The NYC Marathon - Part 1 - The Expo

Over the last four years of running, I have had the opportunity to visit several different Running Expos that precede a long race (10 miles to Marathon distances).  Each one had a very unique feel to it, with the smaller races having a hometown feel, versus a more commercial feel for the larger marathon races.  The Expo for the New York City Marathon was no different.  My travels started in D.C., where I rode an Amtrak train to NYC the Friday before the Marathon to help remove as much stress as possible.  Getting to the race city early is always better then the day before, as you might have forgotten or lost something in transit, and I prefer to not rush around the say before a big race hoping I can find whatever I forgot.


With that idea in mind, I decided to get to the Expo the Friday before the marathon to avoid standing in line for potentially hours on Saturday.  Standing for half a day, the day before your marathon race, is also never a wise choice.  Since my train arrived at 12:30ish, I decided to go straight to the Expo from Penn station.  This was a nice brisk 7 block walk with luggage.  The Expo resided at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, right off the river.  I met a woman from Arizona on the way and we had a great many discussions on the race, previous running, training, etc.  It would seem she had decided to run a half every month this year, and then decided to add three marathons for the last three months of this year to top it off.  


Once we arrived at the convention center, we realized why going Friday was the right idea (as well as going directly there from Penn station).  There were two races planned for this weekend, the NYC marathon on Sunday, and the Dash to the Finish Line 5k on Saturday.  If you needed to pick-up your bib for the 5k, you could just wander inside and get your bib.  If you were a crazy marathoner, welcome to the line, which went around the building, that wrapped back around itself.

Luckily, the line moved quickly, and minus having to cross through the smell of the street vendors twice (nasty, nasty smells), we got into the convention center within 20 minutes.  The convention spanned two different floor.  The lower floor was separated into three sections.  The first was bib pickup, which was crowded, with the t-shirt pickup being a mass of humans trying to grab thier goodie bag and get out.

I grabbed my bib and goodie bag, as well as Sallie's 5k bib and shirt, then headed to the second section of the bottom floor.  This section was the official NYC Marathon store, sponsored by ASIC and TCS.  Before entering, each runner had to test thier bib to make sure it was registered and active, then in you went.  The store was chaotic, to say the least.  People were rushing around grabbing a hat here, or arm warmers there, all wanting that piece of a classic race.  I gathered up a few things for me (jacket, running tights) and something for Sallie (hat and shirt) and then jumped in line.  The line was long, almost as long as the one outside for bibs.

Like the line outside, it also moved quickly, but I had a nice chat with a few more runners on their excitement and expectations for the race.  As I got to the cashier, I saw a perfect gift for my God Son, NYC Marathon Running Bear.  Once I got through the line, the third section could be accessed, the third-party vendor area.  Here, like most Expos,  you could find local athletic stores selling their wares, as well as running specific vendors selling unique clothes or devices to help you train/recover/no feel pain.  Unlike other Expos, this marathon had the support of several large vendors, from ASIC to Saucony, ro New Balance.  They had huge booths with NYC and NYC Marathon specific gear.  I visited most of them, grabbing a hoodie from Saucony and new lenses for my Oakleys that were stenciled with the NYC Marathon logo.  I also teased the Garmin booth with my new 920XT, which they could not yet sell.  After grabbing some GU and some body glide for Sallie (she forgot to pack it), I headed upstairs.

The second level was focused on the race itself.  Huge coins were used to display each of the Burroughs we would be running through, and the line for the Manhattan coin (labeled NYC) was huge.  

Once I got through them and had a chat with the Pacers, I headed out of the Expo, grabbed a sandwich and headed to my hotel.  I was now in the mood for a race, concerns about my training, injury, or weather had left my mind, for now, as I took in the grandness of one of the marque races in the world.