I’m in a New York City Marathon State of Mind

I have always thought that New York was too big and diverse to unify around anything, but over the past few weeks, I have been surprised at how the marathon—and support for the marathon—is everywhere.  My view may be a bit skewed because my universe is centered around athletics, but with ads and banners all over the city, it really does seem like everyone is getting excited for the marathon. Watching the city and its athletes prepare for the marathon has made me feel connected to my new city and to my new athletic friends.

This photo will be my motivation in either 2012 or 2013.

Thursday night, my triathlon group ran to the finish line of the New York City marathon for our Thursday night hill workout. I say “to” the finish line because unlike in Boston, when the finish goes up for New York, it is walled off from spectators and one cannot actually cross it unless one runs the marathon. Going through the corridor created by the bleachers and staring at the orange ING sign, I had a funny feeling. I wanted to be here as a racer. I had this feeling once before in my life—in 2010, when I was walking through Back Bay of Boston on the evening of the marathon and went across the finish line, I was overcome with this feeling of “I want to be here.” It is a feeling of drive, of wanting to push your mind and your body to the limits. On Thursday night, all I wanted to do was run the New York City marathon.

Seeing the finish line reminded me of all the things I love about distance running.  I love the adrenaline, getting caught up in the excitement of the event, and using that excitement to push your body through the exhaustion to accomplish what you never thought you would be able to do.  Asics has been running an ad related to the marathon featuring a smiling runner and the slogan “First you feel like dying. Then you feel reborn.” I cut it out of the marathon program and hung it on my wall because nothing has ever described why I run better than that slogan. When you push your body like that, you really do feel reborn at the end.

My run also made me excited for everyone who is going to run New York City tomorrow, who will tomorrow accomplish something that for the rest of their lives will remain one of the most amazing things they ever did. I signed up to volunteer because I wanted to help make their day perfect, and I can’t wait to cheer the runners on from the Mile 18 water stop. But also, I can’t wait until the next time I feel reborn.