NY Marathon

About a year ago just after she finished treatment, Amanda and I would go for short runs together.  She could make it about a mile before she needed a break, and then went another mile and called it a run. And then slept.

It was back in January that Amanda and I submitted our names to the lottery to run the NY Marathon. [Amanda: I have only a foggy memory about why, and like most good decisions, I didn't think it through. Probably part bucket list, part insanity. It had been an insane year. If I had a big goal, maybe I wouldn't give up on dragging myself out of bed and exercising.] 

By May, Amanda had built up her endurance and finished a half marathon in Tacoma. Isaac was at the finish line. He practiced all the way down in the car, "Yay Mama, hurrah!". And then by the time we got there, he just stared and wailed when she ran past. He didn't care that she was exhausted and demanded to be picked up, to which Amanda obliged.  [Amanda: That is a beautiful race. You start off going over the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge and the end is down along the sound. Yeah Tacoma.]

Over the summer, we wedged in time here and there while we worked, vacationed with our families, ran a field school on San Juan Island, and trucked Isaac to swimming lessons and play dates. [Amanda: One of my favorite training runs was at 5 am before fieldwork with my friend Phoebe along Roche Harbor Rd. on San Juan. I started in the dark with my head lamp on and ended up with a square indentation my forehead for the rest of the day] Stephanie J. and I also had a lot of great runs, though we had a habit of talking away and pushing the pace so that we were galloping around Lake Union]. 

In September and October, we really got to experience the challenge of two busy working parents simultaneously training for a marathon.  One of the hardest aspects of any training program is finding the time to get the miles in, and it was at least doubly hard fitting in both of our runs on a daily basis.  A few visits down the stretch from Aunt Mer and Uncle Josh, Bunny and Poppy, and Aunt Stephanie made a big difference since we were able to get out and run together. Also, Mike and Sheila Cory often had Isaac visits in the evenings and gave us a running date so we could run together and have an adult conversation. By this point, Isaac was well accustomed to having us go off for a run either separately or together and would say that he was going to go for a run too. He built up his endurance and could make it from our house to the corner of 70th if he didn't get distracted by a friendly dog or a squirrel or an exciting truck.

Finally, on November 1, we stood at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Staten Island after what seemed like a marathon of effort just to get to the start line.  A little over 5 hours later, we crossed the finish line holding our hands together above our heads [Amanda: That was Matt's idea, not my style but I was too tired to argue. Besides, the guy ran a marathon with me.], successfully finishing the NY Marathon. Actually, the NY Marathon is so crowded that despite starting shoulder to shoulder, finishing holding hands, and having identical race times, Amanda somehow placed 3 spots ahead of me in the overall standings.

To get to the start of the marathon, we woke up early in Croton, a small suburb where Amanda's parents live. We took the train into Manhattan, the subway to Staten Island ferry, ferry to a shuttle bus in Staten Island, and then bus to the start. Runners are herded into many corrals based on their estimated finish time. Since we planned on having a leisurely race, we were back in Wave 4 in the peanut gallery. Lots of first time marathoners and people with all kinds of journeys and reasons for running aside from just the athletic accomplishment.  It took almost exactly as long to get to the starting line as it did to run to the finish. [Amanda: Moments before we finally made it to the start, the announcer said, "You're almost there! The hardest part is getting to the starting line," and Matt said, "You have no idea".]  

At Mile 7ish

It was a great day for the five borough tour of New York.  The crowds really set NY apart from any other marathon.  The first person to greet us on Brooklyn side of the Verrazano bridge boomed out, "Welcome to Brooklyn. Stay a while!".  Amanda's sisters Emily and Meredith and our nephew Zeb were waiting for us at mile 7 and it was nice to see some friendly faces. Just watching the crowd in Brooklyn was sensory overload, and we were barely halfway done by the time we left Brooklyn and entered Queens.  The course was lined with spectators the nearly the entire way, and it seemed like there was a new musical act every quarter mile or so. Drums, bagpipes, bluegrass--some really good.  We did a good job of pacing ourselves in the first half which gave us the energy to be doing more passing than getting passed in the second half.  The weather was warmer than we were used to training in thanks to a rainy Seattle fall, so we overdid it a bit on the gatorade and ended up getting bogged down on long lines for bathroom breaks. Some of our favorite signs along the route: "This is a lot of work for a free banana." "Hurry up, the Kenyans are going to drink all the beer." "If Donald Trump can run for President, you can run a marathon."   Most unexpected marathon moment: about two miles to the finish line in central park, a frantic squirrel jumped out right in front of Amanda and she had to leap out of the way to avoid stepping on it.  

Shortly after the squirrel avoidance, I think

To think of where we were a year ago is pretty incredible.  We've been through some big physical challenges together these past few years, and finishing the marathon together was a truly special accomplishment. We certainly could not have gotten there without support from our friends and family.

Made it!

Bonus Family Pic with Teapot and Goopot!