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New York City Marathon Diaries

Caroline Pocock Published: 04 December 2024

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Three women in orange capes holding a

If you look up the TCS New York City Marathon, it is described as a "challenging race that tests your strength and stamina. The course is not flat, with long inclines up bridges and hills on Fifth Avenue. Some say the final 10k is especially difficult..." Unfortunately, three Wymondham Athletic Club members, Hilary Byrne, Rachael Lockwood and me, did not Google this before we travelled the 3486 miles across the Atlantic to run the race on Sunday, 3rd of November.

The main reason for the trip was to celebrate Rachael’s 50th birthday. What better way to do this than a marathon? We assumed it would be a great way to see the sights and soak up the New York vibe. When we arrived, it was 20 degrees and absolutely bonkers. Halloween was in full swing with hoards of people in amazing costumes - bright lights, constant noise - a world away from little Wymondham!

We visited the Marathon Expo the following day in the Jacob K Javits Centre. Once we picked up our numbers and had multiple photos taken at the many marketing stands, the reality hit that we actually had to run. My highlight was bumping into Adele Roberts, a radio DJ and TV personality, who runs with a stoma bag following treatment for bowel cancer. Rachael was more excited by the Sesame Street stand(!).

Another day of sightseeing later, the enormity of what we were about to take on started to sink in. We were standing on the top of the Edge, gazing out to Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty and following the route right back through to Central Park. "It’s quite a long way," we murmured.

Four people in medals standing in front of a New York Marathon sign

Sports Tours - the company we booked it through - kindly held welcome drinks in the evening, and Snoop Dog decided to sing for us in Times Square. Chris Evans was also at the drinks, but sadly, none of us managed a selfie!

After a night of carb-loading at the Olive Garden in Times Square (if you've tried their breadsticks, you'll know why we had to go there!), race day was upon us. We had to meet at 5:30am to catch a bus to Staten Island before the roads closed. We counted down the waves until it was our turn - watching the elites flying off, knowing they would probably have finished before we had even started.

Each wave was sent off by a cannon, the American national anthem and New York, New York blaring out. If you didn't feel patriotic before, you certainly did by then! Rachael and I wore Statue of Liberty headbands all the way. The marathon route turned north through Brooklyn and Queens, then west across the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, north into the Bronx and then back into Manhattan with the finish line in Central Park.

The first 15 miles went well. The crowds were phenomenal. Think of the London crowds times a million! We had to attack the water stations strategically, as there was a high risk of crashing into another runner or slipping on the discarded cups. We loved seeing the friendly faces of our friends and family in the crowd - even if we didn't spot them at first and ended up running back to try and find them!

Two people in runners' bibs and green hats

Then we hit the Queensboro bridge. Everything went quiet. There were no crowds. It was uphill. A lot. Forever. On and on. Every corner we turned, there was another hill. Why didn't we know how hilly New York is?! We necked gels and Kendal Mint Cake like it was going out of fashion. My knee decided it wasn't happy with me making it go up and down all these hills, which added an extra fun element of pain, especially on the downhill bits.

The last 10k were most definitely the hardest I have ever run. All uphill. Everything hurt. We started seriously questioning our life choices and kept trying to remind ourselves we had chosen to do this and should be enjoying ourselves! The route finally took us into Central Park, but we still had two miles to go - how big is Central Park?!!

After 26.93 miles (yes, it was more than 26.2 after all the weaving in and out), we grabbed each other’s hands and made a last effort across the finish line. It was finally over. We didn’t so much walk as stumble our way out. Each finisher got given a lovely shiny red apple: the most delicious apple I have ever tasted, especially after the rubbish I had consumed to keep going. We were also given a very smart fleece-lined bright orange poncho to keep warm.

The elation which follows a huge race like this took a while to come. I was so exhausted, felt sick and was in pain. But the trip was rounded off by a brilliant after-party at the Hard Rock Café with free drinks and a live band. I'm not sure any of us were particularly up for dancing, and we definitely didn't make the most of the bar, but being applauded on arrival was an amazing end to a rather surreal day.

A crowd of runners with two women closest to the camera waving as they go

In conclusion, looking back, it was a bit like childbirth. We had no idea what to expect other than what other people had told us. We knew it would be hard but didn't know how hard. Immediately afterwards, we announced our retirement from marathon running and said, "never ever again."

And if you want to support the charity Finnbar’s Force, the charity for whom Rachael ran the marathon and will be running next year’s Cambridge Half, you can click the link here.

The next event in the Wymondham race diary is the New Years Day 10k - Set in the beautiful countryside on the outskirts of Wymondham, the race is run on undulating and quiet rural roads. The race starts and finishes on Lady’s Lane. Refreshments and cake are provided and the support from the enthusiastic marshals is second to none. Entry details are here.

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