On Sunday, November 3rd, I ran my very first marathon! I am so lucky to have been able to do it in New York City– *cough, the best city in the world, cough.* It was a beautiful day with perfect running weather, being 57 degrees and sunny, and was also the world’s largest marathon to date with 55,646 runners who finished. I ran a roughly 10-minute pace, which was exactly what I was aiming for. Overall, I could not be happier with how I felt and how the day went. Now that it’s been about two weeks, I’ve had ample time to digest and reflect on my experience. That being said, here is my rank and review of each of the five boroughs during the New York City Marathon.
5. Staten Island
In last place (not surprisingly) is Staten Island. The marathon starts in Staten Island, and you do not really run there at all. It starts right at the ramp of the Verrazano Bridge, so you have to trek all the way down to Staten Island just to leave immediately. It’s also not super convenient to get there, so I almost missed my start time and was panicking on the bus ride to the starting village from the ferry port. Although, the ferry ride there was nice and I see why they have it as the starting point in order to hit all five boroughs. When the cannon for the start went off, Frank Sinatra’s “Theme From New York, New York” started to play while everyone cheered. It was probably one of my favorite moments.Â
4. The Bronx
Next up is the Bronx. You aren’t in the Bronx for long at all, however, you are there during one of the toughest parts of the marathon– around miles nineteen to twenty-one. There weren’t many crowds and it’s difficult leaving Manhattan when you know you have to reenter for five more miles later in the race to finish. This was definitely the hardest stretch for me.Â
3. Queens
In third place is Queens. Again, you aren’t in Queens for very long, only about three miles (thirteen to sixteen). At this point in the race I was in a great place, and I was happy to be through Brooklyn (finally) and entering Manhattan on First Avenue soon. There was a decent crowd and a great view of the Empire State Building.
2. Manhattan
Second place goes to Manhattan! Running onto First Avenue after the 59th Street Bridge was electric. There were tons of people, and this was where I finally started to see my family and friends who came to cheer me on. My body started to feel the run behind me around mile eighteen soon before entering the Bronx, but the crowds were so loud it was easy to keep going. After the Bronx, I reentered Manhattan in Harlem which was decently fun and reenergized my spirits for the last stretch. And finally: Central Park. Central Park was packed, and my family and friends spread out amongst the final three-ish miles to cheer me on. I got a huge boost of energy at mile twenty-four because I knew I was so close to finishing, and I give credit to the people in the crowds who kept cheering to remind me of this.Â
1. Brooklyn
And finally, Brooklyn takes first place! Miles two through thirteen take place in Brooklyn, and there was fantastic energy there that entire time. They had countless live bands and DJs along the street, people were standing in the middle of the road on top of the medians, and everyone had great signs. My favorite part of the marathon was miles eight through twelve during this one strip in Brooklyn. The barricades were super close to the road we were running on, so there wasn’t much space for us, which I barely even noticed because of how many people were cheering. Everyone was stacked on the steps of their buildings or sitting in/hanging out their windowsills, and I just felt like I was on top of the world. I can also admit that Brooklyn was probably my favorite because it was earlier on in the race.Â
Overall, the entire marathon experience including months of training, preparation, and fundraising was fantastic. I am so glad to have run my very first marathon in my home state and city, and cannot wait to see where running takes me next!