Post Marathon New York

On the Monday morning following the race we have a leisurely start with our first activity being brunch with Dick Traum - the founder of the Achilles Trust. Our NZ Achilles team walk on mass to the restaurant, we have to walk a number of blocks and I feel not too bad pushing my way there considering the marathon I did the previous day. Unfortunately some of my Achilles team mates aren't quite as luck and are walking a bit gingerly.

Achilles Team Dinner

In the afternoon Denise and I walk up to Central Park to check out the post marathon events. I take the opportunity to engrave my finishers medal and to purchase a few more items of clothing. We then stroll around a small part of the park and then try to find a cup of tea near the Columbus Circle at the south western corner of the park. We find a nice enough place but the tea ends up being POD tea, made like pod coffee. Our Earl Grey ends up tasting rather unusual. The day is end with a team dinner which is fun and a great opportunity to have debrief of the trip so far and the marathon. I really am in awe of my team mates who have achieved so much.

Tuesday our last full day in New York and it is a chance for us to have a look around. We stock up for the day with our awesome buffet breakfast, some fruit and muffins from the buffet even manages to find its way into my backpack. We head away on foot heading south and west towards the Hudson to link up with the High Line. The high line is a raised pedestrian pathway that utilises an old elevated railway. After

Highline Walkway

walking the length of this we find a good expresso and then flag down a taxi to take us to Ground Zero and the one World Trade Centre. The taxi driver zips us downtown and as we exit the taxi we are greeted with One World Trade Centre towering above us.  We take a few photos and then head to the newly opened Ground Zero Centre. The wheelchair is again given priority treatment when we cue for tickets and entry. After entering the building you are taken down into the basement and foundations of the North Tower. As you descend the story of the tradegy is told with photos, video and the voices of those involved.  This place is informative, moving and put together magnificently. As we exit we are greeted by the memorial pools which are a truly emotional place.

One World Trade Centre

It is a beautiful day so we eat our snacks and then head towards the Hudson for views of the Statue of Liberty. After spending some time by the river we track down a bus and head back up town. This first use of public transport is interesting with the bus well setup for wheelchairs. Denise starts up a conversation with a fellow passenger who insists we go to Savannah when she hears we are heading south. We round the day off with a show on Broadway, Jersey Boys. Prior to the show we look for a bar to have a light snack. We end up finding a Cuban bar opposite the theatre with a 3 piece band playing some very cool latin tunes. The food is excellent too, we could have stayed all night. Jersey Boys was a great show with both of us having a great time, our seats were good too being only a few rows back. On the way back to the hotel we grab a slice of New York pizza which helps appease our appetites before bed.

Our last day in New York is busy and emotional as we pack to leave. Kiri and Peter are taking many of the party back to NZ, they are also taking back my racing wheel chair. After breakfast it is farewell hugs and kisses as the team leave for the airport and we take a taxi to the train station. We only just fit into the cab with my wheelchair and our bags. Again when we get to Pennsylvania Station we are given special assistance with a porter taking us and our bags to the train. Goodbye New York - I hope to return sometime.

The Marathon - New York City

The day of the marathon started early with a 3am start although with daylight saving finishing we did get an extra hours sleep.  Following toileting and getting dressed in the marathon race gear, black skins top and black exercise pants, I wipped down to one of the hotel meeting rooms to pick up breakfast at 4pm. The early start was too early for the kitchen so they had prepared breakfast packs for us containing fresh fruit salad, water, energy bar, banana, yoghurt and of course a bagel. They had also provider a waiter who served us hot tea or coffee and ticked our names off as we collected our goodies. 

At 4-30am I meet with Peter & Rob, gave Denise a hug and a kiss and then headed out to walk to where the buses were waiting on 5th Avenue. This walk took about 15 minutes and it was amazing the number of people still on the streets, quite a few Halloween revelers were still around - many worse for wear. We got to our buses at about 4:45am which was right on time. Prior to getting to our buses we past stacks of other buses that were waiting for the hoards of runners that would be arriving soon.

I loaded the bus with Ian, another NZ Achilles athlete who was competing on a recumberent cycle powered by his legs that were amputated above the knees. Ian suffered massive injuries following the blast from an explosion which injured his legs, left him with no right elbow and a brain injury. If you watch out you may see him compete in the Rio Oympics at swimming which he is going to try to qualify for. Also next to me on the bus was a Norwegian, he was making a comeback to the sport after 10 years having recently completed the Berlin marathon. There were probably about 13 wheelchair athletes on our bus from countries including Germany, Peru and even the USA! I imagined that as soon as we were loaded we would leave for the start line, instead we waited for almost 2 hours. Apparently we were waiting for a Police escort which did eventually arrive including CHIPS style motorcycle cops.

Celebrating post race with Ian Winson

As we drove off from 5th Avenue it was starting to get light so we could few some of the city. We eventually got to a road that was next to the river and we started to see some of the bridges, firstly Brooklyn bridge and then the Queensborough bridge which we would cross. Onward we went with our police escort, through the Wall St area of lower Manhatten and then into a very long tunnel under the Hudson River. We then drove on a freeway to the Verrazona Narrows bridge crossing it to get to Statten Island and the start.

With the delays of waiting for the police we only had about 15 minutes to get to the Achilles area, go to the toilet, get the racing chair ready and myself loaded but no decent chance to check things over. We were lucky though to have Peter Loft with us to help get organised. We then wheeled to the start line and waited about 20 minutes for the 8:30am start for the push rim mens. Before we get going we have a couple of speeches, including a short one from the mayor and then the "Star Spangled Banner" was sung and we were under starters orders. I am feeling good at the start line; a little nervous but eager to get going and I am feeling fresh even with the early start and the jet lag - LET THE RACE BEGIN!

With Peter Loft - Mr Achilles NZ

I was at the back of the mens field along with my Norwegian friend, a couple of Peruvians and 2 guys with standard chairs. The hooter sounds and we are off. By the time I get over the 2 electronic timer bumps the rest of the field have left me behind except the two guys in standard chairs. The race starts with the climb up the
Verrazona Narrows bridge, a vertical climb of about 50 metres over 1.3km. I make slow but steady progress with my training at Staveley definitely helping. As I near the crest of the bridge some of the elite women fly past me.

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

On the way down the bridge I get my speed into the +40km/hr zone. One decision I have made prior to the race is not too take any of the corners too quick, I don't want my race to end with a crash. As I desend the bridge another women goes past me so I follow her as closely as possible to help gauge the best speed and line.

I get off the bridge without any drama and then go through a few corners and get my first "Go Kiiwi!" call after someone recognises my black silver fern flag.  Next is a relatively steep little climb which takes me to the start of a very long and virtually straight run through Brooklyn.  This part of the course is undulating and the crowd support is pretty full on with many people giving me encouragement. I am in a rare position of travelling through the New York marathon course almost exclusively alone and I am therefore able to interact with the crowd in special way. I find myself pushing hard on the uphills and then once my momentum is built up on the downhill I look around and check out the sights. I can't stop a big smile on face, this experience is incredible and several times I get a tingle up my spine....part of my spine that is!!

Through Brooklyn my progress is really good and I am averaging a speed in excess of 16km/hr which is about the race pace I will need to finish the race in 2 1/2 hours. As I progress through Brooklyn there are some distinct neighbourhoods including a Jewish quarter and it also seems to get more affluent with leafy suburbs and more recognition of my black silver fern flag. After getting through Brooklyn the next milestone is the Polaski Bridge which takes me into Queens. I seemed to spin through Queens pretty quickly maintaining a + 16km/hr pace, although I am aware the Queensborough bridge is still coming up, I will need reserves to tackle this beast.

Head Down and Pushing Hard!

The entrance onto the bridge is not ideal with an uphill grade and tight left turn which leaves me at a virtual stand still.  As I start climbing the Queensborough bridge it seems a lot older than the Verrazona Bridge, it is also gloomy as we are on the lower level. With security tight following the bombing at the Boston marathon there are no spectators on the bridge so you are left in the quiet with your own thoughts although the silence is broken with a train rumbling  above me on the top deck of the bridge. As with Verrazona Narrows it is simply a matter of putting your head down and pushing as hard as I can. On the way up the bridge I notice I am still releasing air from my left wheel when I brush the valve with my glove. On the bridge with me is a cyclist, one of the race helpers, I get his attention near the crest of the bridge and get him to tighten the valve for me again. Unfortunately he does not have presto valve dust caps to fix the problem.

Once I am over the crest of the bridge it is time for another speedy decent although I have been warned the corner at the bottom of the bridge is a doozey and sure enough I see the hay bales again and there are plenty of marshalls warning me to slow down. The corner is basically a long hairpin which allows you to turn back underneath the bridge and start 1st Avenue.  This is one of the iconic parts of the course; loaded with spectators and therefore very noisy and a special piece of architecture.

1st Avenue under Queensborough Bridge

When I start 1st Avenue I have travelled about 26km and I am still feeling good. 1st avenue starts with a little downhill and then starts to climb and I push on with an average speed still in excess of 16km/hr. After the noisy and large crowds at the start of 1st Avenue the crowd starts to thin as I get further up the road, it is a bit like Brooklyn again with a long straight that last about 6km. By the time I get to the end of 1st Avenue there is only the occasional spectator, one elderly african american women shouts support to me "Goes Achilles!", these moments when people recognise your group or country are cool.

I am now have to climb another bridge (Willis Avenue Bridge), a smaller one but it is still a decent haul up to the crest and then I drop into the Bronx. The Bronx don't seem to last that long with 6 quick corners over about 1.5km. I do get my hearing assaulted in the Bronx by some some huge speakers and hippop music. As I climb another small bridge to exit the Bronx I realise this will be my last bridge :-)

 I am now getting pretty close to home (35km) and I get a vehry quick look at Harlem which tries to out noise the Bronx with another huge DJ speaker outfit. When I reach 5th Avenue and Central Park I can hear somebody reminding me that "The marathon starts at Central Park", and this is absolutely spot on for me.  With the park on your right you start climbing 5th Avenue, I knew that there was a climb here but didn't realise how long it was. By now I am definitely not feeling that good and the arms feel empty which makes the climb challenging but I seem to be going slower than I should. I look down at my left tire and realise it is now nearly flat which is making progress very difficult. The climb never seems to stop but eventually I make the top and then I am into the park and descending quite steeply and I am rather cautious not knowing how the flat tyre will handle. While I am going through the park I am looking and asking spectators if they have a pump without any luck.

The route then takes me back out of the park and I have now completed more information 40km and there is another very small hill to conquer but ever uphill grade with the flat is tough and I am running on the rims now. It is then back into the park, a downhill and then a uphill to the finish. The last rise to the finish line is painfully slow and the stands full of people around the finish all start backing me and chant "PUSH, PUSH, PUSH!!". This not how I wanted to finish crawling over the line but having all those people support me was a real buzz! Once through the finish I am given my medal, there is photo and then on through all the helpers getting ready for the flood of runners.

Finished!

Eventually with some help I get to the Achilles area where Deniďse and all the others are waiting and I can relax. Denise gives mea kiss and I am wrapped up to keep warm and we go to find my standard chair and I wrestler my way out of my race chair. It looks as though I completed the marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes, not my target but I am happy to finish. Recovery means food, drink and a change of clothes and we then wait for Ian to come in. Ian eventually makes it to the Achilles area and is in pretty good shape considering the fact that he was very sick and dehydrated yesterday. After some recovery for Ian we head to some transport for the trip back to the hotel. There are 2 reasonably large SUV's waiting for us, no Chevy Suburban's as I was hoping for though! Unfortunately they have nothing to accommodate Ian's power chair so he is forced to go back to the hotel in via the footpath. Once back at the hotel I am feeling pretty good and surprisingly don't sleep following the very early start. The day is concluded at a bar just up the road from the hotel with World Marathon Tours arranging free drinks and nibbles. The beer definitely taste sweet and I eat like a horse.

Arrival in New York and Lead Up to Marathon

We arrived in New York after a very long travel day, flights were on time right through to Newark Airport New Jersey on Thursday evening.  Earlier arrival at LA all went well with one exception, my large bag with most of my gear did not appear at bag claim and it appears to have been left in Auckland!!  An Air New Zealand staff member at the bag claim area confirms the bag is still in Auckland. She tells us we need to register the lost bag with United Airlines at the end of our journey at Newark Airport. She also suggests the bag may be put on the very next aircraft leaving Auckland for LA later in the evening. Fingers crossed the bag won't be too far behind us, at least we have the race chair.

We clear customs and immigration meeting the most surly official you could imagine. Bags are then dropped at a transfer desk and we head to the next terminal, although not before we take a team photo.

Achilles New York  Marathon Team - 2015

We decide to walk to the next terminal to stretch the legs and get some fresh air, we are going from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 to get to our United Airlines flight to New York. It is a nice fine day in LA but where we are walking we are not in the sun, just breathing in car fumes from the roadway we are next to. The entry into the United Airlines terminal requires a security check and therefore more queues, shortly though an airport official asks me to go to the front of the queue. This will happen many more times in the states where they treat people in wheelchairs very well. The security check is eventually finished, surprisingly it is less intense than the Auckland International Airport check where they did everthing they could to me and my chair except getting the rubber gloves out.

Once in the terminal we take the opportunity to grab a bite to eat with some time before we board, this is our first experience with American cuisine and American coffee. The food is ok but the coffee very average. We do have a chance to chat to a nice American bloke who recommends some places to visit as we head down the East Coast after the marathon. We board the United Airlines flight which is a bit chaotic with the staff not to sure how help the wheelchair passengers. We eventually get on with our seats right at the back of the plane, it looks like wheelchair passengers don't get special treatment from United Airlines. The flight takes about 5 hours which doesn't seem too long as I chat to the passenger next to me, a United Airlines staff member who is off to the New York marathon! On arrival we get all our luggage which is a relief, I then register my lost bag with the United Airlines luggage desk. We are given a tracking number for the case and we are then off in a van with a nifty wheelchair lift. It is about 10pm as we are driving from Newark airport in New Jersey to Manhatten, it is a mass of lights and multi lane freeways. We get to our destination via a tunnel under the Hudson River and eventually through some jam packed streets. When we get to the hotel we try to check in but it looks like the wheelchair accessible room we should of had is not available so we will need to change rooms the next day. This sort of thing will happen all the way through the trip.

View First Night - Intercontinental Hotel, Time Square

Once in the room both Denise and I collapse and we end up digging into the mini bar and order room service as Denise can't face heading out onto the streets. When we finally collapse into bed and we have no problems getting to sleep, before I head to the land of nod I assess where I am at without my main bag. This main bag has most of my toilet equipment. I do though have quite a few catheters both in my wheelchair and my backpack. What I don't have is my special toilet seat which I need for my bowels. I therefore hope my bag won't be too far away and my bowels can hold on!!

Day one in New York starts well with our hotel having an excellent breakfast buffet which is part of the deal with our World Marathon tours package. Denise then heads away with Janine from the tour company to see if they can get me a toilet seat or other options and some clean undies! I though need to stick with the team who are heading to the Marathon Expo at the Jacob Javitz Centre, a massive exhibition building near the Hudson River.  Here we get our race packs and get to look at all the branded marathon clothing for sale, I take the opportunity to buy a few of my supporters back home some garments. Again as a wheelchair user I get preferential treatment which is handy when the queue is about 200 people long! Once the purchases are made I go to the "bathroom" and then make tracks back to the hotel. I meet up with Peter Loft who helps me navigate back. Denise is back with clothes, toilet supplies but no seat and my bag still hasn't arrived. This means I need to either wait for my suitcase or perform by bowels on the bed; I choose the former and continue the wait for the case and cross my fingers it turns up soon. With the rest of the afternoon free we have a look around Time Square and over to 5th Avenue, the weather is mild and as usual there are people everywhere.

5th Avenue, Macys and Empire State Building

After going in a few shops and catching a look at the Empire State building we find a shop selling phone SIM cards and buy a card that gives us a months usage with unlimited phone calls and unlimited data. During the trip we will find out that the data is not that great, very very slow. After this I head to Bryant Park which is a bit of a refuge from the packed streets with small stalls, trees and seats with tables while Denise continues to have a look around the shops. I find a stall selling coffee, good expresso coffee, and check my internet banking and other stuff using the data off the new SIM in Denise's phone. While I tap away on my tablet there is a game of ping pong going in the park and ball rolls over to me and I throw it back to the rather showy players. The coffee is good and Denise returns and we head back to the hotel via the GAP shop to buy me some jeans. Shopping for trousers for me in the US is great with extra long options easy to find.

That evening we are off to the the Achilles Pre-marathon Pasta meal and all the NZ Achilles Athletes walking around. When we get to the hotel we start seeing other wheelchair athletes and the comraderey is great, lots of knuckle punches and friendly support. We have a good evening with plenty of food and drinks and good conversation. When we get back to the hotel there is still no news about my bag so we head to bed with me making more enquiries about the bag.

Day two in New York and one more sleep until the race! There is also good news with an email saying the bag is now at Newark Airport and is awaiting delivery to the hotel along with a heap of other bags to be delivered to various Manhatten hotels. I head to the buffet breakfast hoping the bag can get to me before the All Black RWC Final. We are due to meet at an Irish Pub to watch the match but before this Peter Loft wants me to help take my racing chair to the transport arranged to the finish. This takes longer than expected so we go directly to the pub and when we get there we find it is a Basement Bar with steep steps the only access. We therefore go to a next door bar which is also showing game. The first half all goes well with the All Blacks doing the job with the try just before half time extra good. Just as the whistle goes for halftime I smell something.....looks as though my bowels have said enough is enough. I then spend halftime and most the second half dealing with this. I get to watch the end of the game and it is a good result in game.....a pity about my bowels.

Peter and I then head back to the hotel where I am happy to find my bag has arrived but Denise who never left with the rest of the athletes and guides has gone a city tour. I finish cleaning myself up and when Denise gets back we head out for a quiet meal and then hit the sack early for the race tomorrow...one more sleep!