Perfect Day for a Marathon

The 2007 ING New York City Marathon
[note: these and more photographs by Courtenay Morgan Redis can be found on my flickr page]

It is a morning that runners call perfect: crisp autumn air smelling of bengay under sun-filled skies. It must be the first Sunday of November in New York City, as there are more than 38,000 of them lined up on the entrance to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island.

First run as laps around Central Park in 1970, the now famous race spread out from Manhattan's center stage to wind its way through all five boroughs beginning in 1976. While the claim is ubiquitous in the race's promotion, it's a bit of a stretch to say the ING New York City Marathon travels through all five boroughs considering the visit to Staten Island is really all in the pre-race. Here the army of runners, volunteers and sprinkling of spectators stretch, wait to go to the bathroom, get chilled, get anxious, wait to get bagels and coffee, pace, go to big-tent church services, and then wait some more (even after the start gun fires) before finally stepping across the start line. Very little marathon running goes on in Staten Island, but the longest time in the marathon is spent there, it's true. Time spent waiting to just get on with it.

Some of the most famous photographs of this great race are taken from helicopters and other high vantage points as the mass of runners fill the Verrazano left to right, front to back. When was the last time you saw over a mile of runners, six-lanes wide, crossing a river at once? It's a grand spectacle, and one I've only seen from the runner's perspective...one day I'll make sure to shoot from the bird's eye view.

This year, I skipped the early morning bus ride to Staten Island, skipped the long warm-up along 4th Avenue in Brooklyn, toyed with the idea of catching the elite runners in Williamsburg (which reminds me of that great ad Asics created of the marathoner getting his cup of water from Orthodox Jews...see a blog I found that contains a photo of this "NYC is my running partner" ad) and joined the race in my beloved Queens. Exiting the 7 train at Hunter's Point at around 9am, I catch the majority of the wheelchair and handcycle racers (a division of the race that was introduced in 2000) come through at about the 14 mile mark.

While there hunting for a good vantage point, I record an interview with a local who, while pulling his own life together, has a mission of helping women in domestic violence situations. His method: he cleans the streets. Claiming that his is the largest work of art in the world, "bigger than Christo's," referring to self-financed artist millionaires Christo and Jean-Claude who in 2005 staged a public exhibition in Central Park called The Gates. By sweeping and hosing down, and decorating parking meters, Richard makes friends with local merchants who then allow him to advertise a domestic violence support telephone hotline (which he mans and a local grocer pays for). Look for a future post about Richard on this blog.

It is working to photograph the wheelchair and handcycle racers as they rolled by the subway entrance, since both the subject and the context work close to the ground, but I know I wanted something else for the elite runners. Something quintessential Queens. There isn't a ton of diverse-looking people on the sidewalks since there aren't a whole lot of people on the sidewalks in that part of Queens, period. I get a few shots of runners approaching the Citicorp building in Long Island City (the tallest building in this county), and a few with the Con Edison powerplant smoke stacks in the background. All in all, though, I am disappointed not to have a better idea of how to capture the marathon in my favorite borough.

Before long, an entourage of flashing lights and sirens on both two and four wheels blasts through and soon the unmistakable sound of a helicopter overhead alerts that the women's race leaders are fast approaching. My heart begins to race with excitement and suddenly I am second-guessing everything: did I pick the right spot? should I go shallow to blur the background or deep to capture some of this industrial neighborhood? shoot from the street or find a high platform? I can vaguely hear the band playing in the distance, so the women must be practically around the corner. No time for indecision. I kneel down, focus into a shady part of the street and choose an aperture of F4.

The women's professional field, which starts 35 minutes before the rest of the pack, includes two-time defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, and her nearest rival for the inaugural World Marathon Majors title (and a prize purse of a cool half-million), Gete Wami of Ethiopia.

It is thrilling to be within a foot of Olympians like world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, and close on her heels the great Gete Wami, who blaze past me on 44th Road where I am the sole spectator. Following close behind come a pack of three including two-time defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, World champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, and two-time Russian Olympian Lidiya Grigoryeva.

In my love of the sport and admiration of the women, I almost miss out on the photography side I am so busy cheering and clapping! Since I am making confessions here already, I'll admit that I greedily pocket the discarded arm warmer of Grigoryeva and glove of Ndereba. I may not wash these...ever.

Radcliffe, in her first race since giving birth to daughter Isla in January, finally shook off Wami in the final 500 meters when, after attempting a number of surges broke free after Wami made one attempt to surge and faltered. Radcliffe earned $130,000 for winning, plus another $40,000 for a time bonus. Wami won $65,000 for second place plus a $35,000 time bonus.

Wami's loss today is cushioned by her clinch of the premier of the World Marathon Majors, for which she earns an additional $500,000. [The World Marathon Majors is a championship racing series that is points-based, awarded every two years and includes marathons in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York (and the World Championships an the Olympics, depending on the year.]

After the professional women pass through, I know I have a short while to find a new vantage point before the elite men will come by. Walking just a few blocks further up course towards the Queensboro Bridge, which marks miles 15-16 more or less, I find a mailbox to stand on and a view of the smoke stacks in the background.

This Sunday is no different than the previous 36 years of the race except for one mark of distinction: the nation's top distance runners raced the day before in the U.S. Olympic Trials - Men's Marathon from Rockefeller Plaza through Times Square and five times around Central Park. The field does not lack for talent, however, both local and international.

Kenyan Martin Lel would later outkick Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, 2:09:04 to 2:09:16. Lel and Goumri had dueled similarly in April at London, when Lel sprinted past Goumri (in his first-ever marathon) to win by three seconds.

But at the time they speed past me (at a pace of about 4:25/mile) they are still surrounded by a group of about 15 runners that includes Kenyan Rogers Rop, South African Hendrick Ramaala plus New York first-timer Kenyan James Kwamba. Olympic and World Marathon Champion Stefano Baldini of Italy, also in the pack, would later place fourth in the day's race. The defending champion, Marilson Gomes dos Santos (Brazil), hangs on to the back of this prestigious pack who go by so quickly I only know what I've seen when I later review the images stored in my camera.

I catch the first pack of men here, and then climb down (as difficult as climbing up given that my left foot is stuck in a boot cast while my fractured heal heals) and clumped across the street to a clear-view corner. I kneel down on the curb just in time to see the chase group of four Ethiopian runners who train with the Westchester Track Club, including Demesse Teferea, Genna Tufa, Kassahun Kabiso, Worku Beyi and Derese Deniboba.

Close to 11:20am and I've already seen the best of the best fly through Queens. At the rate they're running, I may not catch them again if I try to make it to the Bronx, which was my rough plan going into the day.

Hopping on an E train into Manhattan, and waiting an interminably long time for a 6 train uptown, I decide to cut my losses. By the time I head out of the subway at 86th Street, I know I've missed the leaders running on the east side and, instead, head west to Central Park so I can have time to limp over and maybe even find a clear shot at around mile 24. To the Aussie I meet on the subway, hats off. Your encouragement allowed me to make the right choice and I only missed Paul and Gete by the time I made it to the park.

I most want to cheer on Ethiopian Atalelech Ketema, running her first marathon, and in contention to be the day's fastest female New Yorker (she lives in the Bronx with her husband Fitsum and 20-month old Nathaniel). She ended up the second local female in a time of 2:45 and change. Not bad for a first timer!

In addition to Ketema, I caught all of the lead men and my pals from the Westchester Track Club who placed 1-4 among locals. Tefera, Tufa and Kabiso won some decent wages for their high showing. With their top placing, the men defended their club title; and the women's Westchester Track Club placed third in their club competition with the help of Ketema, Brooke Garden and Cindy Pomeroy.

A perfect day for a marathon, indeed.