Congratulations to everyone who ran the New York City Marathon on Sunday! It looked like an incredible day, and I can’t wait to read race recaps. Of course it made me think back to my own experiences- I ran the NYC Marathon in 1993 and 1996.
I was living in New York at the time, and it wasn’t very hard to get into the race. There was a waiting list and a lottery, but it seemed that pretty much everyone who wanted to run it, could do so.
As I wrote about in this post, my first marathon was Chicago in 1990. The NYC Marathon in 1993 was my second one. Not a lot had changed in my running over those three years- I had a little more experience, but was running around the same pace. I planned to run the marathon at a ten minute mile pace, and for the most part succeeded. Because of the crowds and usual slowdowns, my finish time was 4:36. I was fine with that.
I’m so glad I had that experience! I enjoyed running over the Verrazzano Bridge, and experienced the thrill of coming off the Queensboro Bridge to the roar of crowds on First Avenue. Those miles through the Bronx were difficult, but I didn’t slow down too much, and finished happy. It’s so funny to look at now, when medals are big and colorful and have moving parts, but here’s the medal from that marathon:
Between 1993 and 1996 I discovered this thing called “speed work.” I started going to a track once a week and running quarter mile intervals. Regular people didn’t have coaches back then, and although my workouts were primitive, it was better than nothing and I had success lowering my 5k and 10k times. For the marathon in 1996, I had my heart set on a sub-4 hour finish. How did I know I could do this? Well, I ran all my long runs at a 9:00 mile pace. Yes- my training plan left a lot to be desired but still… I was stoked for that sub-4.
Does anyone else remember racing in the dark ages BEFORE TIMING CHIPS??? So prehistoric! If several minutes elapsed between the gun going off and you crossing the start line, those minutes were just added to your time. In this case, the start was so slow and so crowded, eleven minutes had elapsed before I even got to the starting line!
I started to panic. There was no way I could run a nine minute mile pace and finish under four hours now. I know- I could have run my pace and just mentally subtracted eleven minutes, knowing that was my actual time. But I didn’t want to do that- I had my heart set on seeing 3:xx as I crossed the finish line.
I tried to run a little faster than my planned pace, but it was still so crowded that I just couldn’t get through. I ran slowly, getting more and more frustrated, until mile 6 when the runners finally thinned out a little.
By that point, I knew my time goal was impossible. I was devastated- I had wanted it so badly. So… I made a decision. Starting at mile 6, instead of settling into a 9:00 pace, I decided to run my 10k pace, which was 8:00 minute miles.
Even with my limited knowledge, I was pretty sure that was a bad idea. But what was the worst that could happen- I would fail to meet my goal? I was already going to fail at that anyway! I figured it was a “go big or go home” moment, and I went for it.
Things went great! After the slow walk to the start, and then the slow first six miles, it felt good to run fast. I ran through Brooklyn… Queens… over the bridge onto First Avenue… and up the east side. I felt so good that I started to think maybe… just maybe… I could squeeze out my sub-4 after all?
Nope! When I got past mile 20 and into the Bronx, things fell apart in an epic manner. I hadn’t walked at all in my first two marathons, but now I walked. The last five miles were a very, very painful walk/shuffle. You know how, when you cross the finish line of a marathon, you have that triumphant “I did it!” feeling? Well, as I crossed this finish line my first thought was “I didn’t do it.”
The funny thing was, my time was 4:14. If you subtract the eleven minutes it took to get to the start line, my time was 4:03- incredible under the circumstances. But I was bitterly disappointed.
So, where did I go wrong? Should I have had an A goal, a B goal and a C goal, so when my A goal went out the window I could have still salvaged the situation and run a smart race? Surprisingly, my answer in this situation is… no.
I stand by my decision to go for it, despite the disastrous outcome. I was going to be disappointed with my finish time no matter what. Sometimes you just have to go for it and see what happens. I definitely learned a valuable lesson! There might be magic on marathon day, but not that much magic.
If you have a big goal that really, really matters, you might reach it and be ecstatic. Or you might end up really disappointed. If the risk for disappointment isn’t there, then your goal isn’t big enough. And guess what- it’s okay to be disappointed sometimes. It won’t kill you.
In my case, I was so dissatisfied with that marathon, I looked for another one right away. And look what happened that spring…
My form may not look great in the picture, but I like how the photographer caught me “flying,” both feet off the ground. And smiling… definitely smiling that day.
Do you like having A,B, and C goals?
Do you like big races? Have you ever run New York? Do you want to?
20 Responses
I love reading your race recaps. I didn’t start racing until 2015 so all that I can claim is that I remember when racing was “primitive” enough that you had to untie a shoe at the start and at the finish for the timing chip. I’ve done a few “gun only” races but they’ve been small.
It took me a long time after my first really awful race to feel good about racing again and then to learn that – duh – not every race can be a PR. When a race starts to go bad, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “OK, I’m done” and just give up. I think it’s way better to do what you did in 1993 and go for the gold anyway. You were way closer to making your goal than if you had given up.
And yes medals have come a long way – but how many people can say they have medals from the 1990’s? That’s priceless.
Yes, I guess you could call those medals “classic.”
I remember that brief time where chips were tied in shoelaces. Which now seems like such a bad idea- glad we moved on from that!
So when did you move to Florida from NYC?
My first half was in 2011. There were chips so only for finishing time so the published time was several minutes off. Thanks goodness for a watch.
The biggest disappointments I’ve had were wanting a certain finish time.
I’m more realistic now – just finish or finish under 2:30 or maybe faster than the last one. That way I usually meet my goals. Especially important if recovering from an injury or just getting older.
Yes, I ran NYC in 2019 – it was totally amazing.
I got FOMO on Sunday… but it’s so hard now to get in…
I moved to Florida in 1999.
I think now my “dream” marathon might be something more like St. George with beautiful scenery. But if you gave me an entrance to NYC I would take it!
What memories! I have a tough time setting finish time goals, especially for marathons. No matter how well one has trained, there are still race day circumstances (out of our control) that can really affect everything. I usually have a realistic goal and an “if everything works in my favor” goal. That said, I do try to focus on the accomplishment of just being there…running a MARATHON! No matter the finish time, that finish line is a big deal to me 🙂
Yes, I think I might be more casual now about my finish time. Back then I was young and ambitious!
What great memories! I didn’t know you ran NYC. You are right that disappointments are okay and they make us hungry to keep at it. I do set A and B goals for myself.
I think now I would probably set an A goal and a B goal. But maybe not… we’ll see at my next race!
Well, first of all, kudos that you’ve already have a few marathons under your belt… this is still a distance I am contemplating but haven’t attempted (I will admit that being a little late with my running “career” is probably part of it).
I think you did an AMAZING job under the circumstances (the slowdown at the start line is always the worst at big races and so frustrating for all runners) and I agree with your decision to go for it, even if you didn’t meet your goal in NYC…. you definitely got your sub-4 later and that is fantastic! Congratulations on that.
Thank you San! The truth is I ran a bunch of marathons around that time and haven’t run any since having my kids… and my son is now 18. So it was a long time ago. I would like to get back to it though.
These are such great memories! The first time I ran the Chicago Marathon was a horrible experience so I vowed to go back and do it again and had a much better race (1 hour course PR). That disappointment totally fueled me!
Yes! Sometimes the best races come after the biggest disappointments.
It’s amazing how much you love running. You can read it all through those lines. A marathon is such an endeavor and I really admire people who love running that much. I am not a runner, never have been but I wish I could run for miles and miles. It sounds very different running in the early 90th to running now. But you are still running and that is for me the most amazing thing.
Thank you Tobia. It really is an amazing feeling to run long distances. Yes- running in the 90s was quite different!
I loved reading this. The throwback picture was incredible – you look SO happy! Your form looks great to me – you just ran a marathon. In under 4 hours. And you’re smiling!
I can’t decide if this is something I’d ever want to work up to. I’m pretty sure not.
But my sister got into competitive racing at around my age. She was overweight with two kids and never exercised. And now she does ultramarathons, and competes in Ironman competitions around the world. She also has a much more intensive personality than me…but it is still inspirational to me as her baby sister.
WOW! That is incredible! Your sister does ultras- I want to do that someday. It’s not for everyone- but I’m sure she’s a huge inspiration to you.
Great memories!
How many differences between the races of the 90s and today: the organization, the number of participants, the outfits, the swag, the photos, the atmosphere around the runners ecc.
I have never raced in N.Y. , only in Europe: Italy, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Greece.
Yes, everything was so different. I’ve never raced outside of the U.S. I’m sure there would be a lot of differences in Europe as well.
That’s so true, if we’re never disappointed, we won’t work harder to improve. You look so happy in the Long Island Marathon photo. Congrats on meeting your goal! I have not run the NYC Marathon and wish I had back when I was running long distances.
Yes, I’m glad I got to do it, back when it was easier to get in. I wish I had realized that experience was limited, and taken some pictures! It was before cell phones and digital cameras though. Oh well.