Friday Faves: Moments from the NYC Marathon

If you don’t live in NYC or aren’t a runner, you may not realize that the NYC marathon was run this past weekend. It’s one of the major marathons in the world and attracts runners from all over the world, the world’s top elite athletes, and even a bunch of celebrities. And if you regularly read my blog, you’ll know that the NYC marathon is on my bucket list of marathons to run (you can read that post here). How cool would it be to run through all 5 boroughs with like 50,000 of your best friends?!? Someday I hope to be able to run it. But for this year, I had to watch coverage online. Because two of my favorite runners were among the elite runners (Meb Keflezighi and Kara Goucher), so I was excited to watch them run. If you didn’t already know, both of these runners represented the US in the 2012 Olympics. As it turned out, it was a tough day to run in NYC on Sunday with crazy winds and reporters said these were the slowest times in almost 30 years. Even though no one had the race they hoped for, several things stood out to me from the race so they are my Friday Faves for this week!

1. Meb Keflezighi takes 4th place in true Meb style. Fourth place doesn’t sound impressive, especially considering that awards are only given out to the top 3 finishers. But Meb came through the finish line waving to spectators and looking like he truly enjoyed the day. His time was way off from what he is capable of but he crossed the finish line with true dignity and grace and made a point to seek out the top finishers to congratulate them Meb is definitely one of my running heroes!

Photo: Reuters

2. Deena Kastor crossing the finish line. I know a little about Deena Kastor from watching “Spirit of the Marathon” but I haven’t followed her closely. She recently set the Master’s half marathon record. In case you don’t know, a master runner is one over 40. Considering that she is only a year younger than me, it gives me great hope that I’ll be able to run some faster times. Seeing her cross the finish line and waving to fans like she had won the race or set a new record or something was inspiring. She had an amazing race and her love of running really showed. The following day I heard an interview she did a few days before the race and loved her sense of humor and approach to racing. I’m now a huge fan!

Photo: TCSNYCMarathon

3. Annie Bersagel. You may never have heard this name before, and to be completely honest, I hadn’t either. Annie finished in the top 10 of all women. The commentators went on to explain that not only was Annie and exceptional runner, but running was not her career. She is actually an attorney during the day. As a runner with a full time job and a blog that takes up a lot of extra time, I can totally relate to having to balance work, life and running. And to see someone do it and finish in the top 10 with some big time names was very impressive!

Photo: TCSNYCMaraathon

4. The NBA and WNBA relay team. These organizations teamed up to promote physical activity and healthy eating among youth and their families. Encouraging healthy eating and physical activity is definitely a cause I can get behind. It was really cool to see former professional basketball players pound out a mile of the marathon with a young person. I can imagine that it’s a really cool memory for the young person as well as the athlete.

Photo: Getty Images

5. Views of the city. I’ve run marathons in several different cities and states and love being able to see an area in this way. I consider the marathon a 26.2 mile sightseeing tour. So seeing some of the images of the city really made me want to see NYC this way.