Editorial

Back in 2012, against our better judgement, I joined a car-full of runners and headed for New York to run the biggest marathon in the world. Of course, just days before, the region had been slammed by Hurricane Sandy. Much of lower Manhattan was underwater, and Staten Island, where the race’s 51,000 runners begin, was wrecked. But the race organizers, standing along side then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, proclaimed that the marathon would still take place.

We drove nine hours, and immediately headed to the giant race expo to pick up our bibs. Somewhere in a box in my basement, there’s an old iPhone 5 with a picture on it of me holding up my bib just before I went to get the race shirt down the hall at the Javits Centre. I never did get that shirt because, in the time it took me to walk the 20 m to the next counter, the volunteers handing them out had been instructed to pull away from the runners and answer no further questions. Ten minutes later, thousands of us where huddled around a lone TV hanging from the atrium ceiling, and a tearful Mary Wittenberg, the race director at the time, cancelled the race. The organizers had made the right decision, as evidenced by the incredible outrage by locals, and scenes such as the gas lineups on the highway when leaving Manhattan. New York is a tough race to either qualify for, or gain entry through a lottery. I wondered if I’d ever get a chance to run New York again, as I stared out the window during the 750-kilometre drive to Hamilton to run a decidedly less grandiose marathon the following morning.

Five years later, now the editor of this magazine, I found my way back to New York. We partnered with New Balance, nyc’s shoe and apparel sponsor as of 2017, with the goal of bringing the race to our Canadian community from a unique perspective. For some reason, I thought it would be “fun” for a journalist to run with their phone, stopping along the way to do Facebook, Instagram and Twitter live updates. In its 47-year history, the race has built up many traditions along the fiveborough tour of the city. That person running with their phone ended up being me.

I planned 12 stops, but ended up capturing live video and Instagram pics of 20 different moments. My favourite was one of the very few quiet stretches of the course, crossing over the Willis Street Bridge. A woman with her three kids were the lone spectators, welcoming us to the Bronx. About a minute later, we were greeted by hundreds more locals, proud to have us run through their borough.

I also, technically, ended up running my very first ultra because I ran past one of the moments I had on my checklist, a high school band, which has been playing the Rocky theme song, over and over again (up to 200 times), every year since 1978. So I retraced about 100m to get live video onto Facebook as they started into a meandering, free jazz-inspired take on “Gonna Fly Now.”

Crossing the finish line in New York (and sharing that experience with all of you via Facebook Live) wrapped up perhaps the most unusual, and enjoyable marathon I have ever run. New York City is indeed the greatest place on Earth to run a marathon, and should be at the top of your bucket list. Heck, I can now say I’ve run New York, and I want to go back and do it again. Maybe next time I’ll leave the phone at home, and stick to running just the 42.2k.