I always get the idea in my head that some really smart MIT student should observe the 'sudden surge and immediate stop' and 'wave of bouncing heads ' phenomonem and do a flow-study on how best to improve things.
It takes me and the rest of the folks in the 9 minute per mile group about three minutes or more to reach the starting pad, but NYRR distributes these little yellow chips which everyone attaches to one shoe which the computer reads as your individual start/finish, so the time clock Sunday showed about 1:37:20 as I crossed, but my actual time was less than that. It may not seem important to those who finish an HOUR ahead of me, but I like to know.
I wish I had carried my camera on this race, there were lot's of things to see. At about eight miles I was passed by a blind runner. Just when your courage starts to falter and you are a little irritated at the music selections being made by the shuffle mode on your player, a blind man tethered to a sighted runner by a little rope between their hands zooms by you and you are left with the feeling that you are going to have to work a lot harder at coming up with some worthwhile complaints.
It is fascinating to watch the pairs work together on the run. Mostly it is just a word or two or a slight tensioning of the tether that guides the non-seeing down the roadway. And it's the same roadway that the rest are eyeballing every inch of, looking for cracks and bumps and slick patches from last night's rain that these guys glide over, each step as confident as the last. And you want to gripe about the wind?
I saw this buff thirty-something with bobbed blond hair and very tight red shorts. Her tee-shirt read "Irunlikeagirl." At least, I think it said that, she wasn't in view very long .
There was a large contingent of Koreans making the circuit together, about thirty or so men and women, spread out in little knots of five or six, but all within 100 yards or so of each other. This race for them was a social affair and they were talking and laughing and telling tales on each other as they ran.
There was a guy wearing two sweatshirts, a wool hat and running shorts pulled up over some knee-length tights. Most of the rest of us were in tee-shirts and shorts. His sweatshirt stated that he was in training for the Half-Marathon in Long Branch, NJ which is at the end of April. He's ready now, I think, I stayed with or near him until about the six mile mark, then I think he got bored and just took off like a rocket.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to show you the last snow in New York City. Apparently, the dog people packed this stuff down until it is as hard as snow can be without actually being ice. Why? I don't know, but there is it is.
At the end of the race we gathered for bagels and apples and got a book on how to survive Colon Cancer (Pfizer puts it out.)
Just a reminder to all of you out there ------
G E T T E S T E D .
Joe(yes. you.)Nation
He qualifies as both wildlife and by being an old bird.
