Month: November 2016

I  think the blog post title is a song by someone. I was able to hit my third big city marathon this fall – Philadelphia. It was my 5th marathon in ten weeks and I think I have a new favorite one.

When you can run the streets Ben Franklin walked, have friendly Philadelphia police cheering you on, run through the frat house row of one of America’s great colleges, see the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall, meet a lot of friendly people and end at the famous “Rocky” steps, you’ve had a great day.

Philadelphia wasn’t my fastest or my slowest but it was my most enjoyable marathon experience by myself. Unlike NY, I didn’t have to arrive four hours early. Philly had buses that picked you up at your hotel and take you to the start. It was a great course and a friendly crowd. I absolutely want to do this one again.

If you can make it there you can make it anywhere they say.  I’m running the New York City marathon. How cool is that.

• I was in Long Island on marathon day 1992. I remember because a group of us were heading back to college in Albany and we got delayed because of the NYC Marathon. We all made numerous (negative) comments about the absurdity of running a marathon. Those were pre smart phone days so most of us probably did not know the Marathon distance other than to say it was a long run.

Now, 24 years later my wife dropped me off at 645 am so I could wait four hours to start my run. The NYC Marathon is epic for marathon runners. You run through parts of all five boroughs – starting in Staten Island, before ending in Central Park. You head right out over the Verrazano bridge and you are off.

I had a cold that day but wasn’t going to let that stop me. By the end I was really feeling it. Still, it was THE NYC marathon- the largest in the world. It was a great day.