A Report from The New York City Marathon 2007

by TJ Beatty

In Nov.2006, while watching the New York City Marathon on television, I decided that I would be there in 2007. The reason for this decision was that I wanted to do something to mark my promotion from the ranks of the O-55’s to the next grade in the life of a veteran runner.

So, on Nov. 4th last I joined almost 40,000 others in the assembly area at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island. With 3 hours to go to the start at 10:10am, various rituals had to be undertaken:

• Check in your bag

• Find the nearest loo

• Get water into you!

• Ingest some gels

• Find a spot to sit down

• Go to the loo again (and again!!)

With 30 minutes to the start, we were all called to “move to the bridge”. Soon the vast crowds discarded an array of outfits----track-suit tops, tee-shirts, leggings and caps were going in all directions. Was that a “Fields” woolly cap I saw flying into the Hudson river?

Somewhere in the distance we could hear Race Director, Mary Wittenburg, addressing the assembly. She requested a moments silence for the American marathoner, Ryan Shay, who had died during the US Olympic marathon trials the previous day in Central Park. (Ryan was 28 years old and had a marathon time of 2hours,14 minutes,9 seconds) At that moment I thought to myself: “it’s good to be alive”.

Standing beside me, another runner struggled to discard his track-suit. “Red hair---could he be Irish?” Sure enough, when the track suit came off, the Monaghan jersey was a dead giveaway. This was his second marathon in 6 days, having just done Dublin.

The cannon boomed and, as Frank Sinatra blared out” New York, New York” over the many speakers located on the bridge, we were off and running.

As I ran along the upper level of the Verazanno Narrows Bridge, I thought of my daughter, Claire, who was on the lower level and hoped that she would get through the race ok. (This was her 3rd marathon, having taken part in London on 2 occasions.)

The first mile was uphill as we crossed the bridge but I didn’t notice the incline. We were heading for Central Park, Manhattan, a mere 26.2 miles away. Looking over to my left, I could just make out the Manhattan skyline. The day was ideal for distance running—about 11°C and a light breeze. Exactly 3 minutes after the start gun I crossed the start line.

Coming off the bridge and going into Brooklyn I realised that I had missed the 1 mile sign. Suddenly, there was the 2 mile sign. Time on the watch: 19:26. Some quick mental arithmetic ----8:13 per mile, allowing for the 3 minutes at the start.

Mile 2 to mile 8 was relatively flat and I kept reminding myself “no heroics here, keep it steady and no weaving through the crowd.”

Mile times were as follows:

Mile 3 27:31

Mile 4 35:29

Mile 5 ?

Mile 6 51:01

Mile 7 58:36

Mile 8 66:53

Again, allowing for the 3 minute delay, some mental arithmetic was needed. I felt the pace was ok.

Miles 9 to 13 and we are still in Brooklyn. (afterwards, others spoke about the eerie silence at around miles 9 and 10---nobody cheering. This was the Hasidic Jewish area. I never even noticed it!!)

Some more split times: 10 miles in 83:32 and half way in 1 hour 49 minutes.

Miles 14 and 15 brought us into Queens and we reached the 25k mark as we crossed the Queensboro Bridge, (also known as the 59th St. Bridge—should be familiar to all Simon and Garfunkel fans. I cannot say I was “feeling groovy”).

The 16th mile mark was on the bridge and was a slow mile—even for the leaders!!!!

Coming off the bridge we were now in Manhattan and had a long 4 mile stretch ahead of us on 1st Avenue. This was the Upper East Side. As far as the eye could see there were runners ahead. The biggest crowds of the day were here to greet us---12 deep on both sides of the road.

On the gradual rises and falls of 1st Avenue my left quad started to cramp. NOW THE BATTLE STARTS!! Soon the 30k sign appeared and my thought was “just 12k to go---like going around the lake at home ---which you have done numerous times.”

As we crossed the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx, the 20 mile sign was up ahead. At 21 miles we were back into Manhattan and moving along 5th Avenue (a long straight stretch which is used for the famous 5th Avenue Mile race).

Running at a much slower pace than the earlier miles, I just wanted to get to the finish. The 24th mile was hard—only a climb of about 50 feet in 600m but it felt tough.

Two to go!!! (Spotted my wife Jane and her friend Rose with their green leprechaun hats—cannot stop now!).

Into Central Park and out again after 25 miles, then around by Columbus Circle and the Trump Tower. I wondered was Bill Gates watching us from his penthouse perch.

As I approached Central Park again, I spotted a runner (a walker actually) in front of me with “Derry Ireland” on the back of his singlet. “Come on, we will finish together”, I told him. He replied, as any Irishman would “I cannot, my legs are f-----d”.

Then, a welcome sight “ONE MILE TO GO”

A spectator held up a sign “ Finishing is your only f*****g option” (with the full “F” word).

Then some more welcome signs----“800 yards to go”, then “400 yards to go”. What is that in metres?

There it is, the finishing line is ahead------“look up and smile at the photographer, you have done it!!!

Official finishing time: 4 hours 5 minutes and 43 seconds. (Claire was about 14 minutes behind me.)

Now the questions:

Did I start too fast?

Why did I get cramps?

Am I capable of breaking 4 hours?

Official 5k splits:

1st 5k 25:33

2nd 5k 25:04

3rd 5k 25:23

4th 5k 27:18

5th 5k 28:21

6th 5k 29:43

7th 5k 35:23

8th 5k 33:53

The NY Marathon is a marvellous experience:

• Massive numbers of spectators

• 100 bands along the route

• New Yorkers calling out your name and telling you that you are “looking good” (the liars!!)

Would I do it again? Definitely, but I would treat it as one glorious fun run with no thoughts of finishing times.

Post Script: Jim McDonagh is 84 years old and now resides a few miles outside Loughrea. Jim lived in New York for a number of years and was a top-class marathon and ultra-marathon runner during his time in America. In 1972, Jim finished in 7th place in the NY Marathon in 2 hours 42 minutes 34 seconds when he was 48 years old. In 1967 he was selected on the US marathon team for the Pan-American Games. His best marathon time was 2 hours 29 minutes 8 seconds in Boston in 1969 (when he was 45 years old!!)

But that is another story---------