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What is TGNY100 you ask? The short answer is that it stands for The Great New York Exposition. The longer answer is that it's a trip (pun intended) around 4 of the 5 boroughs. It basically follows the NY Century bike tour but in reverse. It starts at 42nd street and goes up North and eventually into the Bronx. From there you go through Queens and eventually into Brooklyn. From there you cross the Brooklyn Bridge back in to Manhattan and run to 42nd street for 103 miles.
The cool thing is, besides the race/course of course, is that once I finish, I will have done both a trail 100 and a road 100. They are both very different beasts.
I actually caught myself thinking, for a second, that this should be easier as trails are by definition harder and slower but then whatever common sense I have took over and straightened me out.
There are some very distinct differences here and they must be documented...Tesla was a trail run and at it's base level was you run 5ish miles to an aid station. From there you take another path and again run 5ish miles. Of course you have to do this 10 times. Since there were only 2 aid stations, you only need at most 2 drop bags and you're good. Also, you can hook up with other runners and work together even if they are ahead of you. That's exactly what I did with Ryan O'dell. TGNY is 1 very big loop. You would need 19 drop bags which is not happening. Also, there are sections where I am very concerned about getting lost. This race is very low key and Phil does/will not overmark the course. In fact, no one even wears bibs.
Still, last year the day before the race, the Wall Street Journal posted this article and the race got some attention.
So, the course is 1 major loop with aid stations roughly every 5 miles. Last year, I visited the 51 mile aid station manned by Gail Marino at Alley Pond. Not a lot there so you really want to be self-supporting. The aid station volunteers were texting each other about a runner leaving an aid station so she received a text letting her know a runner just left 45 and she would alert 55 that a runner just left. Nice...
I was there with her for about 1.5 hours and she was a little concerned because the overall lead male left 45 and should have gotten to her already. Eventually, he found us. He got lost. Dude looked amazing at mile 51. He looked like he just got out of bed for a little run. He eventually finished in 19:36:55. Wow!
While I was there a few people showed up. Turns out that their runner, Michael I think, set up fresh pacers every 5 miles. So he had a guy there waiting for him and also a girl on a bike. Cool.
So far, I think I understand the course from mile 45 (Cross Island Parkway) to leaving Kissena Park at around 55. I think I will be ok at the start heading to the Bronx. I'll still be fully functional there too (hopefully). Into Queens should be ok. Running to 51 at AP is well-known and running to Kissena Park I have done many a time. After that to Flushing Meadow Park and into the Rockaways is a little worrisome. Brooklyn is my biggest worry. It will be fully at night and well, 'nuff said.
Things I heard/read (to make me feel better):
Oi... Worried but this is the silliness that we do or maybe rather that I do...
Phil finally put on Facebook that the application (gotta send a check) will be put around New Years. I kept checking but nothing. I even emailed him directly expressing my interest. Didn't want to get locked out. Eventually I noticed it and Gail also let me know it was out there. Took a check with me to work and mailed it out that day. Eventually found out I am in.
| 1 | Grant's Tomb | 4.75 miles |
| 2 | Dyckman St. | 9.34 miles |
| 3 | Bronx Park | 15.74 miles |
| 4 | Pelham Bay Park | 21.14, 25.11 miles |
| 5 | Sound View Park | 31.93 miles |
| 6 | Astoria | 37.35 miles |
| 7 | World's Fair Marina | 41.7 miles |
| 8 | Little Bay Park | 46.5 miles |
| 9 | Alley Pond Park | 51.44 miles |
| 10 | Kissena Corridor Park | 56.37 miles |
| 11 | Forest Park - 100K | 62.2 miles |
| 12 | Addabo Bridge | 66.56 miles |
| 13 | Rockaway Beach | 71.44 miles |
| 14 | Jacob Riis Park | 75.21 miles |
| 15 | Sheepshead Bay | 80.83 miles |
| 16 | Bensonhurst | 85.59 miles |
| 17 | Leif Ericson Park | 90.8 miles |
| 18 | Borough Hall | 95.82 miles |
Gonna end for today on a funny note: I told a friend about this race and described the loop. Matt then asked me how many loops I need to do. I answered that it's one loop and isn't that enough? He answered that "you just never know with you... Maybe you would do it 2 or 3 times...". Nice...
In other news, I posted a FaceBook message on the Alley Pond Striders page and on the Queens Distance Runners page pleading for either Pacers/Sherpas or even a visitor at aid stations that can help me specifically to resupply. The aid stations are very very minimal. Got lots of likes but that's pretty much nothing else.
I was hoping for something I guess. Still, prepare for worse and potentially be pleasently suprised. So far, Gail will be at Mile 51 manning the station. Gotta check if Becky will be at Flushing Meadow Park again. Jim and Hammad both said yes. Ed unfortunatly will be out of town as will be Jeff. Jeff said he will try to rescheudle but I told him it's ok. I can't ask someone to do that. I will post a final plea as my status and also ask a few people if their running clubs can throw me a bone but it seems like I will be alone for most of it. Time to man up.
I don't know where I am at this point. Anyone see a creek? I'm probably there.
So Morti posted a plea and the only one that really came to mind was Paul Kentor who I actually met during the JRunners Relay. He wasn't doing it but ran a portion for "fun". I would love to be paced by him but he is manning the aid station at mile 95 and actually leaving at 6am to drive to Connecticut to do a half-marathon. So, he will be up all night, then drive and run and drive back...
Yesterday, I decided to take the bull by the horns and sent personal requests to members of JRunners who I met during the relay. These are people who live in Far Rockaway or Brooklyn. Might as well, right? I GOT POSITIVE RESPONSES!!! Nothing definite yet but dare I say a definite "maybe"? This is much better than a definite "no" so I am excited. Feast or Famine...
Started paying attention to the weather. It's still to far out but gotta look anyway. This week we will hit 92 with high humidity. Good news: Saturday will be beautiful with a high of 72. Bad news: Rain at night. Not only do I not like running at night but the rain will make things even harder with this really lightly marked course.
In other news, Elizabeth is coming down with a cold. Since not only do we share the same house but the same bed, the future doesn't look so good. I did start as is my usual pre_long_race_ritual to take extra-extra vitamin C. Hopefully this will help.
What else...? Woke up Saturday morning to run with a bad knee pain in my right knee. Still ran. As soon as I started, the pain went away. Came back when I kicked of the wall at the pool. Same thing happened Sunday. Knee pain still present. Not sure what the hell is going on.
Haven't touched base with Hammad about the race. Ran with him on Saturday tho. Jim keeps telling me that he is available for any 10 mile section. His back seems much better. Still, in the last week or so, his father in law had 2 or 3 strokes and Evelyn keeps running to the hospital. I can't ask him to do this. He has to be available. I don't like to lie but I might have to lie to him and tell him that I am good with pacers. He's gotta be there first...
You could make sure to have enough fresh pacers to guide you through every section. Gonna hit that a little later.
So, you try other options. With technology being what it is, you could download the map to your phone or even constantly check it or just bring the cue sheet with you. Ken, downloaded the map into an app that was going to speak to him and tell him what to do just like the GPS in your car. The problems I see with that are:
By the way, Ken dealt with the first issue by bringing 2 extra portable chargers for his phone.
I decided to deal with it with a low-tech solution. I went to mapmyrun and magnified small sections of the course. Someone already did it for what they considered "difficult" or "confusing" sections but who's to day what I will find confusing. So, I did this for the whole map. I got 179 small pictures. With Alex's help I combined them into a pdf which went to my phone. I also printed out the entire document and then used a paper cutter to cut them out. Since they weren't uniform size, each page took a long time to do. It was nuts and I couldn't do it all in 1 shot. I actually had to do in segments, taking breaks.
Other than that, I was hoping for pacers.
Let me review what I knew I had for a minute. Victor, who I met at the Alley Pond 5 Miler, said he would join me. I thought the best for him was from the Throgs Neck Bridge or Fort Totten section to Alley Pond. He's from Long Island and I didn't want to hardship him. Besides that, I had Jim who I wasn't sure I should use due to his personal circumstances and Hammad. Hammad had just done a 12 hour race and wasn't fully recovered. Doesn't sound like a lot, right?
I sent personal pleas to JRunners who I met during the relay.
OK - Now that we caught up with that, here's what happened...
I suddenly had a lot of positive definite maybe's which is a Hell of a lot better than what I had before. I'm gonna document this mentioning names. Some backed out and I DO NOT HAVE ANY ILL WILL TO THEM! I just want to make that clear. Just the fact, that they even considered helping me was huge! Whether they showed up or not, I still am thankful for them.
Avi Blisko - Avi of Forest Hills and 5 Towns claim was a possibility. He tried but ultimatly backed out. Sunday was his son's 7th Birthday and he was scheduled to run the Queens 10K on Sunday. As is he ended up doing neither.
Yoni Meiri - Yoni was the youngest relayer during the relay. He's 15 and in 10th Grade just like my son. He almost immediatly said Yes but eventually backed out because his Mother didn't want him running in Far Rockaway at night. He felt bad. I told him that I don't blame her and that I don't want to run in Far Rockaway at night either.
Bressler Twins - Yaakov is a fast kid. Actually both are. They just did the NJ Gran Fondo and came in 8th and 9th Overall! WOW! Yaakov was sure he could get me someone. He tried. I know he tried but ultimatly nothing came out of this too. He apologized that he couldn't do it, as he was studying for the MCAT's. I get it.
Alley Pond Striders - Nothing. And nothing (positive) to say either. Not even a soul offered to meet me at an aid station with supplies or a kind word. Not even at Alley Pond...Nothing. I'll stop here about that.
David Devor - David is a grandfather who lives in Far Rockaway. I think he is in his 50's and he's in good shape. Dude rucks. No, I don't mean "rocks", I mean "rucks". That means he runs while carrying bricks. Why? In all truth, I have no freaking clue but usually rucks are runs with 40lbs of bricks for men and 20lbs for women. In trainging, he usually carries 60lbs. Sunday morning, he was supposed to go for a 14 mile run with 60lbs of bricks so I couldn't count on him but(!!!) he said he would show up. What??? Yes - he would show up with supplies and run about a mile. I initially thought I would get there by 10pm but eventually got there later and I'll get to that later.
Mark Mulray - I met Mark at my first Ironman, Chesapeakeman. Very nice guy. He sent me a message asking if I am still looking for a pacer. Started speaking to him. He lives in Philadelphia, PA right near PennyPack Park where I did the Dirty German. If I only would have realized it at the time, I would have met him. Really nice guy with now 3 kids. Did I mention that he was fast too? I wasn't sure what to do here but we talked about him parking near the Brooklyn Bridge, mile 95 which would be safe and easily accessible and then walking to 90. We would then trudge to the finish and then he would an easy time to get back to the car. I wanted/demanded that he be safe too. Instead he decided to park near 90. He woke up at 3am, after not sleeping well since his wife came home late from Girl's night, drove 2 hours, parked at 90 and waited for me as everything ran late but again about that later.
Feast or Famine. Trust me that it was stressful as it unfolded day by day.
Usually before a Marathon or an Ironman or any big race, I try to get some extra sleep before raceday knowing that things would get crazy. It just didn't happen. I need 4 hours and I as barely getting even that. Still swam Monday night, ran easy Tuesday with Adele and Heidi outside and swam again (long) Wednesday. Things were still in the air about everything. Definitly not the way I like to do things.
Thursday things didn't seem like they would get any easier. Thursday was the day before last for Jessie and she was invited to Arielle's house for a sleepover Birthday party. Thursday was also a meeting at her school for 5th grade parents about next year. Thursday was the night I was also going to give Gail things to bring to the Alley Pond Aid station as I was planning on sleeping at work on Friday so as you can see, things got crazier and crazier.
I went to work and came home early. Immediatly went to walk the dog and started getting things ready. I truly wanted to go to sleep a little early so I needed to get things done. I immediatly prepared my Matza-Brei so it would cool down enough to pack. Then run around the house, getting things in a pile and of course I needed to eat and of course get last minute things for Jessie. The meeting was scheduled for 6pm so I wanted to leave about 5:15-5:20, drop her off, take the mom, Karen, with us and goto the meeting. After the meeting, drop Karen off and go straight to Gail and from there home to pack and sleep.
Lee bought small eggs (Organic) which unfortunatly were really small. I made 2 batches but I realized that's not enough and that I would need to make another batch Friday morning. Whatever. Why does everything need to be so stressful? Still, in bed early.
Phil posted on FB the list of racers and Ken's name wasn't on there. Got in touch with him and he emailed Phil. He last minute decided not to take me up on my offer to sleep at my workplace but finally looked at the train schdule. He would have to be on a 1am train and get in at 3am. Offered again and he accepted.
I informed Alex that I was sleeping on the couch and I don't want to see him coming in drunk in the middle of the night. He wasn't too happy to hear about this but was ok with it. Crazy that I had to do this, no?
I planned on going to sleep at 9pm but that didn't happen. I wanted to finish the book I was reading so instead went to sleep at 9:30 knowing that Ken would be on the 9ish train and would call me around 11:30. He did. Total sleep so far: 2 hours. He called and I let him in and showed him the bathroom, kitchen and where he was sleeping. Went back to sleep by 12:00 but couldn't fall asleep before 12:15. The alarm went off at 1am for breakfast. Total sleep: 2:45. Best I was gonna get. I don't like people to think I am a nice guy but sometimes my actions imply so. Stupid of me, right? Gotta think of my reputation and all.
Ate and got my stuff ready. Stomach wasn't exactly right so I pre-empted that battle.
At 3:15, I made sure Ken was awake. Plan was to leave around 4ish. Finally left around 4:10 after making sure no mess was made.
I didn't want to subway it or walk it so I paid for a cab. It was quick. We checked in by the TKTS sign and then my nervous bladder demanded I go to the McDonalds with everyone else. I was right behind Tommy Pyon who won the race last year with about 6 bonus miles and numerous wrong turns in a time of 19:36:55. Modest guy too. Started also talking to this dude, Steven, who asked Tommy if he just ran Omstead 100. Tommy did and came in 3rd overall. Winning TGNY is a big deal but it's a small field. Omstead isn't and 3rd overall is huge.
Ken and I started together and all was good. We heard a noise and either someone fell behind us or a bottle got ejected. I'm not sure.
A pack formed in front of us and they went. Ken and I were shadowing them finding arrows and keeping them in our view. I had an empty bottle on the vest as there was no water at the start and an empty handheld for Coke. We ran and soon came to Columbus Circle. I was looking to see if out of the blue, I would see Binesh as he lives near by but no cigar. It would have been funny.
Through Central Park. Still not my favorite. Some people walked a hill and we decided that they are smarter than us and walked the hill too. Seemed like only 2 seconds later and we were out of Central Park. Yay!
Still have the front pack in our view. Ken didn't turn his Garmin on at the start and wasn't getting a signal which didn't make him happy. His phone was giving us directions as backup which was nice. Love when technology works. Soon enough, we got to the first aid station manned by Mary Harvey. She made home made, vegan, gluten free coffee cakes and I actually had a blueberry one. It was AWESOME! After Ken explained to me, to my chagrin, how to use my vest bottle, I was able to sip on it as Mary filled it for me.
I can't remember everything after this but will do my best.
Becky joined us and we ran a little together. She's amazing. She's so amazing someone told her she better run the 100K under 4 hours. HA! No pressure right?
We passed the Fairway that was the check-in for my first little-red lighthouse swim. Becky actually did the 1.6 Mile Great Hudson Swim one year. Awesome. Most of the "pure runners" I meet, have never and will never get in the water. She's cool like that.
Got on the Green line and on the way to the Cloisters and Grant's Tomb. Started talking to various people and met this Girl named Erin who looked very serious. She was worried about getting lost but she's from Brooklyn so that part at night wasn't her issue. She thought Queens was bad last year and that was her worry. Seemed like everyone had their nervous region.
I joked that I will tie a rope around Ken for his GPS and around her for her knowledge.
Erin had a tatoo or burn or something that looked like the Female sign on the back of her arms and something seemed familiar about it but I couldn't place it. Kept thinking about it tho.
So far the mood was great. We were all joking. Becky left us, never to be seen again and that's cool. Sub 4 baby!!!
Started talking to Lisa. She is the girl who we passed during Dirty German only for her to pass me later on when I was having issues with my knee and then again to pass me as she got lost. We had a good time talking with her. We also made friends with the Bride whose name escapes me right now. She was wearing a veil and this was her Bachlorette party. How cool is that?!? Her girls were also running with her!
We crossed the Henry Hudson Bridge, again remembering the NYC Tri and immediatly into Da Bronx. Crossed the street and into Van Cortlandt Park and trails. Cool. Little trail running never hurt anyone. Maybe. At one point, 2 runners who later I found out were David and Michael (more on them later) came toward us. They missed a chalk mark and went the wrong way. Oopsie. Lucky they realized their error quickly.
All still good. David and Michael eventually left us and it was Lisa with Erin trailing us. Always a little behind. Left the trails and Lisa went to use the bushes. Still early on and no one looking. Ken and I slowed down a little so she and Erin will re-join us. Erin didn't look great and I was worried she would get lost. Once out of the park, Erin dropped us like nothing and that was cool. Got her second wind and all. At the next aid station, I realized I screwed up with my splits. I thought we were doing really well, ahead of schedule and all but it turns out I didn't start my watch. I clicked it but I guess I didn't do a good job. When I clicked my next split at the first aid station, that's when I really started it so my time was off by 50 minutes or so. Sucks.
At the aid station, Lisa took off as well. We eventually caught up to Erin and all was good. Couple of girls who were also running grumbled when they saw Ken watering the lawn about how easy we have. Blah blah blah. Whatever.
Arrows were getting scarce now and that had me worried. Clearly different people marked different sections of the course.
At this point Ken and I were by ourselves with Erin trailing as always. She didn't seem good and I was very worried. Recurring theme, I know.
Not sure where we were at one point ont the course but worried about the arrows. We were going up a hill when I saw this huge black woman come toward us. She seemed very upset about something and I wasn't sure what was going on. Threat? Then I noticed she put her hands on her hips actually grabbing her pants and in an instance I knew. She stopped on the side of the road in front of me. Ken had already passed. She squatted and I put the gas on hearing a tidal wave crash and hit the sidewalk. We got to the end of the block and I told Ken to stop. Erin caught up and I asked if she was ok. She couldn't believe what happened. I asked if she got wet and Erin said she sped up and of course I remarked that she probably PRed that section. Weird day. The neighborhood people who saw what happened were all grumbling about that woman. Whatever. It's in our rearview so to speak.
We got to the aid station at approx mile 21. This is an out and back section. Refilled supplies and went. At the pre-race briefing we were told that everything will be marked in yellow except for Queens which will be in white. Ok that's fine but suddenly we stopped seeing yellow and/or white arrows. We did see some chalk or crayon pink arrows. We weren't sure what to do. Was it a coincidence or is this us? Ken's GPS was turned on and it seemed like the arrows were right. By the way, this was the sight of the Merrel Down and Dirty race so that was cool. Another racer told us that last year, a LOT of people got lost right there. We didn't. All ok.
Back to the aid station at 25. This was the same as the mile 21 aid station. I told other racers to look for pink. Later I found out that quite a few people got lost there especially coming off the downstairs they took a left because they didn't see the arrow to make a right.
NOTE: It seems like they marked the arrows after the turn instead of before the turn. This was a recurring theme. When we had a group and 3 choices we would split up to look for the arrows and regroup. When we were only 2, it was annoying. Later by myself this really pissed me off. More on that later as well.
All still good tho my stomach was on/off sending me smoke signals and I wasn't sure what was going to happen. At around mile 27, I knew what those signs were signalling. I stopped Ken and told him that I had to have a chat with a bush. He could either continue or wait for me as I wasn't going to take long. Apparently, he went because (and I did hurry) when I was done, he was no where to be found. Hell, I couldn't even see Erin. Good for her I guess...
I started again. I truly hoped to have run with Ken a little longer but it is what it is.
The Tuesday before the race, I ran with Adele and Heidi. Nice and easy outside. Nothing I would do at this point will really help me. My knee was still hurting but it was ok once I started moving. We started talking about whether I will run with Ken the whole way or not. Heidi took the position that no matter what we should hang together and that it would be wrong for Ken, who is faster, to drop me. I told her I understood her point but ultimatly it's not like we trained together constantly through thick and thin and that I would understand it if he would leave. Nice to take the high road and all that. Still, once I came out of the bush and saw that he was gone, I replayed the conversation in my head. Trying to remember my points. I really wanted company. I didn't want to be alone. I was worried about getting lost. Didn't matter tho as I was alone.
Followed the arrows and I was amazed that I didn't see Ken or Erin at all. Did I take that long?!? Got stuck at a long light and got annoyed at myself. To make it worse, the arrows were not clear here. Not happy but then who shows up? Michael and David again... They must have gotten lost. I initially got annoyed at David at his remark about "losing my trail husband" but later realized it's his character and I really warmed up to him. He was a funny guy and I enjoyed his company. We ran together, scouting for arrows and came up on Erin. Was Ken just around the corner too? We never saw him as we kept colsulting our maps and cue sheets. Not well marked here folks... Still, we slowly but surely made our way following the arrows. Sometimes it seemed like we did things just to add mileage. For example, we made a left into a park, straight for a little and then a right, right back into the street. If we would have just stayed on the street it would have been faster. Ok - whatever. We did have 2 very tricky spots where it seemed like we ran into someones driveway and into his house. It was a dirt road with no arrows with hugh puddles and it didn't seem right. We stopped to ask someone if some street was this way and the guy answered "I don't know but I'll tell you that a bunch of runners came right this way". That was enough for us and soon enough we located arrows again. During the tricky areas we kept yelling to Erin what to do. Michael and David realized my concern and they were cool about it.
At one point, I ran by this house and the smell of Marijuana was overwhelming. It was funny because a guy walking to the house remarked outloud to his friend who lived there that it "smelled just like Jamaica". This was said in a Jamaican accent as well. We turned the corner and I yelled to Michael and David to wait for Erin. I didn't feel comfortable here with her not herself.
Another guy saw us running and asked me if we were running a Marathon or something. I told him we were doing 100 miles and he replied "ya, ok
Remember I mentioned the tatoos or burns that Erin had. I finally placed it. I remember seeing her during the Dirty German 50 Miler. She ran a little behind Ken and me but later apparently dropped to the 50K distance. David asked her about it and it wasn't a burn but rather a scar as part of scarification. I don't pretend to understand it but if you want to read about it, here is a link to a Wikipedia article. Apparently also they were not the female symbol but part of a phrase or word.
On and on we went. Eventually, we ran straight through a basketball court and I wasn't sure what was about to happen. There were 2 black teenagers (about 16 years old) who were playing ball. David said something to Michael and I guess Michael expected this because he took David's handheld water bottle and stopped. I wasn't sure what the hell was going to happen. David went to the kids and asked them "for the rock". He then lined up perfectly and threw a perfect airball missing everything. Try again he did and again airball. For his third and finale, he took an easy layup. He got in and then started screaming that he still has it and tried to high five the kids. They raised their hands for the high five and dropped their mouths. They weren't sure what the hell happened either. I can just see them thinking "What the hell is this cracker doing and when is he going to leave us alone?". More and more I started liking David.
Looking for arrows. Constantly. Finally to the 5th Aidstation and Emmy. She offered to also potentially pace me but I was ok. She was also the first aid station who had Coke! YAY Emmy!
A woman saw me running and yelled to me that she is willing to give me a ride to wherever I want to go. Nice. Joked a little with her and left. This area was full of glass repair shops. Boring.
Alls well. I know that I am headed to the TriBoro Bridge but suddenly I lost the arrows. I was headed in the right direction so I didn't freak out but something seemed wrong. Asked a guy and he told mw what to do. Asked people if they saw runners but no one saw any. The realization that I went off course really hit me. I'm not sure how I missed the arrows but I did. Still, I got to the bridge and realized I basically went 3 extra blocks. If that's the biggest problem today, I'll be ok. I mean 3 blocks... Big deal...
Over the bridge and on Randall's Island. I pass by the Firefighters training area. Funny that even with doing the NYCSWIM Aquarun here, I never saw it. Still, I continue and I lose the arrows and I gotta ask someone. Meanwhile, I see 2 people come up and decide to wait for them. Made 2 new friends: Tiger Ellen and her friend Dwight. Dwight is doing his first ever race. Go big or go home, right?
Stayed with them and on to the TriBoro Bridge into Queens. Nice people. Great conversation. Tiger has done the Beast of Burden winter and she's doing a great job of pulling/guiding Dwight. Awesome. We finish the bridge and hit the next aidstation. I grab some pretzels and Orange slices and we are off. Dwight stops for a sitdown at a diner and Tiger and I continue on, walking so he can catch up. Tiger tells me that if I am feeling fine, that I should go on. I told her at the top of the hill I will go and when we get up there, I take off after wishing them luck. I know I will see them again later.
I'm feeling good. Texting Lee and Donald and Adele. I see all my arrows and all is good. Not happy being by myself but I'm ok and I know I will see Adele with some supplies very soon. I was running on the street, parallel to LaGuardia Airport. I see a woman sitting on a chair watching her kids in a little park and I stop and ask her to help me put my phone away. BIG mistake! I thank her and continue on my way and up this hill. Unfortunatly, I stopped seeing arrows. Now the course is very sparsly marked so what to do? I figure go one more block and 1 more and then next is a big intersection and there must be an arrow. I'm lost. I stop to ask for directions and no one knows anything. No choice but to backtrack. Down the 6 blocks that I climbed. I was supposed to turn at some park and as I run down the hill, I see the park. To my chagrin, it's the same park that I stopped at. not happy.
NOTE: Major lesson learned here. When you run this course, make sure to run on the arrows. What do I mean? If the arrows are on the street, then run on the street. If they are on the sidewalk, run on the sidewalk. When I asked the woman for help, I left the street and stayed on the sidewalk. By doing that, I missed the left turn arrow. UGH! Make the left turn and a right and I'm running 6 blocks again up the hill but parallel to my original hill. An extra 12 blocks, 6 of which were up a hill only to do the hill again...If I understood the course, I could have just cut 1 block left and I would have been fine... Not happy. Real upset actually. I don't usually curse but I was using and abusing the "F" word quite a lot. Still, it was awesome to see Adele and she had a soda for me and a snickers bar and the world got a little better. This is the World's Fair Marina
Things are looking a little better even tho I am upset until I get to the aid station. I wasn't sure how much time I lost and I asked them about Tiger and Dwight. Apparently they left this aid station 20 minutes before me! Think about that...! Think... I was ahead of them. Tiger was walking waiting for Dwight. Now, I am 20 minutes behind. I don't care about "losing" or being last but how much time did I lose here? How much energy for nothing? I learned a new abbreviation: DFL or Dead F Last. That was gonna be me but will I make the cutoff? There's a somewhat loose 100K cutoff at 16 hours and of course the 100 mile finish with 30 hours. I'm worried. I grab some watermellon and leave. Right away I pass Erin. Adele ran with me for about a mile. She stuck with me for a mile. Usually when I run with her at her pace, it's real easy pace for me but here I am and I can't even leave her...
There's a little hill out of the park toward Northern Blvd and I make my leave from Adele after thanking her. I wonder if I will see Andre. He never said he will see me but I am curious. Would have been nice. Sure could have used him. Nothing. Still, I run and I am worried. Donald wants to know status. I don't know status. I speak to Jessie and I probably freaked her out because of how I was talking. I'm running and talking and freaking and I am telling her that I am on my way to meet Donald at Fort Totten, I got lost big time, I'm not gonna make it and I gotta go. I'm running fast. I'm running hard. I'm running on adrenaline. I'm sure it wasn't that fast but it was for that early in the race. I get to the next aid station, mile 45, underneath the Throgs Neck Bridge. I know this area. Yay.
I grab some small boiled potatoes, never did this during a race, but I knew I was hungry and I needed food. I could see Tiger and Dwight and that pushed me. I caught them at Fort Totten. Remember I was 20 minutes behind and I caught them! Made up time. Donald was there and I got a soda from him and we gave Tiger and Dwight each a can too. I felt good tho worried and I ran the Cross Island. I don't like running there but I ran. We dropped Tiger and Dwight right away and passed another 2. Right on to Northern Blvd and a left and we are headed to Upper Alley Pond. I think we passed another person perhaps. I don't remember anymore. I see the trail entrance into upper alley and there's an impromptu aid station. Not really an aid station. Someone met their runner and they had some ice and I filled my bottle with Ice water. Someone else was there and it didn't hit me that it was Jim. Initially, I thought Donald would run with me to Gail's aid station and then Jim would take over but he came over. Actually, apparently he made some ice runs for Gail and escorted some runners along Upper Alley so they won't get lost. Nice. I was running with Donald and Jim and all's good. Still running hard tho. I forgot to warn my family who was supposed to meet me there and it wasn't enough of a warning. We decided they would meet me at Kissena Park.
Gail had my stuff. I took my light and batteries and drank my soda and took my food. Couldn't believe I ate all my food besides food I ate at the aid stations and snacks people brought me. Donald also had a snickers bar. Someone sprayed me with bug spray which was awesome. I was actually carrying bug spray with me.
We left and caught David and his pacer. We talked with them for a little and continuued. I know this area well. I could close my eyes and I will be fine. I had my boys. I was running well. We passed them and chased the Bride and her friend. After we crossed the Long Island Expressway, we saw her and it seemed like she ran to the church on the left side. Later we joked with her that we thought she ran to the "chapel and got married etc". Her friend let her go and limped a little and then took of running after her and catching her. It was funny how she walked/limped badly but then ran beautifully catching her friend. Through Kissena Park. Donald never ran this way. I thought he was only going to run from Fort Totten to Alley but he continuued to Kissena with us. Nice. By the way, Donald carried stuff for me and later so did Jim. Awesome.
At Kissena Park, they had pizza and I actually had a slice. Again, I forgot to warn family in time, so I told them to just come to Kissena and pick Jim/Donald up and take them back and that I will continue with Hammad.
Hammad was at Kissena Park and I was confused. No bike...? He was gonna bike next to me which would have been great but he decided to trudge with me. Amazing. He has come such a long way...
At this point, I was still running/walking but I knew that would change. We ran around College Point and the Botanical Gardens and eventually into Flushing Meadow Park. It was a beautiful day and there were tons of people in Flushing Meadow Park so we had to make sure we saw the arrows. So many people and I don't think anyone of them had a clue that there was a race going on. Why would they? We weren't wearing bibs or anything. The only thing we had was a rubber glow in the dark bracelot with a small number on it. I was number 21. Out and onto Jewel Avenue toward Forest Hills. We shared the Orange slices and boy did it feel good. It was great to have Hammad. He was fresh and could scout ahead for arrows. I didn't need to think. I just had to follow. Follow. Follow. We entered Forest Park and were looking for the damn aid station. Seemed like forever. Still, familiar scenes from the 4 miler there and from running with Donald there in the winter. Finally, as we passed another runner, we came out of the park and suddenly the street was full of screams as the aid station saw us. Trishul was there and I had a slice of pizza again. Lots of people were stopped there as this was the 100K finish.
We left before long. Didn't want it to get dark yet. I left my handheld there by mistake and Hammad went back to get it. It was getting dark and the course was still marked poorly. Ozone park and neighborhoods I remembered from my youth. We accidently missed a turn as both of us were texting on our phones but only went an extra 1/2 a block so I'm not even counting it. We made a left on Cross Bay blvd and it wasn't clear when we were supposed to cross the street. Consequently there were no arrows whatsoever. We did ask people along the way to confirm that this is the way to the Addabbo Bridge. It was. Limited aid station and we continueed onto the bridge. Little scary on the bridge as it was pitch black and there people there fishing. Damn glad I wasn't by myself. Felt really bad for the bride. She was by herself. Her friend quit at the 100K. After that a long boring stretch of road until the next bridge, Veterans Memorial Bridge.
I texted David Devor that we will arrive soon at the Rockaway Beach Aid Station. He was gonna re-supply us and run a mile with us. Awesome...Well, we got off the bridge, found the next arrow and weren't sure what the hell to do after that. Again no arrows, but we took a gamble based on the cue sheet and it was the right thing to do. I don't know what I would have done alone. Would I have chosen the right path? Not really sure. We got to the aid station and David was there. I look around and everything suddenly clicks in. O'connelys is right there. I did the Rockaway Marathon a few years back and O'Connely's was the base. Three weeks later I saw this same area on the internet destroyed and ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. Again Surreal.
You might think what's the point of him running a mile with us. Silly, right? No. It was great actually. Woke you up. After David left, Hammad told me that he was very happy that David was there. It let him mentally shut down for a little bit. It's very stressful looking for those damn arrows. I thanked him profusely and made sure he would be safe. Lots of drunk Russians leaving the bars. We ran until the houses disappeared and we were into Jacob Riis Park and to the aid station at 75. As we were leaving, we saw 2 runners and I knew it was David and his pacer. They didn't know where to go and I made sure we flashed out lights at them and screamed so they knew where to go. Still, Hammad and I left. I remembered this area. We met Avi and Max one year and watched people fly kites here. This was Breezy point and took a big hit by Sandy also.
Francois and Len called me. They wanted to visit. I asked them if they have nothing to do at 2 am. Still, we decided to meet after the Marine Parkway Bridge so they don't have to pay a toll to cross the bridge. As we finished crossing the bridge, I could see a light behind us in the distance and I knew they were coming. Hammad thought he heard something about First Aid as we left the aid station so we were curious. Still, before they caught us, we met up with Francois and Len. They brought a soda for me and a pizza slice for Hammad. He asked and they delivered. He couldn't believe they found a slice for him. We walked a mile with Francois while Len drove ahead near Floyd Bennet Field. They left and David and his pacer caught up. David fell along the way and needed either a bandage or band-aids. We stayed together a little but eventually they left us. Soon enough we could see them head back to us. We were on Flatbush Avenue I think and they couldn't find the entrance to the bike path parallelling the Belt Parkway.
We joined forces and were convinced we should go a certain way. We went about 6 blocks before we realized that this didn't make sense. I flagged someone down who told us we could take a crazy detour. David used my phone to call Phil who told us to head back and that the entrance was there. David's phone died but mine was fine as I re-charged it.
We headed back 6 blocks and they found the bike entrance. There were no arrows whatsoever! There was a bike path sign and in the day it would not be an issue but at night... Our lights reflected off it and we couldn't read what it said. Ugh...
Boring area, completly devoid of anything. Again I felt for the bride, hoping she was ok. I wasn't sure what Erin would do either. The four of us missed this. How would she be able to do this by herself even if she's from Brooklyn?
Parts of the road was beach sand. Really?!?
Eventually out and Hammad recognized where we were. Some school I think he called BMCC. We shared the sweet watermellon at this point and pushed onwards. Onto a little footbridge crossing the water and onto the Sheepshead Bay Aid station, mile 80.
While we were there, the aid station dude almost got a ticket. I noticed the cop car giving a ticket to someone and he quickly went to beg for mercy. Leniency was granted - yay.
We left with David just in our sights. Soon enough, a street looked really familiar. It was the street with the Jewish YMCA thing at the end which serves as the staging area for the Grimaldi's one mile ocean swim. Nice. On the boardwalk at this point. Hate boardwalk running but it is what it is. Hammad took off his shoes at one point because his feet were hurting. I noticed bobbing lights behind us. Tiger, Dwight and their pacer who was waiting for them at the last aid station. AWESOME!!! At this point, I knew we had the race and could finish in time but when they caught up with us they freaked me out that we weren't going to finish. I saved them from a wrong turn from the boardwalk. They knew we were supposed to get off the boardwalk at the parachute jump but it was supposed to be the real parachute jump not the statue. Cool. We stayed together at this point and the pace was fast because they were convinced they weren't going to make it. Again, I'm in panic mode.
Hammad and I, I'm still freaking, ended up dropping them as we now really hurried. I was walking. Fast. Hammad was either walking or running to catch up. I was in full serious race walking mode. There was no one there at the 84 mile mark for an aid station. We did see a garbage pile and we thought maybe they packed up. Still, a little later, we saw a sign "aid station" pointing left but there was no one there. I yelled out "AID STATION" and someone responded from up ahead. Cool. They were still there...
I kept looking backwards not understanding what happened to Tiger, Dwight and the pacer. With relief I finally saw them. They were approaching. Good. Gotta give it to them.
I was having trouble eating at this point. The coke was nauseating me and I couldn't really chew anything. Hammad brought Reeses peanut butter cups and I was able to get that into me. Made me feel good.
Hammad went to talk to them and came back all freaked out. "Did I know it's Dwight's first race?!?" - Yup... Hammad couldn't believe it.
On and on forever it seemed. Our salvation was the bridge. Right afterwards we were supposed to leave the path and within a mile get to the aid station. Kept going forward toward the bridge. It seemed like we could almost touch it and we kept getting closer and closer but it seemed like we would never reach it. I kept updating Mark with "We are almost at the bridge" and finally we were underneath it and soon (YES!!!) we made the right turn and away from the path and into a park. Tiger/Dwight on our heels. While we were making the right turn, we ran into NYCRUNS getting their 5K/10K set up.
In the park and it seems like everything is taking forever. Still, we spot the aid station or rather they spot us and there's Mark in bright red.
Introductions and re-supply and we bug out as Tiger/Dwight get in.
Both Hammad and I agreed that it was good that Mark came. Fresh face, fresh topics and fresh mind making sure we don't get lost. Not to mention the soda for me and salt water for Hammad. He actually brought a race belt with small bottles. IT was either ice water, ice salw water or iced gatorade. This guy was prepared.
We had a long stretch on some street and it was a boring section.
TMIish fact: I am very proud of myself for eating and drinking at this race. Besides soda I found that Iced water helped and I did pee about 2 or 3 times at this point and I had to pee again and it was clear. I usually pee a lot more but not during a race. The 3 or 4 times up to this point was amazing and the fact that it was clear was awesome too.
We eventually left that boring stretch. Hammad started dropping and he told us that he is fine and we need to go. After leaving the aid station, we actually increased our trudge pace so that was good.
We see the Brooklyn Bridge! It's close. I don't know where the 94.66 Borough Hall aid station is and I don't care. I just want to finish at this point. Before long, we here screaming and we see a guy jumping up and down and waving at us. He actually ran toward us. Nice! These guys had a portable heater for Raaman noodles and such. On Facebook before the race these guys were saying that they would have Whiskey too. Paul Kentor was gonna be at this aid station and offered to bring all different kinds of alcohol within reason. I really wanted to see him but as he had to leave at 6am to drive 2 hours to Connecticut to do a hard half-marathon and my bonus miles, it did not happen. Still, those guys were cool. We saw David just leave as we came in and I was hoping to catch him and introduce him to Mark.
We chased and caught someone else on the bridge. The guy got chafed badly between his legs and had to walk bow-legged. OUCH! I offered him my spray but he figured the damage was done and he wasn't stopping. Oi.
We are in Manhattan and there are no more arrows at all. None. They figured that everyone should be able to figure out the way after 95 miles. Sheesh. Still, I had a fresh mind (Mark) so I wasn't too worried. I wasn't sure where to go but I told him that I would go wherever he would tell me so he should just call out directions.
On the bridge again I felt like I needed to pee which is great but there was no place to pee. Figured once in Manhattan we would be able to find something like a McDonalds or Starbucks but nada...But I needed to pee! I didn't think I could survive 3-4 miles. What to do? What to do?
Well, there was this room in the whatever park is there and they were recording something there and there was a little space behind it and tons of cops walking their beat and let's just say I didn't get arrested or gotten a summons. No one saw me and it was awesome. So much liquid...
Felt much better...Didn't want to be there anymore tho. Just wanted to finish. Mark gave me some Gatorade to drink. I didn't really want it but he was concerned that I haven't had any electrolytes at all and my hands were once again just like at Tesla swollen. They weren't as bad as Tesla but they were swollen.
Originally, I was hoping to see Lee and the kids near my sisters house. It's approximately between 98 and 99 but we forgot she has Homecare. We decided they come afterwards with the LIRR and either we meet up at my sisters house or if I am slow, then they might just still see me.
We were doing better on time so that was off the table but my sister said she wanted to see me so she and Oren came down and we talked for a minute before leaving toward Times Square.
I started really getting worried about Hammad. I haven't seen him and he turned his phone off since it was dying. Figured he would be ok. He's very resourceful but I wasn't sure what was going to happen.
Streets are now clicking by. We ran right by Speedy Deli, which is a small 1.5 block away from work. Nice. On and on and where to go? The TKTS was more like 47th and we were at 42nd when suddenly we heard screams and cheers. I like to hear that stuff. Unfortunatly, we had a red light so we had to wait until we had a green. Mark let me go ahead and I refused. We came this far...Crossed over a "TGNY FINISH LINE" in chalk on the ground and got my buckle.
Unfortunatly, I missed David as he had to take a bus back to Virginia but I finished.
I wasn't sure what to do with Hammad when he solved my problem. He called me. He's by the TKTS sign and he doesn't see the finish line. Turns out they moved the finish line for some reason so he walked over to us. What happened with him? At mile 95 he was done. Ducked into a subway and came to the finish. He did not enjoy the stairs in the subway at all! He also stopped at a bakery and got a donut and lemonade. Nice. I convinced him to come to my sisters, to relax and eat and then come with the LIRR back with us. I didn't want him subwaying again. Mark got on a subway back to his car and the drive home. He was great... Four hours driving in total to be with me after not sleeping enough...Sheesh.
I showered at my sisters house and we all ate Chipotle and then cab to the LIRR and home. Later we went to Krav Maga and I did NOT do any of the bootcamp part - yay. Matt posted something funny on FB. "Tal says if you don't finish the race, then we have to extra pushups". Love it. Afterwards had Pesto Pizza. It was awesome. Jessie was adamant that I have ice cream. I considered going to Hershey's but it was too late but she said I had to taste the Breyers Lactose Free Vanilla. It was great. Jeremy was also adamant that I sample his hot chocolate. That was great too. The best part was the fact that they tried to get me to eat what I consider forbidden and they were responsible in making it. That was better than the taste and the taste was pretty damn good.
So I calculated that except for 20 minutes, I was up for 43 hours. When did I sleep those 20 minutes? After we ate lunch, I got real cold. Lee and I were talking to my sister and Jeremy made me tea and (of course) soon after, I fell asleep. Of course my wife and children thought it was neccessary to document this and so I have a great photo of it.
David update: Before we got lost together (my 3rd), he shared a few stories with us. I already mentioned the basketball story but there were more. Near the Throgs Neck Bridge, he saw some people playing frisbee. He of course got it thrown to him and threw it back. In Flushing Meadow Park, people were playing soccer and someone kicked it out of bounds. He, of course, screamed "I GOT IT!" and went to get it and kick it back. In the Rockaways, another thing happened. There were a lot of drunk Russians around and I kept my vigilance. I have nothing against Russians but I do worry about drunks. Still, I did see some people playing this game. It was a triangular wood thing with holes in it. Apparently it's called Cornhole and he, again of course, ran right to them. He ran to them and explained to them that "his people invented that game" and proceeded to play with them for 10 minutes. I am convinced that he had the most fun of anyone at the race. At Times Square he also took a photo with all the characters.
Ken update: This was his 2nd attempt at a 100 and the furthest he's gotten. He made it to the 85 mile and stopped. They gave him a 100K finishers time. Apparently he was chafed and exhausted. He got into the 85 mile aid station volunteer's car and slept. Sucks. What could have been we will never know... He has another attempt in September in Colorado doing a trail 100. Gluck.
My body: I am ok. I got chafed badly somewhere and sitting really hurt. Without getting too into it, I'll just say "it's impossible to turn the other cheek when the chafe is in between". You either get it or you don't. I'm not gonna explain that. My hands got swollen but later were fine. My feet were swollen too but that's to be expected. I also had a pain where the tongue of the right shoe hit me above the foot area. This lasted a week or so but not really an issue.
Elizabeth not happy about the sleep deprivation but I still have miles to go before I sleep...
Summary: This was a brutal race. A lot of hills, a lot of bridges which means up and down and a lot of stairs both up and down. The course is very lightly marked and you should expect to get lost. I didn't enjoy getting lost and it cost me but I did enjoy the race as a whole.
Paul Arroyo put this video together. Cool.
That's it for now. I am sure I will remember more later...
Michael update: Good guy, quiet guy, amazing runner who did sub 21 hours here after pacing David for 31 miles. I cannot truly comprehend this. He did go to some of the training runs and that helped him on Randall's Island and he also laminated the map and brought it with him. Michael, David and I were at one point not sure of ourselves shortly after we joined forces. Michael and I had some difficulties interpreting the cue sheets intentions and there was 1 street we could not find. I was very happy to join forces with them and was hoping to stay with them as long as I can. Michael reminds me of Paul Kentor a little and I wonder if they know each other. It was fun reading his race report and seeing it through his eyes. Also, seeing the photos he posted which of course were in contrast to my views. For example he took a picture of the Addabo Bridge in daylight. I got to experience it at night and it was a little creepy. It was interesting to see it tho from his eyes.
David update: Michael reminded me of 2 more shenanigans that David did. When we were together (somewhere between 27-31 miles), we passed a fire station and there was someone there watering the plants. David struck a deal: A handshake for a hosedown. I just asked for my hat to be drenched. David also took a shower at Orchard beach. I am truly convinced he had the best time of all on this course. I'm sure the bus ride back to Virginia didn't dampen the fun tho.
Hints/Ideas for anyone contemplating this race: You know the old saying (or is my saying?), "Runner know thy course"? It's true. I was going to preview the course on the bike. I never did. I should have. Either that or go to the training runs. I didn't do that either. In addition to that, fresh pacers who know the area would have been invaluable.
| 100K | 100M | |
|---|---|---|
| DNS | 3 | 8 |
| DNF | 3 | 3 |
| Scheduled to Start | 18 | 56 |
| Actually Started | 15 | 48 |
| Finished | 22* | 35 |