New York Marathon Spectating Weekend

A good friend of mine, A, left California and moved to Rochester, New York a while back.  We hung out earlier this year and realized we needed to schedule some quality time together.  So, we decided to go spectate the New York Marathon, just us.

It was a wonderful weekend.

If I had it to do again, I would register for the Abbott 5K on the Saturday before the marathon, which is an impressive event that shuts down Sixth Avenue.  We spectated it as well, and it was fun to see all the fast folks zoom by.

The reservoir in Central park -- such a great run!

I walked and ran more than a marathon's distance over the 3 days in town.  I fueled with Peruvian food, Columbian street cart food in Central Park, Pizza (Napoletana) in Brooklyn, Soup dumplings & other Chinese food, Vietnamese won ton soup, and Per Se!

One of many Central Park Views

My friend, F, was running the NY Marathon and somehow managed to get me added to her reservation at Per Se, so I ended up with an unexpected 3-star Michelin meal to boot.  It was, as you'd expect from Thomas Keller, divine.

Look at that form!

Running in Central Park hours before the marathon participants would arrive was very cool.  It was just me and all the cyclists and roller bladers who take advantage of the closed course and do a 26.2 mile ride or blade that finishes before the race events start. At the end of my run, I encountered the youth runners, all lined up and ready to race in Central Park.

All the youth, lined up for their race.

It was a very motivating weekend, running-wise.

Watching Shalane pull into 3rd place on the big screen while sitting in the grandstand seating at the finish was the highlight, but it was also wonderful to watch the Americans roll in and chat with Allie Kieffer's friends and family (all sporting flat Allie on popsicle sticks) and cheer her on as she moved from 11th to finish 7th.

Lots of discussion in the grandstands about tree-trimming 

that could have made things better...

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.  Catching up with A was so good.  New York is a place I will always love to visit -- it is so alive and I adore it every time I come.  I've lost count, but I believe the current total visit count is 10ish, making it one of the cities outside of California where I've spent the most time.  Nothing's changed -- I still want to go back.