New York, New York

My first stop on my grand trip home was New York, actually that is not quite accurate as for some stupid reason I had to get there via Miami. I arrived late on Halloween night to an awful hostel engaged in a full on Halloween party. My 'shared room of 4' turned out to contain 4 bunk beds and it was full, full to overflowing after 2.30am when the party goers arrived with their partners. Needless to say, I was not in a good state the day before the marathon. Fortunately, the day was not too strenuous, I got myself registered and looked around the marathon expo, claimed a free lunch at a sports shop, planned my route to the start line, ate a huge free pre race dinner, watched the marathon fireworks and went to bed early.

Finish line the day before



Manhattan skyline



The ferry to the start at Staten Island took us close to Liberty Island. It was a sunny and clear morning so we got a good view of the Statue of Liberty. There was a very cold wind which was not nice to be hanging around in for hours (another free meal helped - breakfast) but some runners had been there since 4.30am.

The race finally started, luckily for me I was in the first wave and quite near the front. The course went through all 5 New York City boroughs, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan, finishing in Central Park. It is a reasonably tough course but the support along the way was up there with the best. I ran the first half fast but faded badly to finish in 2 hours 48 mins, good enough for 309th place but disappointing given my first half pace. There are photos, heaps of them on this link, I'm not sure how long they will last.

That night I went to the marathon after party which was a bit of a let down but I was tired and sore anyway.

The next few days I spent sightseeing in New York. I also caught up with Tom and Alex (Alex had also run the marathon and could barely walk)and we went out for classic American BBQ. I changed hostels as soon as I could and moved to a nicer one in a dodgier area in Harlem. I was also able to catch a Knicks game with my 2 English friends that also did the marathon.

Ice skating in Central Park



Wall Street Bull



Navy memorial with Statue of Liberty in the background



New York Stock Exchange



Wall Street and Broadway cornerNew York Stock Exchange



Ground Zero



Grand Central Station and Crysler Building



Rockfeller Centre, night before the election



Times Square by night



Brooklyn Bridge



At the Knicks game



Final score, it was a good close game, the Knicks were down but came back to win.



My English mates