Poland Springs Marathon Kickoff: October 28, 2007

This would be the 9th race for me and three others in the group. Six of us were racing this weekend: me, Kathy, Mary, Alka, Shirley and Mel. We all drove down together in my car and stayed again at the Beacon Hotel. As we drove down, I reflected back over the past year and all that we had done, as well as all the things we had talked of doing during our trips to New York but had not yet done. The time had really flown by, and this would be the 9th and final trip to NYC in 2007 for some of us.

In our usual style, we packed it in. After checking into the hotel, we had lunch at the Citrus Bar and Grill (which we liked) near the hotel. Then we headed down to Times Square to get some play tickets at the TKTS booth. The line was a mile long, so we headed into the Marriott Marquis to wait for the line to shorten. We discovered the Broadway Lounge which had a wall of windows with a view of the Times Square circus below. We relaxed and enjoyed the ambience and felt very fortunate. As predicted the TKTS line had shortened considerably by the time we queued up, and we snagged the tickets we wanted. After the play, we tried to get into Carmine's at Times Square for dinner, but it was absolutely packed. We took the subway up to Carmine's on the Upper West Side. It too was packed with a long wait. We finally settled on a small Thai restaurant, the Lemongrass Grill, near the subway station, and enjoyed some good food and Thai beer. For once, Mel was unable to order her usual chicken caesar salad, and was forced to try something new, which she liked!

We slept well at the Beacon which had become so familiar and comfortable. The next morning, as Mary and Kathy slipped away to get their Starbucks fix, the rest of us relaxed, sipping hotel coffee and attaching our bibs and Champion Chips. As we emerged from the warmth of the hotel, the cool air chilled us. We walked quickly to the race start and seeded ourselves in the lineup. They had already set up the bleachers for the New York Marathon which would be held just 7 days later, and we all got a chill thinking about how cool it was to be running this part of the course today, and what it would be like running the entire course next year. All of us ran well...for me it was one of my fastest times ever. I had been training using the FIRST program, and it really made a huge difference. We all finished the race, and for me, Kathy, Alka, and Mary, we had accomplished our goal of running the 9 qualifying NYRR races so that we would be eligible for guaranteed entry into the 2008 New York City Marathon!! Shirley still had one more race to do, and Mel had two, so the goal was still well within their reach.

We celebrated on our way out of town by having brunch at Sylvia's in Harlem, which was a real treat.