Those of you that know me, know that I'm as comfortable in a room full of people I've never met as I am in a room of the exact opposite. I speak to most everyone and am blessed to have met some incredible people along the way. Over the past few days I've thought about my 'racing' experience in New York this past weekend and have been dwelling on that disappointment. This morning when I woke up, I had thoughts of those people I met during my trip and how getting to know them was, and continues to be, a great joy. Here's a bit of a recap.
As I boarded my flight in Ft. Myers for New York, I made sure that I had my new Bose noise-canceling headphones ready to play the movie I had rented for the flight there. I had rented 'Transcend', the story of Wesley Korir. Yes, a running movie to set the tone for the weekend. As people continue to file in, I'm happy that no one has yet seated themselves next to me. No way I get a row, an Exit Row nonetheless, to myself, right? Right. And then in walks Ms. Miranda and almost immediately, we start talking. Where you heading, where's home, you known, the basic questions you ask when traveling. Turns out Ms. Miranda lives in New York with her family and had been on a girls trip/work conference thing in south Florida. She returned the questions and I told her that I was heading to NYC for the marathon, when she told me about her recent first half-marathon. The energy level of the conversation immediately increased. I could feel the pride she had for completing her first and the passion to hopefully do it again. She told me the story about running this race in the pouring rain and how miserable it was. Was she telling me something about my upcoming race??? Hmmm. She asked question after question about my training and my racing. Questions that I don't feel qualified to answer, but I did. We talked about her conference and her experience with Oprah.
I finally start my movie but quickly stop it to talk with Ms. Miranda a bit more. We talk about the mile-repeats workout that Wesley is doing in the movie and I explained how I do a similar workout, only mine is about 2 minutes per mile repeat slower. Wow, a bit of reality. As we get closer to New York, Miranda tells me that her husband is in a band and he'll be out playing on marathon Sunday and she and her kids will be out cheering on runners. I get excited about this. I'm actually going to know one of the millions who are out cheering. I tell her that I'll be looking for her on Sunday and hope that I see her and her family, knowing I'm not likely to see them. (Of course, I didn't see them.)
This was an incredible way to start off my weekend. Miranda is a beautiful, smart, and passionate woman whose enthusiasm for her first half-marathon reminded me why I run. The overwhelming sense of accomplishment shows more for your first than it does your tenth and I wish her nothing but the best of luck in her next race, which I think is next week......
On Friday at the Expo, I found myself in a line of thousands waiting to get in to pick up my bib and do some shopping.
Bored and frustrated with standing there, I said something sarcastically to the lady in front of me, which cracked her up. We were immediately friends. We talked about running and racing, our personal lives and what not, just to pass the time. As we entered the Expo, we said our goodbyes and wished each other the best of luck. We both grabbed our bibs and heading into the zoo that was the expo for the New York City Marathon. As I was wrapping up my shopping and heading toward the cashier, I was greeted with another line hundreds of people deep. As I'm walking to the back of the line, I see her again and she asks me to join her in line. We continue to talk as if we've known each other for year. I wish I could remember her name so that I could look to see how she did with her race. She was hoping to get close to 4 hours and I'm sure that she did.
Who said that New Yorkers are jerks and assholes? I'm 2 for 2 with great experiences.
I decide on a late lunch at the Carnegie Deli. This place is famous for many reasons and as expected, there is a line out the door.
While standing in line I meet Janet Pennar and Betty Dong. As Janet says, 'Dong is the Chinese part of Betty's name'. hahaha!!! These two ladies 'adopted' me if you will. They had come to New York on vacation from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. As we are standing in line, the receptionist comes to ask how many are in our parties. Stephen Hagan, party of 1! They ask if I want to join them, but I decline saying I shouldn't intrude. As we get to the door, instead of a party of 2 for them, the receptionist called out a party of 3. By this point I'm starving and tell them it looks as if they are stuck with me! We all got a pretty good laugh about it. Janet and Betty are both Pharmacist in Winnipeg and went to Pharmacy school together years ago. They've remained friends all these years and still vacation together regularly. We had a great conversation and I even decided to pick up lunch to thank them for taking me in.
On Saturday, I got in a short, shake-out run, then showered, grabbed a coffee and sat in the hotel bar/restaurant. While sitting there playing on my iPad, in walks an obvious runner. WOW!!! Does this woman have some energy! Deena and I start a conversation as if we've been friends for a hundred years. She's waiting for her husband, daughter and mother to arrive from Florida AND waiting for her room in the hotel to be ready to check-in. Deena is running her first-ever marathon and is uber excited about it. She's also nervous and scared because she's got some knee issues and hasn't run in the past 3 weeks. I try to convince her that this is normal even if she had been running. The work had been done and she would be fine. She tells me about the girlfriends she's running with and invites me to their post-race party.
As earlier documented, I was miserable after my race. I made it back to the hotel, showered and laid down. Then I decide, 'What the hell? Might as well get out and socialize a bit before the Knick's game.' I put on my clothes and head toward the post-race party. The guy at the door is in a foul mood. The place is packed and I get interrogated about why I'm there. Felt like I was walking into Guido's bar and needed the secret password. I tell them who I'm looking for and they were like "Nope, no one here with that name". I tell them that I know 9 ladies are hosting a party in the back room and that Deena is one of them. A receptionist steps in and asks if I'd like to check the backroom. I tell her thanks and if they aren't there, I'l gladly take my butt back to my hotel room bed! I see Deena in the distance before she spots me. As soon as she recognizes me, she starts moving toward me. A huge hug and congratulations to her. She did it. Bad knee and all. Taking her time, enjoying the city and all the people in it. She's still a ball of energy and I can't help but smile. She introduces me to her husband, Gilly, her mother, and all the girlfriends she ran with. All are incredibly welcoming and so very excited for their achievements. All of the girls aren't there yet though. Some haven't finished, or have just finished and are on the long walk to get there. Quickly I notice that I'm the only runner there that isn't still in my running gear. These girls started in the last wave that went out more than an hour after me. I'm lucky to have been able to shower because I stink after a race and these girls didn't need any part of that! haha!
Deena can't sit still. She bounces from one person to the next telling stories about the people that offered her beer while running, the wind on the Verrazano bridge and how one of her friends gave her a shot in the ass while on the bus to the start line. She's busy managing her people all while scarfing down an adult beverage and a chicken tender or two. Gilly is on standing orders to have the camera ready for photo ops at a moments notice. Prior to the race, Gilly had a huge banner made for Deena wishing her luck. Everyone in the room is to sign the banner. What a great time!!! I truly hope that I have a chance to see Gilly and Deena again someday soon. Deena's energy is contagious. Once she gets those knee issues taken care of, I'm sure she'll be back to the marathon in no time.
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