It seems so long time ago when with my wife Katja we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary running a marathon, and what marathon to remember could we pick ? New york City Marathon!! it is important to note that not me not Katja ever run a marathon before, I run the marathon in Nice IM but, as I could easily notice during my run, this was a complete different kind of effort.
I followed a 12 weeks training plan, due to a twisted anckle and a bad flu I could not train the last 3 weeks. Katja did even better, due to lack of time and injuries she followed a 7 weeks programme (!)
We arrived in NY the wednsday night before the race. NY is so beautiful, incredible and full of things to see and do that we did not exaxtly "taper" the way we should had... In the morning we went for a jog in central park and during the rest of the day it was sightseeing and powershopping!! on Saturday before the race we participated in the International frienship run, it was fun to see all this runners from around the world running together wearing their respective country colours, I decided that if I go there again I will bring the EU flag with me....
After struggling quite a bit to bake the energy cake (thanks to an italian restaurant not far from the hotel I could bake it in time) Saturday night we go early to bed as the big day is starting soon.
Sunday 2 November: Race day
we wake up at 3h30 and both eat some energy cake, we check that everything we need is in our bag and we go to the lobby were hundreds of runners are waiting to go to the national library to take the bus to Staten Island. there will be 50.000 runners starting the marathon and to take everybody there you need a great organisation. our bus is at 4.30, we all look like zombies when we board the bus and we are worried about those 4-5 hours we have to wait in the cold before the start.
with Katja we go to the orange start, we find a spot and start waiting, some fall asleep (see picture) even if the air is pretty cold! no matter how many clothes and blankets you bring with you, you are going to be cold anyway. everything is well organised, we meet other runners, everybody has a story to tell, and the time goes fast.
45min before my start we jog a little with Katja (she will start 45 min after me) then we say goodbye wishing each other a great race....... we are both mega excited and eager to start.
finally I get to the Varazzano bridge, we have waited for this moment so long and finally I'm there at the start of the NYC marathon, the speakers play the American national himn, it is a powerful moment and bang we are off for 42km195mt. the first miles on the bridge are amazing, you can feel the bridge coming to life with all those feet moving on it, on the left side you can see the skyline in manhattan and on the water many boats shoot water giving us incredible rainbows with the sun and the cold air it looks great. I feel good at the start, too god even, as I'm way to high with my heart, but I cannot care less, I'm running the NYC marathon I dont care about pace, heart rate and the 40 km in front of me (I'll pay this bold attitude later....). I look around, we are now off the Varazzano, cruising at 13km/h in brooklin, there are so many people encouraging and many bands playing all kind of music that you find yourself running on the beats of the notes. I pass the half marathon in 1h37, way to fast,! we are going up the Queensborough bridge, it is hard and so silent (no spectators allowed) I start feel strange, like my legs getting heavy. when we get out of the bridge there are so many people scxreeming and encouranging that you start realising how much of great people New yorkers are, they all tell you you look great, you look strong, you are going to make it, my legs are probably not listening as at km 25 is the total black out! the effort feels the same but the speed goes so much down that it's unbelievable. the legs are in pain as well. I start telling myself that I'm a healthy triathlete, that I competed in the Ironman and that I can handle pain, that it will pass but I still slow down although trying not to walk. at an aid station I walk a bit, than start runing again, we are running up 1st avenue, man it is so long and going so much in the opposit direction of the finish line that it is so hard for the mind, I start looking for metro station to go back to the hotel, dive on the bed and put my legs up, eat some pasta and watch TV...... it is now 10 km that I'm in this state 
of pain and willingness to quit. at km 35 it all comes back again, the pain is still there, but I feel like running again and start enjoing the course and the people around. We are in bronks tourning south again towards 5th avenue and central park, I start passing people again, the last miles in Central park are great, many people cheering (there were 2 million along the course!!) we turn columbus circle and head straight to the end, all my plans to finish in less than 3h30 are gone but I'm happy to finish, I think I did all possible mistakes one can do in a marathon but nobody will ever be albe to take away the emotion of crossing that finish line..... it was simply magic!
of pain and willingness to quit. at km 35 it all comes back again, the pain is still there, but I feel like running again and start enjoing the course and the people around. We are in bronks tourning south again towards 5th avenue and central park, I start passing people again, the last miles in Central park are great, many people cheering (there were 2 million along the course!!) we turn columbus circle and head straight to the end, all my plans to finish in less than 3h30 are gone but I'm happy to finish, I think I did all possible mistakes one can do in a marathon but nobody will ever be albe to take away the emotion of crossing that finish line..... it was simply magic!It took me 3h39minutes, a marathon is bloody long and bloody hard and it is such an accomplishment to finish. I only think about Katja now, if I suffered like that with all my triathlon training I can't imagine what she is going through,I know she has a strong mind and she will finish no matter what, but I'm still worried.
I collect my medal, my bag and put up some warm clothes, I then go to the finish line and wait for Katja. It is amzing to look at the people finishing the marathon I found myself clapping and encouraging people of all kind, all nationalities, finishing with a sprint of walking in pain, on a wheel chair or without legs running the whole marathon on crouches....
finally I see Katja coming, she is running, looking great, I screem her name she comes to hug me and we start crying I'm so happy to see her finishing and to celebrate our 10th anniversary in such a unique way.
finally I see Katja coming, she is running, looking great, I screem her name she comes to hug me and we start crying I'm so happy to see her finishing and to celebrate our 10th anniversary in such a unique way. We missed each other after the finish and it was hard to walk back to the hotel without her.
But when we meet again it is a whole evening of resting, eating, telling stories and emotions about the marathon it was like we lived it again sharing our race experiences
what a great day of sport till Paris in April!
