Running in the Street

Megan McGrath Runs the NYC Marathon

We receive gifts all year long. Some may be in the form of a couple of words...others may be a couple of paragraphs letting us know of something good in one's life. From time to time, people send us items that are important and heart warming. Here is a first person account of the New York City Marathon in November from Megan McGrath, the daughter of Mike McGrath, a native of Concord who has lived in Florida for decades now. Megan was running her second marathon and did so as a fund-raiser. Read on…..you can almost feel the crowd lining the streets of New York……:

Hello all -

I hope this email finds you all well..... with family and friends - possibly cooking up a large feast for Turkey Day. Sitting here on Thanksgiving Eve surrounded with a few of my loved ones I was thinking of you all.... as I am truly thankful to have you all in my life and thankful for the support you have all provided in some way throughout my training and/or running of the NYC Marathon.

I have to tell you all that you have to do it... maybe not run it, but you gotta go and see it-experience the energy. The day was nothing less than amazing. The streets were swelling as over 2 million spectators came out to cheer on the 37,000 competitors from around the world. The entire city seemed to be busting at the seams with crowds cheering for those of us that had decided to take on the 26.2 mile challenge.

At 6 am on the marathon morning Chris escorted me to the NYC Public Library leaving me with a big hug, kiss, and a fiery little pep talk. I caught a bus over to Staten Island - where I waited ANXIOUSLY in a grassy field with thousands of other people for a 10:00 start. It may have been my second marathon, but I was just as nervous. This time the weather was nice - opposite of the Disney Marathon that brought a chilly 35 degree start. Who would have thought that NYC November 6th would have us running in weather that rivals South Florida's balmy 70's. I was thankful.

When we were finally corralled into the starting areas Black Hawk helicopters hovered overhead while fire barges spouted red, white, and blue water. A cannon fired from Ft. Wadsworth signaled that it was time to get the show on the road.... and that road was straight up hill over the Verzzano-Narrows Bridge. The first 10 miles flew by.... I remember certain images but I felt so much energy from the crowd.... it felt as though I was on a treadmill set about five beats faster than I could run. I felt as though I was being sucked down the streets of NY and the louder the cheers were the faster my legs would take me. I was trying to force myself to slow down... as too fast in the beginning usually correlates to too painful at the end!! In my efforts of taking it slow I managed to high-five children all along the race course, pet a few super cute dogs, and wave to some of the firemen and police that lined the streets. One of the many bands that was performing along the race course incorporated my name into their song as I ran by (I had written my name in large letters and taped it to the top of my number bib).

We continued to wind our way through all five boroughs and over a few bridges....and FINALLY at mile 17 I got to see Christian, my Dad, and Katie. I cannot even begin to thank them enough for trekking up to NYC only to hope to catch a glimpse of me in the crowds. They have a picture of me with my mouth wide open in shock that I actually saw them. It was so crowded I had all but given up on seeing them so I was pumped for the next few miles... and then Central Park deflated me. I had done very little "hill training" while in Florida... to be more exact, none. Between the bridges and the rolling hills in the Park I was struggling. The last few miles weren't really fun at all. I was swearing to myself that as soon as I finished I was going to sign and seal some sort of contract where I agreed to NEVER run a marathon again - EVER.

Well, I finally finished after 4 hours and 11 minutes, which averages to about a 9 1/2 minute mile. I was too tired to do much of anything celebratory as I cross the finish line.... other than whimper and let out a sigh of relief. My legs were ready for mutiny and I wanted nothing more to find my family because I needed a hug. Finding them was another marathon altogether. It took over an hour for us to all meet up..... those 2 million spectators and the 37,000 runners made it difficult.

The following day Chris and I were lucky enough to get to shake hands with both winners (Paul Tergat (KEN) finished the marathon in 2:09:30 and Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) finished in 2:24:41) at Tavern On The Green, which is where the finish line had been the day before. Needless to say that was closest I would ever be to those two phenomenal athletes at a finish line. I was in awe of their athleticism... but happy to see that Mr. Tergat had the familiar day after marathon gait - even the elite get sore!!!

Thanks to so many of you a total of $2,840 was raised and donated to the NY Road Runners Special Charity Programs. That is something that people that you and I will never even know will be thankful for - which makes giving it that more meaningful.

I would say that the crowd there that day helped me get through that race; however, it was all of you that helped me get there and that is priceless. I thank you all for your support, your donations, and for believing in me.

I hope that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the time with your family and friends - I will be thinking of all of you.

Kindest regards,
Megan