In a journey that has taken almost 2 years, I am finally going to run my first marathon this Sunday. With over 60,000 runners traversing the landscape of New York City’s five boroughs, the ING NYC Marathon is the largest marathon in the world, and I look forward to taking my place on the starting line with all these other great athletes from around the world.
As part of the 9+1 from New York Road Runners to automatically qualify for the following year’s marathon, I spent six hours today checking in runners from around the world to help get them ready for the 2011 marathon. I was exposed to thousands of runners as they entered the run expo to pick up their race packets for Sunday. It was enlightening to see how people traveled from all over to world to descend upon New York to run through the streets for 26.2 miles.
With my 6 hour shift done, I was able to check in and get my own race packet. After receiving my bib for the race, it all seemed more real. I now had my place for the start of the race and my first full marathon. I also got to meet the head coach and some of my teammates on the American Cancer Society Determination team, which I am proud to be a part of this year.
If you are running the marathon this Sunday, let me know, I’d love to catch up before or after the race (or even possibly during). If you are going to be watching the race from the streets of New York and I will look out and try to say hi. And please support me and the American Cancer Society by making a donation to help support Team Determination here.
