We had been looking forward to our trip to New York for some time. I had been diligently training for the marathon for the past 18 weeks. The girls had been talking about “New Yawk” daily since they got their princess suitcases. It was going to be Gail’s very first time in the big city. We were excited! Then, about a week prior to our departure they started talking about Hurricane Sandy … the perfect storm. Unfortunately the forecasters were right and Sandy hit the northeast hard, especially New York. The worst of the storm hit on Tuesday. Seeing the images of the devastation on the news, I immediately thought that the marathon/our trip would likely be cancelled. While I was anxious about the uncertainty and disappointed that I might not get to run the race after months of early morning training runs, I felt terrible even having these thoughts when there were people who had lost everything in the storm, even some who had lost their lives. I prayed for the people that had been affected by the storm and waited. Then on Wednesday evening Mayor Bloomberg announced that the marathon would go on. He said that it would bring the people of New York together and be both a morale and money boost for the city. At this point in time LaGuardia was still closed, so our trip was still uncertain. But as of Thursday evening, the airport was open again and our flight on Friday morning was scheduled to depart on time. I was still a bit torn about whether going to New York at this time was the right thing to do – but in the end decided that not going would feel like I was giving up and I did believe that the marathon could be a positive thing to bring people together. So on Thursday night we packed and on Friday morning we got up early to head to the airport.
Kenzie & Lexi were beyond excited. They marched through the airport proudly pulling their princess suitcases. They happily boarded the plane and were requesting snacks and coloring gear before we even took off. The flight itself was a bit rough as Kenzie had no interest in sitting in her seat with her seatbelt fastened. Luckily it was a short flight and we soon landed in New York.
The girls were so excited when we met Granny & Aunt Janet in the airport and thought it was pretty cool that they got to ride in a taxi (on our laps because we didn’t bring their 2 huge car seats with us). The drive to Manhattan was more normal than I had expected. Traffic was not too bad except at the checkpoint before the bridge where the police were checking to ensure that each car had a minimum of 3 people in it. With the exception of the lines of cars at the gas stations that stretched for blocks, the parts of Manhattan that we saw during our drive looked fairly normal. We checked into the Hilton New York – which was bustling with marathon runners from all parts of the world, as well as many people who had been displaced from lower Manhattan and New Jersey due to the storm – and grabbed a quick lunch at Le Pain Quotidian – which always brings back great memories from Geneva. We then took the girls back to the hotel and put them down for their nap. Gail came over to our room to stay with the girls so that Randall and I could go over to the marathon expo to pick up my race number and look around. We had a great time exploring the expo with thousands of other runners, picked up some NY Marathon merchandise and contributed to the Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts.
When we were on the shuttle bus back to the hotel a girl a few rows back suddenly cried out, “I just got a text from a friend that she just saw on twitter that the marathon is cancelled.” A wave of anxiety spread over the runners on the bus … many who had travelled far to be here. “That can’t be.” “How can they be handing out race numbers if the marathon is cancelled?” “I’m going to be sick.” These were among the sentiments heard. Randall’s phone rang and it was his mom saying that she had just heard on NBC that the race was cancelled. Everyone on the bus was on their phones, checking for official confirmation. At that time there were still conflicting reports – some saying it was cancelled and others saying that the mayor’s office denied those reports. So we got off the bus still unsure, but by the time we made it back to the hotel it was certain. The marathon had been cancelled. The mayor and the NYRR association came out to say that having the marathon was becoming a source of controversy and division between the people of New York and that neither NYRR nor the City could allow a controversy over the marathon to result in a dangerous situation or to distract attention from all the critically important work that was being done to help New York City recover from the storm. I understood - especially since the marathon was to start on Staten Island one of the hardest hit areas – and I agreed that it would be terrible for the marathon to be a source of division & controversy. It was the right decision – I just wish that it had been made two days earlier before thousands of runners travelled thousands of miles to get there. I understood but was also admittedly disappointed.
So on Friday night Randall, the girls and I went out to a nice dinner and I drowned my disappointment with a nice big glass (or two) of red wine. After dinner we walked down to Central Park as the girls had been anticipating a horse and carriage ride for many weeks. Unfortunately we came to find that the carriage rides were not yet operating after the storm (Lexi interpreted this to mean that the horses were sick), and so we ended up taking a pedi-cab ride instead. That was quite an experience … one that we thankfully survived with only a few tears from Lexi – despite the fact that our driver/peddler made a u-turn into oncoming traffic at one point. We had him take us to Serendipity where our plan was to try the famous frozen hot chocolate for dessert…. But we were met with an hour long wait so decided to go for ice cream at Dylan’s Candy Bar next door instead. The girls enjoyed it and then we walked back to our hotel – a decidedly safer option that pedi-cabing it J A successful first night in the city that never sleeps despite some disappointment – hey, at least I ate and drank better than I would have had the marathon not been cancelled.
The next morning we were up and at ‘em fairly early. After breakfast we started walking to explore mid-town. We walked up to Central Park and the girls were delighted to see that the horses were feeling better and back to work today. We started at FAO Schwarz and the girls were quite impressed by this magical “world of toys.” We then continued down 5th Avenue for some shopping and stops to see Trump Tower, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller Center was all decorated for the upcoming election and Lexi even got to sit at the desk in the mock Oval office. We then went up to the top of the Rock. As we were boarding the elevator we explained to the girls that we would go up really high and get to have a really great view of the city. The first elevator took us up about 3 floors where we would have to catch a second elevator to the top, but when we got off on the 3rd floor the girls looked out the window at the taxis and Radio City Music Hall down below and said “WOOOOWWW!” They were already impressed … it was too cute :) They enjoyed the view from the very top as well – except that Lexi was not a fan of the outdoor viewing decks at all because of the wind – her new fear.
After their naps we headed back to Central Park to see the “horseys.” The girls enjoyed the carriage ride with our horse Dancer and it was fun to see Central Park at night. After our carriage ride we walked over to Times Square to take in the sights and do some people watching before heading to dinner. We had a great Italian meal and enjoyed some wonderful wine. The girls enjoyed coloring on the (paper) tablecloth. While Lexi was practicing her letters (her new favorite activity is to ask “Mommy, what your name starts with?” I then tell her and show her the shape with my hands and she writes it, not always resembling the letter very closely but she beams with pride :)), Kenzie was busy drawing “spaghetti” and then pretended to eat it with her fork and knife J Another fun filled day and night. We were exhausted from all of the walking and carrying of girls that we had done so ended up going to sleep by 10pm with the girls.
On Sunday morning I woke up early – feeling somewhat down as I was thinking about how I would have been on my way to the starting line. I decided to get dressed in my running gear – including marathon t-shirt – and head to Central Park for a run. Apparently there were other people who had the same idea. As I ran towards the park I started to see more and more people in their orange marathon shirts. When I got to the park there were hundreds of runners there. People were running both clockwise & counterclockwise around the park. I decided to take a loop going clockwise.
When I made my way around to the official marathon finish line (which had been set up prior to the marathon cancellation) there were hundreds of people gathering there and a group of people wearing “Run Anyway Marathon” shirts. Apparently a youth pastor from New Jersey started a facebook group to encourage people to come out to run and donate food, clothing or money to the hurricane victims and hundreds of people had showed up. One of the organizers announced that 4 laps around the park would equal a full marathon, but that people were welcome to run as short or long as they wished. I had planned to just go for a short run not to run a full marathon. Since I had walked many miles the day before, ate & drank whatever I wanted, didn’t think to put on any ‘body glide’ to prevent chafing that morning, didn’t bring along any Gu’s/energy drinks I wasn’t really prepared to run a full marathon. But, I was energized. Seeing all of these runners come out, uniting to help hurricane victims, brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to keep running. And so I did.
And as I ran 3 more loops around Central Park I was inspired by the power of the human spirit. Groups of runners from Germany, France, Mexico, Paraguay, Jamaica, the Netherlands, etc. came out. With each loop there were more and more runners on the course and people along the sidelines cheering. The people of New York came out to cheer and to hand out water and snacks. The atmosphere was amazing and uplifting and so I kept running until I had completed my unofficial marathon. And while it was a bit anticlimactic to cross the “finish line” it was a run that I will never forget. I made new friends and was reminded that people are good. Randall and the girls came out to cheer me on. While my hip was hurting, I felt strong. This is what I love about marathons. People from all over the world, all different shapes and sizes, come together and support one another to accomplish something difficult. It wasn’t the experience that I expected, but it was amazing. I am so glad that I decided to go out for a run on Sunday morning … I would have been so disappointed to have missed this experience. I had planned for this to be my last marathon … but maybe I’ll keep going...
While I ran, Randall took the girls to the Central Park Carousel. They were not fans ... at all! After the race we went out to lunch to celebrate and then all took a much needed nap. That evening we did bit more shopping and went out for some yummy New York style pizza. We then returned to the hotel and decided to treat the girls to a very special treat – room service cake & ice cream! They thought that this was pretty cool.
On Monday morning I woke up very sore. We didn’t have to leave for the airport until 2pm so we had more time to explore. The other things that we had been interested in doing in New York – Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero memorial, Children’s Museum – were all still closed after the storm so we decided to just head to Greenwich Village for a while. We strolled, picked up some treats and then walked over to Little Italy for lunch. Then it was time to head to the airport – and by this time I think we were all tired and ready to go. To give you an idea of what our taxi ride to the airport was like ... Kenzie pooped the second we got in the car and Lexi decided to scream that she wanted to see more horseys, she wanted to go back to the hotel, she did not want to go bye bye the entire ride to the airport. Our poor driver.
So while everything was not all rainbows, all in all it was a fun and busy weekend, filled with memories that we will never forget. As I sit here and write this I am watching an update on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on Rock Center. And as I see the images of Staten Island even today, I am 100% certain that they made the right decision when they decided to cancel the official marathon. The focus needed to be on recovery. But I am also happy that I participated in the unofficial marathon – it did not distract resources from the recovery and brought people together to run and at the same time support the recovery effort. It was an amazing experience that was part of an unforgettable weekend in New York. I love New York and continue to pray for hope & recovery!
I am also praying for recovery for my father. On Sunday evening, while we were in New york, I found out that my father suffered a stroke in Germany on Saturday. It happened while he was driving and paralyzed the right side of his body, which made him unable to stop the car and he ran into a tree. He lost his ability to speak so it has been difficult to really know how he is doing. We have been getting updates through his brothers & sister in law, but it has been hard being so far away. He will be in the hospital for 14 days and will then go to a stroke rehabilitation center for a minimum of 5 weeks. Please keep him in your thoughts & prayers.
