Popsicles and Love - TGNY 100 Redux

I love this race.  I knew it before I ever ran it, when I first read Fred Murolo’s race report several years ago now on the Ultralist.  It was confirmed 2 years ago when I ran the race with training buddy Larry Huffman and within the first couple of miles, my heart swelled like a balloon when we were fresh out of Central Park, exploring the upper west side, and were presented by a breathtaking sunrise City view.

Love it.

I knew I wanted to come back (ideally as many times as possible) before I even finished my first TGNY, and indeed I chose this race over running at the Dome because these days choosing joy over, well, just about anything else, seems like a good bet after the year we’ve all had.

The thing about the 2021 race that was going to be extra special, however, was that I would be running with my good friend Katie.  I had first described Katie in the short story “Runner Girl” in my book.  I described her as a light in the darkness, as the first thing I ever noticed about her was her headlamp in the early morning dark.  At the time we met, she by and large was not an ultra distance runner.  Not long after our meeting, she took her initial forays into ultra with a self supported 50K run and then a 60K race in Central park.  She did her first 12 hour with me at Ethan Allen, around a track on a hot hot night in Vermont.  She killed it. 

Back when I told her she would definitely do 100 at some point she said “no way” – and particularly no way to NY because Katie is not fond of heat and NY in June can be hot hot hot.

She changed her mind.

(yay :) )

A few months ago when it started looking good for the in person race to happen, there were a few slots available and Phil gave them out by lottery.  I was already in the race due to my 2020 COVID deferral, so when she got in the lottery we know we would be running together.

Bliss.

I’d moved out the West Coast in the fall of 2019, and had only seen Katie once in person since I moved, during an impromptu trip east earlier this year after I and my folks were fully vaccinated.  The opportunity to not only show her my all time favorite race but to spend 24 plus hours catching up was joy.

COVID year was rough on racing.  I’d participated in a bunch of virtual races early on, and had several opportunities to run hundreds just for joy with my friends Jess and Jill before I left Seattle.  However, last fall, just after my challenged 3 Days at the Fair 6 day run, I moved to California.  Second lockdown happened, accompanied by move, job change and a divorce.  It was a lot, in a short period of time, and I subsequently took a running nose dive, struggling for a few months with nagging and persistent injuries and low motivation.  I’d recently started to recover both physically and emotionally, scoring a 100 mile female win at the Silver Moon 3 weeks prior.  I’ve been feeling better physically, by running less and sleeping more, and felt I was coming into this race poised for joy.

I took the red eye from Santa Rosa Thursday evening.  Although I had an annoying delay in Santa Rosa I pretty much arrived at JFK at the expected time 7am on Friday morning.  Alas… I got precious little sleep on the plane and arrived exhausted.  I made my way by AirTrain and subway from JFK airport to our hotel in Times Square.  Navigating my way through the city, I felt a thrill at being back.  I had been born and raised in Westchester County, and worked and lived in the city in my early 20’s.  I adore New York which is one of the reasons I like this race so much.  I love its spirit, its grit, its humanity, its vastness.  I love the grandeur and the filth; the bridges and the tunnels, and the sense that truly, this place never sleeps.  I love my history with this place.  So it was with a happy heart that I arrived at my subway stop and made my way to the hotel.  I had requested an early check in and was thrilled that at 8:15am they had a room ready for me.  I got some breakfast and took about an hour long nap.  I probably should have slept for longer, but I was expected Katie to arrive from Virginia by bus sometime shortly after noon, and besides – I cannot travel without visiting at least one museum.  This time it was MOMA.  Amazingly, I had never been there.  It was fabulous. 

After I left MOMA I wandered to Central Park and was struck by the beauty of the place.  Somehow, when I lived in New York, I was way to busy partying to ever wander through parks.  This place was lovely.  I got a gyro on rice and started walking through the park taking pictures.  The last update from Katie had her in around 2:30, but then I got a text updating it to 1:50 so I had to book to get to the hotel to meet her.

We had fun exploring for the next few hours, although my exhaustion was making itself felt in my feet.  Had dinner with Katie’s friend Hillary, who was going to be meeting us at one of the aid stations and pacing for a little ways, and also spent some time with Rachel Belmont and Denise Sauriol.

Sleep was good; alarm went off at 4 and I awoke feeling relatively fully rested.  Downed a can of Starbucks iced espresso, dressed in race clothes (feeling pretty silly in my Sahara Hat at 4:30am in the dark) and headed to the start, which is always a grand reunion. 

Phil had arranged a wave start, and Katie and I were at 5:22 – almost the last wave.  I guess the good thing about that is not having to go through that mass start feeling where everyone books out like a bat out of hell and there I am poking along at the back of the pack.  This way it was just she and I, and no pressure. Which is just how I like it.

The first few hours were bliss.  Although the day was supposed to get hot (predicted 90), right now it was coolish and overcast, though dreadfully humid.  We were both sweating within 15 minutes of the start.  My legs felt fabulously bouncy – I’ve been using new inserts and I love the energy they give my legs.  That plus the rest made the first 50K fly by. 

The course had changed a bit from the last time I ran this race, but I’m geographically challenged enough so I didn’t have a really good sense of exactly what the changes were, besides not running the Orchard Beach out and back, where I’d seen the old Italian men chatting and smoking 2 years ago.  There were more trails, I think.  Good because of shade and soft footing… bad because of roots and bugs.

The sun came out probably around 10am, and, well, then the fun really began.

Probably because of the humidity I was already getting warm, and once the sun came out, the baking commenced.  Nothing appealed at the 30 mile aid station, but there was a convenience store down the road a piece and I began what was to become a theme for the race.  I went in and bought 1 Froze Fruit strawberry popsicle for Katie and 1 for me.  Katie didn’t want hers.  I had no problem with that.

The popsicles gave me about 380 calories plus had a cooling and hydrating effect so I gained some new life.  We continued on, crossing the Triboro bridge somewhere in the early 30’s. 

Can I just say… I love that bridge.  The views are spectacular, and there is just something incredible about crossing from one borough to another on a mammoth beautiful bridge.  Plus… the second half is all downhill.

There was an aid station shortly after the descent into Queens, but alas their popsicles were… juice.  No cooling to be had there, though we did avail ourselves of ice.  We were due to meet Hillary at mile 41, but that was 5 scorching miles in front of us.

Those miles were the rough part.  By now it was life suckingly hot and humid, and everything felt slow and heavy, with a little dizzy thrown in.  All we could do was keep moving – but at this point I felt like my lack of energy was holding us back.  The last mile to the aid station seemed impossibly long.  I knew Hillary was planning to have popsicles and that knowledge was all that was moving me forward.

We finally made it and she did have popsicles, but they were half melted.  They were still cold and slushy though, so I sucked down one, greedily gulping the sticky cold sweetness and needed another one.  I was so hot.  I looked for a 3^rd, but someone had thrown them away because they were mostly melted.  I saw a container of Watermelon juice, so I had 4 glasses of that over ice. 

The hydration and core temp issue was solved, but now I had a belly full of liquid and I was a little worried about how that was going to play out once we started moving.  Bathroom issues were going to very possibly become an issue.

That was our longest aid station stop – we were probably there about 10-11 minutes, so the mile clocked out at 25.  I wasn’t thrilled with that, but the cooling was necessary.  Fortunately the sun had passed it’s zenith, so we knew that we only had a couple more really hot hours to get through.

Katie did great taking all the right steps to keep herself cool.  I had no doubts about her running and endurance ability to do this thing... only her ability to handle the heat, so the closer we got to evening, the closer I felt we were to a confident finish.  Blessedly, some clouds started to appear mid afternoon and it appeared that the worst of the heat was over.

For me, running the race for the second time, there was a lot of nostalgia… remembering conversations and footfalls from the last race.  This was particularly true between miles 50 and 100K. 

One of my favorite places in the race is Flushing Meadows Corona Park.  It is packed with people, sights, smells, and street vendors.  I get 2 more popsicles, bringing my total up to 6 for the race.  All too soon, it is over.  We are back in neighborhoods for a bit, then on shaded trails.

100K is always a pretty special milestone.  Here is no exception.  It serves as a finish line for the racers who are running the 100K distance, and always has more volunteers than other aid stations – as well as drop bags.  I didn’t really need anything besides my headlamp.  Katie took the time to change into dry clothes.  She was able to eat solid food.  I still was not.  I was sad that nothing there appealed.  I downed some raspberry ginger ale over ice, and as soon as Katie was ready, we soldiered on.

Although I love the whole course, I really really enjoy the part from 100K to the finish.  There is something about getting to evening, running through the Queens neighborhoods.  It feels like you are getting a glimpse into lots of peoples lives, running all through this city.  At about the 70 mile mark, we hit the Rockaways.  This is where things really get good.  First, well, we are at 70 MILES!!  Always a landmark.  Also, we are running along a paved boardwalk next to the beach.  To the left of us is a fence, and beyond that are whitecaps of the waves breaking in the dark.  The beach is more deserted this year than last, so we can just enjoy the ocean breeze and the sound of the surf.  We run a number of miles with Matt, who meets a pacer later on and leaves us in the dust to finish sub-24!  

We exit the beach and run through more neighborhoods interspersed with aid stations.  80 mile aid… 85 mile aid…  last year at 85 miles there was a red carpet, and cannoli and Dunkin Donuts coffee.   Somewhere between, I think, 70 and 80, Katie finally got her Monster energy drink.  This gave her a much needed boost, and she perked up considerably.  Her journey reminded me so much of my first 100 – that realization, somewhere around 40 miles that even though you have traveled what seems like an impossible distance, you have so much more in front of you.  40 to 80 can be spirit sucking miles.  By 80, I think she knew she had this thing. 

Our conversation and our steps got more animated, and we walked and trotted along, ticking off the miles.  These late evening early morning miles were strong and joyful despite our sore feet, heavy legs and significant chafing and bruising from our packs.  We could see the Verrazano bridge off in the distance and were starting to make some predictions about finish time.

Brooklyn is special to me too, because I lived there for a few years out of college.  My last report describes the ghosts of my past.  They didn’t whisper as loudly this time around, but I still remembered those street names where I had walked or lived…  Dean Street…  Carroll Street… Court Street…  heading into Borough Hall and the 95 mile aid station.  Last time I did my dancing at the Coney Island Boardwalk.  This time it was with the 95 mile volunteers.  We boogied down while Katie made use of some bushes as there were no potties available.

And just like that, there were 5 miles to go.

There is nothing…. nothing in the world… like crossing the Brooklyn Bridge at dawn by foot.   

As we landed ourselves back in Manhattan, we had 3 miles to go.  Or would have, had we not somehow ended up wandering down 5^th Ave instead of Broadway, necessitating a cross-town navigation correction that probably added on a couple more tenths of a mile.  Crap. 

Get ourselves over to Broadway, 8 uptown blocks to go, 7, 6…..  we see them.  We see the finish line volunteers waving and cheering.  They are beyond reach, due to a pesky red light.  We stand there impatient, until we get the green and head in to the finish. 

We are finishers 18 and 19 – and, we find out later, tied for 3^rd woman.   

It was so very special being part of Katie's first 100, in a race that means so much to me.  After an impossibly long dismal year, the sun is finally shining again.  And the future is bright.

Thank you, Phil, for putting your heart and soul into this perfect race.  Thank you to the volunteers who go out of your way to make each and every aid station an oasis.  Thank you to the racers who keep each other moving and joyful.