), and drank about 140-150 oz of water throughout each day.

Sure, there are some other specific differences, but I think the above were the greatest factors at play. My exercise was continuing as planned; it's not like I stopped that as well. Not only is the weight gain evident by looking at my midsection, but even more so by my swollen feet and legs.

How much weight did I gain between when I had last checked in on last Tuesday night (before leaving Wednesday morning) and tonight post-workout? A whopping 11 pounds. All in the course of one week.

Looking forward to seeing how quickly I can get back down to my pre-trip weight now that I am getting back into my normal routine.

Will MCM be a cluster this year?

I hadn't noticed in the previously released information, but apparently there are 40,000 bibs for this year's MCM. The largest combined field (when it was just the marathon and the 10k) was just over 30,000 -- over a decade ago. Oh, and the several thousand who were part of the 10k have a totally different starting line -- so it was closer to about 25,000 who were crossing the marathon's start line.

MCM typically uses the roadway on both sides of the median on Route 1 for its start line (though, unfathomably, last year they only used one side). With that and a 7:55am start time, it usually takes about 20-25 minutes to get everyone across the start line, which gives the back-of-the-pack runners just enough time to hit their marks in keeping the 14-minute/mile minimum pace and make all three of the gauntlets.

With an extra 15,000 people on-hand, will we be able to get that many extra people across while using a 7:15am start time? In theory it should be doable, but I'm not so sure. And if they only use the one side again, there's zero chance that timing will work out properly.

Other logistical issues that might be huge problems:

Security: Sure, they won't need to screen any of the spectators who joined their runners in the runner village pre-race, but at the same time they have removed one of the two security zones that have been in operation for well over a decade. (I only started running MCM in 2012, so don't know if the Rosslyn-side checkpoint was always there, or started at some later point. For me, it's always been there.) This could wind up being the biggest problem - especially if there are technical issues with metal detectors, or they are unexpectedly understaffed, or there is a problem with Metro that delays a large number of arrivals so that Metro is even more packed than it would otherwise be, and even larger waves of crowds descend all at once, rather than being spread out over a bit more time.

Water: A couple of years ago, it was a SCORCHER of a day (more so than most MCMs). During the pre-race announcements, it sounded like they were bragging about the fact that they had 30,000 gallons of water on course. The moment they said that, I knew there would be enormous problems because that was guaranteed to be FAR too little water, given that most people rely on the water on the course to drink, and on hot days not only do they drink more, but LOTS of people will use multiple cups of water at each station to throw over their head to keep cooler (for a brief time, anyway). One gallon of water per runner under those circumstances was NOT enough. People were apparently dropping like flies. The emergency services were overwhelmed. DC ran out of ambulances to use, emergency rooms were overflowing. Enough so that MCM cut off 30 minutes from the time limit, which also hosed the back-of-the-pack runners who were otherwise on pace, but then were either cut off before the Gauntlet or re-routed to chop off part of Crystal City, thereby not finishing the full distance. If we have the same conditions this year, and they didn't learn the lesson of much more water being needed on the overly hot days, the emergency services will be even more overwhelmed.

While I'm looking forward to running MCM, as usual, and happy to be on the pace team yet again this year, I do dread that some of the logistics will ruin the experience for many/most. Fingers crossed that it's more over-worrying that doesn't actually come to fruition.

NYRR 12 Mile Training Run Weekend

The weekend finally arrived: my first time pacing with the New York Road Runner's Pace Team. Very excited, since I need to prove myself to have any realistic chance of being part of the team to pace the NYC Marathon at some point.

I made my way into the City on Friday afternoon to pick up my bib at Runner's Central. The walls of artifacts they have inside are pretty neat.

Just inside the main entrance is this spread:

Amid the various items in the display are two of the most notable NYRR figures:

Fred Lebow (miniature of his Central Park statue) and Ted Corbitt (bust)

Further back is the NYRR Hall of Fame, Samuel Rudin Trophy, and medals from all of the previous NYC Marathons:

One more errand to do before dinner: finally find the NYC Marathon finish line plaque. I knew it was in the vicinity of Tavern on the Green at approximately W 67th St., but I've never managed to find it before. Thankfully someone posted the precise location online and I was able to follow the virtual breadcrumbs to finally arrive:

Finally I made my way down the 53rd & 9th to have some Chinese food at my favorite NYC Chinese restaurant - Mee Noodle -- only to discovered that the location closed! Ugh! I had been going there since the mid 1990s, if not earlier. It's been replaced by a deli. No!!! 

Researching for another Chinese restaurant in the vicinity or relatively close to the hotel I was in, I came upon Sky Pavilion, located directly across from Port Authority on 42nd Street. Very good. Their menu is a novel at about 59 pages. LOTS of authentic Szechuan dishes -- a little too exotic for me. I wound up having someone more conventional dishes: pan fried (pork) dumplings (photo after I ate one) and shrimp chow fun.

Somehow I actually managed to get to sleep a little after 9pm, and woke up ahead of my 4:15am alarm to get ready. I got out the door before 4:45am and walked crosstown to Lexington Avenue to catch the 6 train uptown to 103rd St. It was just a short walk west a few blocks to get to Central Park whereupon I meandered a little bit to get to Race Central for the day, well before the other runners arrived and sat at the Coach's tent to await the pace team lead's arrival (to get my pacer's singlet and pace sign).

It's rather a marvel at just how much they pull together for something as basic as a training run. They had a sizable tent with at least 5 lines set up for same-day bib pick-up, a tent for volunteer supplies, and more.

These are the reflectors on the vest of the volunteers that had arrived by 5:30am and were gathering to receive their respective assignments. Something as simple as this run takes LOTS of volunteers to help put it on -- an essential part of the 9+1 Program for being able to earn an entry into the NYC Marathon without dealing with time qualifying, lottery, or charity bibs.

Having finally got my pacer singlet and pinned my bib to it, I checked my bag (in which I had a chilled Muscle Milk for post-race) and made my way to the corral. Slowly but surely, everyone lined up in the corrals -- supposedly somewhere around 4-5k people total. The course was two loops of Central Park -- very difficult to properly pace because there was rarely a flat portion; there were a couple of large hills, and several moderate rolling hills across the course. 

Both in advance of toeing the line and after crossing the finish, I answered various questions for a few of the runners. But during the run itself, the group was pretty silent, not being overly responsive to any of Ben's or my prompts re: what questions they might have or tips of their own they wanted to share with the group. Given how hot and humid the day was, my of their energy was understandably being spent dealing with the racing conditions.

I had one of NYRR's regular coaches (Ben) as my co-pacer, and we both "kept each other honest" in terms of making sure not to be too fast at certain points -- doing our darnedest to keep at 9:20/mile average pace. Doing so would give us a final time of 1:52:00 - 1:52:08. We wound up being a touch too fast, at 1:51:46. Not too shabby!

One of the people who started out at a faster pace (if I understood correctly) and wound up joining our group part-way and stuck with us for the rest of the time was VERY happy for the assist in getting through a tough day. Her taking a group selfie with us was even captured and posted on NYRR's own FB page.

Also post-race, there were even a couple of people that I saw taking advantage of ringing the qualifier bell (similar to the PR bell):

I had plenty of time to make it back to my hotel to shower, change, and relax for a little while before checking out and grabbing lunch prior to meeting up with my mom to go to see a show.

Very good show, even if a bit on the depressing side.

Other than looking forward to my already set schedule of races, I'm looking forward to being able to pace for NYRR again. Will it be a training run or one of their marquee events? Only time will tell. Hopefully it doesn't take *too* long before I have the opportunity to pace for the NYC Marathon.