Volunteering at the Central Park Marathon

Last year, I ran the first Central Park Marathon sponsored by NYC Runs.  It was a fantastic race and an excellent experience.  (Read my post about it!)

I was so impressed with it that this year I decided to be a volunteer because it is close to home, it is filled with wonderful people (staff and runners), and it was about time to give something back after 10 marathons and dozens of other races.

Before showing up for my 10 a.m. shift, I did my own 13-mile run, covering five more NYC bridges (see my previous post).  I started near Central Park then ping-ponged between Manhattan and the Bronx via the Willis Avenue, Third Avenue, Madison Avenue, 145th Street, and Macomb's Dam bridges, with a lap around the perimeter of Yankee Stadium, just for the heck of it.

Back in Central Park, I started my volunteering shift by keeping the half-marathon finishers moving along the path from the finishing chute to the food tents and ensuring it was clear of spectators.  Not much fun, but worthwhile work.

But at 11:30, as the marathon runners started coming in, they moved me to the course, a few yards in front of the finish line, in order to direct finishers toward the chute and those with more laps to go around it.  

Now that was fun!  Cheering on the runners as I directed them, seeing their faces as they approached their 26.2-mile goal was everything I had wanted from the experience.  And I stayed there until the very last person came to the finish at around 3 p.m.  

That person, named Lauren, was so filled with joy, even though it took her six hours to finish and the staff had broken down the tents and equipment and the clock had long been turned off (it was a 5:15 cap).  It was an inspiring reminder that those of us who finish in 3:19 and those that take six hours are exactly the same - we put in the same amount of work, cover the same distance, and feel the same pride in our accomplishment of hitting that finish line.