Marathon Sunday

One of the many things I love about New York is that you never know what's going to happen next, and when surprises do come up, everyone just sort of takes them in stride. That happened for me last Sunday. I was taking Bella out for our morning walk, and was heading to the East River Esplanade as usual...but things were a little different this morning. I was wondering to myself, "Why are there so many people standing around on the street? Why are there cops everywhere and barricades set up? Why is there a Dunkin Donuts stand set up on the corner giving away free coffee?" I felt like it was some sort if inside joke I wasn't part of, but then I realized it was marathon day! And how lucky for me that I live basically on 1st Ave, which is the street the runners run up. Bella and I had to walk the other way, becuase we couldn't cross the street - or actually, we could but I was afraid we would get stuck there if runners started coming. So we went for our walk in the other direction. I don't know if it was seeing all those people out there, drinking coffee, chatting with the cops, chatting with each other, or if I was just in a good mood that day, but I really wanted to see some runners. After our walk, I left Bella at home and headed back out.
This is the coffee stand set up right outside the gas station by my apt...
All these people were just haning out, waiting for runners...
Seeing a New York City street totally deserted was soooo strange....it felt like something out of a movie!
There were no runners yet, but there were some cyclists. Everyone on the street would cheer for them as they rode by...
An action shot!

Finally some runners!! This was part of the fast pack...

Check out this crowd - there were so many people just watching and cheering for everyone. In a typical embarassing moment, I met up with Noura and her friend Lisa, and we were watching the runners, looking for one of Noura's friends who was running. There was a woman in front of us who kept cheering for all these different people: "Way to go Bob! Yeah Emily keep it up! Looking good Tom", you get the idea. So after a while I said to Noura, "What - does she know every freaking person running in the marathon? What's the deal?" And Noura informed me that some of the runners wear their names on their shirts so people can cheer for them. Oops! Typical Melly...






Watching the runners was truly amazing. Not only are they inspirational just because they actually have the energy and desire to run that insane distance, but what was more astounding was the age range of the runners. I saw runners from around 25 years old to at least 70! I'm not kidding. It was amazing. Seeing someone my grandmother's age running 26 miles, when I can hardly run 2, is just unbelievable. I parted ways with Noura and Lisa, and headed back up to my apt. I almost walked up 2nd ave to avoid the crowd, but I changed my mind and kept walking up 1st ave. One of the other things I love about New York is that, even if you're alone, you never really feel alone. It was kind of nice to be around so many people who were all in a good mood - kind of like the Halloween Parade, but better. The most odd site were the people watching from outside the bar they were at, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes while they watched the runners. I would like to state for the record that I think people should not put their babies in strollers and then try to maneuver through a huge crowd. It seemed kind of dangerous to me, but whatever. The guy in front of me was kind of using his stroller as a weapon, so I just made sure to stay behind him to get through the crowd. The reason I think it's such a bad idea is because his baby almost got stepped on - literally - at least 10 times. This is New York people - if you are foolish enough to bring a stroller in a huge crowd with small spaces to get through, you deserve to have your baby stepped on. But in his defense, he didn't get mad at anyone who almost trampled the stroller. Actually, maybe that's not a point in his favor...

Anyway, it was overall a really nice day and made me fall in love with New York all over again. And tomorrow I am off to Steamboat Springs, Colorado to visit Sarah!!! I am so excited I can't even stand it! I haven't been there in so long, and I realized that I'm not only excited to see Sarah, I'm excited to see her mom, her friends, and her HOUSE!! This is going to be a great trip, and better than when she came out to NY because now I will actually be able to hang out with her and not have to worry about my thesis. Stay tuned for LOTS of Colorado pics!!