I took these photos in 2008 when I was a proud Fort Greene denizen. I lived a block from the NYC marathon route and the sound system rented by my neighbors at Lafayette and Cumberland beckoned me to the festivities. We cheered, hit the Macarena, the electric slide and all manner of line dances in celebration of intrepid runners from all over the world. Barack Obama would be elected the first Black president the following Tuesday.
My life is now happily headquartered in Harlem and this Sunday, the sixth day of November in the year of our lord two thousand and sixteen, I will (by God’s grace) be running 26.2 miles for the very first time. The following Tuesday, we will elect our first woman president and bid our beloved Barack farewell.
I haven’t always loved running. I grew up cycling around my hometown of Seattle with my dad and sister but during a brief stint on Lakeside School’s crew team, I grew to despise the the required training runs. When I went to boarding school in Hong Kong, long walks and bike rides through Sha Tin served as my preferred meditation. In college, I often wandered the sidewalks of Atlanta to the bafflement of friends who didn’t understand why I insisted on slumming it but on those walks I maintained my bearings. I looked on the world and aimed for renewal but often settled for daydreaming myself impervious to whirlwinds of life.
My time in NYC has been distinguished by walking, the grid of Manhattan or the bridges linking her to Brooklyn. I used to walk to work over the Brooklyn bridge, and through lower Manhattan to my job in the Union Square area. I took up running about 9 years ago at the suggestion of a personal trainer who was concerned with my reliance on the elliptical machine and I more than took to it. It transformed my relationship to my body and helped me manage the twin onslaughts of anxiety and depression.
Last year, after running my first half marathon without issue, I found out I had decades-long untreated ACL and meniscus tears, which have resulted in advanced arthritis (I have virtually no cartilage in my right knee) and an immediate need for a knee replacement. I’ve had knee pain and instability since a knee trauma in high school and I consistently sought medical treatment only to be dismissed or offered speculative and inaccurate diagnoses. It’s frustrating to have done my due diligence and have to confront a life-altering reality because of medical malfeasance. That said, I am encouraged. I know that I will run other marathons but after this I will table the long distances until I can get Adrian Peterson’s doctor to fix my right knee.
My start time is 10:40 am and my bib number is 43122, I’ve run quite a few half marathons and consistently complete them in 2 hours and 7 minutes but I intend on running this marathon rather slow. I predict I will finish in 5 and half hours. You can track me via the TCS NYC Marathon App by my name or my bib number.
Should you find yourself by the route, give me a shout or juju on the beat one time.
