the start of many entries about marathons

I felt so good today as I watched the 37,000 runners, walkers, and rollers of today's New York Marathon traverse 5 boroughs and 26 miles in too-good-to-be-true weather.

Standing on 88th and 1st, I was at mile marker 17. When you see one of these athletes, and you are standing 17 miles into their course, you know that their arrival at this point is due to much more than the superior mental toughness or gifted physical capacity that can lead one to call a particular occurence a "fluke." No no. I know this, because yesterday I tried to run my own New York mini-Marathon. I wanted a taste of the energy, a bite of the big boys' cake, so I set off in the afternoon to run the entire 6-mile inner loop in Central Park. This from a guy who has been reduced to running once a week, 20 minutes a pop. Mostly I wanted a taste of the energy that was mounting in Central Park. Isn't it crazy how the moments leading up to a spectacular gathering of people, or in the hours after a heroic performance, a place can give off such an intense energy that the ordinary suddenly feels mystical?

Anyway, I ran 6 miles and was beat. I knew that there was nothing flukish about making it 17 miles. If someone passed before my eyes today, I was seeing so much more than who they were in that present moment. I saw all the way back to the moment they told themselves "I'm going to do this!" I saw that first day of training, I saw the days when they were close to quitting, I saw the family and friends swooping in and refusing to let them back down, I saw it all packed into one fantastic image of a man, or a woman, an American or an Italian, a human, gliding down first avenue - or more likely - surging and straining and forging ahead. I saw goals manifested into reality, and honestly, when else do you ever get to see something like that happen? This goes for the elite runners, as well as the everyday men and women who one day said to themselves, "I'm going to force my legs to go forward nonstop for 26 miles, and I'm going to do this all within the time it would take to watch 1/3 of the Lord of the Rings trilogy." This is where the real awesomeness is at. These people are the reason I couldn't stop grinning all day.

The race was a joyous event at so many levels. As a spectator, it hit me that every one of the 37,000 people who ran by me today had different motivations, circumstances, fears, goals, challenges, and obstacles that led up to this day. Every runner had a unique story. If I could simply ask each and every one of them, "Why are you doing this today?", I don't think I would ever be lonely again.

At one point early in the morning, I saw something that I would see repeated over and over throughout the day. Amidst a pack of swift moving, sweaty men, 3 individuals in red shirts moved at a moderate pace down the middle of 1st ave. On the left and right, two middle aged and decently conditioned folks jogged rather slowly. In the middle, a man in his mid 20's fought his way down the avenue on one leg, the name "Eric" pinned to the back of his shirt. He was aided by four crutches - two metal, and the two aforementioned friends. As he moved along briskly, his huge smile preceeded him. As he passed by me, a fellow runner jogged up beside him and jubilantly began to clap and cheer with the utmost sincerity "C'mon Eric! That-a-boy! You're doing Great, keep it up!" He raised his arms high and clapped some more, as he passed on by and continued on down the road.

This happened every few minutes, as far as I could tell. Being there, it struck me as the only reason I really care to be alive. Think of all the levels of inspiration in that one moment. I'm watching this guy pass the 17 mile marker, and I'm thinking, Wow! he obviously must be struggling. This must mean so much to him, to be here right now. And yet, what does this man do? As he is running, sweating, and probably cramping, he turns to a fellow athlete - an amputee who has also made it 17 miles (but on crutches!!) - and says "Hey man, I'm here for you! We're all here for you. I see your effort, and it's amazing!"

I went back to Central Park around 4:30pm cause I have a thing about places that have recently received an influx of human energy. I was surprised to find the runners and walkers were still steadily flowing in! I cruised down the sidewalk on my bike, past milemarker 24, up towards marker 25. There was a curly headed girls standing on the edge of the curb with a shopping bag at her side, and she was cheering with genuine emotion. "This is the last hill! You're doing great! Good Job Ian! Alright Italia!." She perhaps was Jesus, or at least she must have seemed that way to the weary runners. "C'mon, start runnin' will ya!?" she jabbed ironically. "Having fun? she asked with a bit of a smile to a middle age woman who passed by at a walking pace. "Oh yeah...", came the response, "but I think I've had just about enough fun for today." So there she was, no obvious relation to any of the passing runners, these absolutely dedicated troopers, these fiercely comptetitive middle agers, out of shapers, do-it-at-all-costers who were still going even if they had to walk, because goddamnit, they entered a marathon and if it takes 6 hours and 28 minutes to get to milemarker 25 than you better be damned sure I'm making it!...and she was just giving every bit of honest moral support she had and pouring it on to these tired travellers.

I fell in love with that girl briefly, and with every other person standing in Central Park cheering as the sun went down. Those few who stuck around and cheered for people they'd never met, but whose actions had garnered their complete respect. The spectators didn't need to know anything individual about the runners, nor did the runners need to know a thing about the spectators. The fact that each was present at that moment spoke volumes more than words ever could about the character of the other. That alone was enough motivation. Who knows what sort of strength those last few runners may have gathered from the loving strangers on the curb.

It was real, it happened today. I saw the greatest side of humanity. I saw people feeding off each others' energy. I saw people motivating people, actions motivating actions, respecting fostering love refueling determination.