Phils NY Marathon Blog by phil78

I think others have said it but what a fantastic day, managing to beat all my expectations. My time was 3:46:27 so under my goal of 4hrs but I dont think time really matters.. just to be part of such an occasion was a privilege and definitely something I want t repeat. The weather was awesome, the crowds were fantastic.. my one and only complaint was that a 4am bus meant I was waiting at the fort for over 5 hours before the start and despite lots of layers of clothes and plenty of hot coffee I got really cold and yet I was better prepared than others so god knows how cold they must have been. It wasnt so much the length of time but perhaps they should have heaters and blankets next year.

There are so many race highlights its difficult to narrow down.. crossing Verrazano bridge, entering into Brooklyn and getting the first cheers of support, running up 1st Avenue and the masses of support, entering central park and obviously the finish.

I found it much harder going than anticipated and hit the wall at mile 19. Not having hit it in training and having done many long runs this was a bit disappointing but I guess I hadnt done any long run at race pace which may have been my downfall. Those last 7 miles were sheer hell and I really relied on the crowd support to get me round but thankfully they were fantastic!

Definitely got the bug now and have my place for Tokyo in March. Now that I know how tough a full marathon is I want to do more training and think I need to include some faster runs rather than just mileage. Hopefully I can get down to the 3:30 area.

Anyway good luck to anyone reading who has a marathon coming up and to anyone reading who is contemplaing running NYC then I cant recommend it highly enough!