Rebel Runners

Misty and Michelle ran as several Rebels cheered on the runners

From The General:
CONGRATS to the NYC Rebels, Michelle and Misty. Both ran terrific times. Misty bettered her first marathon time by over 30 min- what an accomplishment! Great job on your first, Michelle! Remember, walk down the stairs backwards. Your quads will thank you.

Official Race Website

Thanks Dar! I know I could not have accomplished it without being a part of the Rebels and having their support, especially at the race! Thanks again to all the well wishes and those who came up to NYC!

It was a perfect day for a marathon. The weather could not have been better! The course and crowd support were incredible and really helped get me through the race! I would highly recommend the marathon. At the start there was plenty of food and bathrooms. It really wasn't that bad waiting to start, other than being anxious, because there was plenty of room to sit down and relax. It was very cool also since I was a green start we got to see the elite runners start the marathon on the bridge and they all waved to us.

The course was extremely well marked for bathrooms, medic tents, and photos. No problems with water or gatorade as they were plentiful on the right side where I ran most of the race. I did start to cramp at mile 15-16, but I had my salt packets with me and walked a little and they went away. I stopped for Tylenol at mile 17 for the knee, foot and IT band pain and it seemed to help. They recommend you not take Ibuprofen, but I don't think I will make that mistake again! Ouch! Anyway, I saw the Rebels b/t mile 9/10 which was awesome! I then saw Mike and his friend Darius at mile 22 and it keep me going! Then luckily I saw the Rebels again at mile 22/23, stopped for a picture and some encouragement and it got me through the end of the race!

It was so awesome crossing the finish line! The only negative about the race was afterward we were kind of stopped up exiting and stood without moving for 10-15 minutes which was not good for the legs. Also, I am changing my last name from a W ending, my bag was at truck #72, which happened to be the last UPS truck in line! haha So really after all of the walking added, I think it was a marathon and a 1/4! haha
Take, care,
Misty



From Michelle:
I can finally walk comfortably again so I thought I would write about my experience, which was slightly different than Misty's.

The weather was awesome and much warmer than I expected, so I got to dispose of my gorgeous throw aways pretty early on in the day. My staging area experience was not as good as Misty's. I ended up bringing my bag to the baggage area later than she did and was almost stampeded by angry, frustrated runners waiting in line to drop their bags. In fact, some of them just left their bags and went up to the starting area. The baggage scene was crazy -- one girl even freaked out and had to be carried over the fence by some volunteers (claustrophobia I guess).

I then made my way to the start. Interestingly enough, there were no hard corrals in my start. It was supposed to be an all female start consisting of certain race numbers but, to my surprise, there were almost as many males as females. This led to a large bottleneck for about 3-4 miles, and I had to dodge shoes, throw away clothes, and other body parts. After 4 miles, it thinned out and I was able to look at all of the spectators. It was amazing!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many people in my life!

I tried to keep with the 4 hour pace group, but found that it was hard to take everything around me in, because I kept looking for the pace leader's balloons (to make sure I didn't fall behind). Finally, I gave up and decided to enjoy the rest of the race and the spectators. I stopped to talk to a few people, including George Durand from the Food Network (Ham on the Street). I saw my mom, Jimmy, and a few friends at mile 18 and hung out for a few minutes. I wish I had seen the Rebels, but I was running on the left side of the course and they were on the right. Even though I didn't see them, just thinking that they were part of the 2 million spectators kept me going (even if my legs didn't want to move).

And, of course, the post-race beer I had was probably one of the best tasting things I have ever eaten/drank!!

Thanks to all the Rebels -- you made my first marathon a great one (those who were there in body and those who were with me in spirit)!! All I have been thinking about since I got back from New York is which marathon I want to run next!!
Michelle

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