Paid-up members of New York Road Runners Club (that's me) can gain guaranteed entry into the following year's NY Marathon through the 9+1 program - that means running in 9 official NYRR fun runs during the year, and volunteering in one. It's not as easy as it sounds. There is not a race every weekend, they sell quickly and there is always the problem of a calendar conflict if you schedule it too far in advance.
As of last Tuesday, i was on 4+0 so things were not looking good for the 2013 Marathon. So I had to move fast. The only volunteer opening (which typically last 4-6 hours) before Monica returns was to be a cyclist in the Gay & Lesbian Pride run on Saturday, which i locked in (as a "straight ally"). The only races before the end of July were the NY Giants 5K over at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which the Giants and the Jets share as their home ground. The 9 am start meant catching 6.30 subway) and then this coming Sunday it's another schlep out to Corona Park (near CitiField and the US Open facility) for the Queens 10K. By then however I will be 6+1 and will only need 3 more races before NYE to qualify.
The rest of the cycling volunteer crew. My job was to ride ahead and blow a whistle clearing spectators off the course, and then to escort the 2nd placed female in to the finish over the final 1km. So that was fun and started and 8.15 and done by 9.30. At the end, the volunteer captain told us we were awesome.
"Cheer New York" cheerleaders performing before the race. An American idol finalist sang the national anthem.
"Cheer New York" cheering in the first placed male.
Sunday it was over to the Meadowlands to run in the 5km race around the stadium. Started in the parking lot and finished on the goal line inside the stadium so that was also fun. The final 100 yds was running from one goal line to the other. the atmosphere was like the end of the Host City marathon in 2000.
the finish line in the end zone of the field - this lard arse completing the course at worse than 10 minutes/km. The astroturf surface is very spongy and weird to run on
The Metlife Building in Midtown towering over Grand Central Station
The rest of the cycling volunteer crew. My job was to ride ahead and blow a whistle clearing spectators off the course, and then to escort the 2nd placed female in to the finish over the final 1km. So that was fun and started and 8.15 and done by 9.30. At the end, the volunteer captain told us we were awesome.
"Cheer New York" cheerleaders performing before the race. An American idol finalist sang the national anthem.
"Cheer New York" cheering in the first placed male.
Sunday it was over to the Meadowlands to run in the 5km race around the stadium. Started in the parking lot and finished on the goal line inside the stadium so that was also fun. The final 100 yds was running from one goal line to the other. the atmosphere was like the end of the Host City marathon in 2000.
the finish line in the end zone of the field - this lard arse completing the course at worse than 10 minutes/km. The astroturf surface is very spongy and weird to run on
The Metlife Building in Midtown towering over Grand Central Station
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