2004 NYC Marathon - I need more cowbell

--- Pictures coming later. It appears I left my digital camera cable at the office, so I can't upload pictures. Keep your eyes peeled for an update. Or not. --

1 marathon, 3 viewing spots, 6 hours spent yelling and clapping like an idiot.

So my friend Whitney (previously mentioned in my Sept 29 post) was running in the New York City Marathon so I figured I would go out there and support her. That, and her parents needed someone to navigate them in the dirty, dangerous streets of Brooklyn. Well, nevermind that Liz, who actually lives in Brooklyn, did most of the navigating, but I'm more than happy to take credit...

(click here to continue)

Fun was had. Picked up Whitney's parents at their hotel downtown, staked out a spot on 4th Ave around the 5-mile mark and caught the wheelchairs and the elite runners before the masses. Good lord professional marathoners are tiny. And fast. They're practically sprinting down the street. Absolute craziness.

Unfortunately, we didn't do a good job of coordinating a way for us to find Whitney or vice versa, and we couldn't spot her in Brooklyn. So we piled ourselves into the 4-train and made ourselves up the east side, where another group had set up camp at Bar Coastal at 78th St.

Apparently, I was the only one who didn't see her there, but she did slow down enough to wave. Allegedly. We finally went inside Central Park and I finally made visual confirmation of our brave runner at around the 24-mile mark.

You know, this entry really needs pictures. I'll post those tomorrow. A part of me thinks I can train and run the marathon. The other 90% of me thinks this is utter delusion.

I would be remiss if i didn't mention Paula Radcliffe winning the women's marathon, especially after her forfeit in Athens. Congrats and all that.