The only way I can run the New York City marathon

One day last week, I woke up with a thought that I can run a marathon distance of 26.2 miles on Halloween day and just call it the New York City marathon as it was canceled this year due to COVID-19. 

Virtual Finish Line Pic

The NYC marathon was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday November 1st 2020. NYC marathon is one of the six world major marathons. The others are Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, Paris and Berlin.

A little about New York City marathon: Not everyone who can run or who has a credit card can run the NYC marathon. Since it is a popular international marathon and due to the course size limits, there are a few ways to get to run the NYC marathon:

• You can qualify if you are a really fast runner, like elite level. 
• You can run as part of a charity to raise money. The dollar limit has increased over the years. I don't know the latest requirement but it used to be $500 for a charity. I think it is over $3000 or $5000 now.
• You can get to run if you are part of the New York Road Runners club and you sign up for a series of race. This could be challenging if you are not living in or around NYC. 
• The last category is for a common person like me is a lottery. They say only less than 8% of the folks who enter the lottery get in. The number could vary but the odds of getting in through the lottery are slim.

This house always has great decorations for all the occassions

I have entered the lottery for the past few years but no luck. While I had the idea to just run the distance and call it the NYC marathon, I was checking their website if there is an option to sign-up for the virtual marathon. When they canceled the marathon they had this complicated process, where the first few hundred folks who sign up for the virtual marathon will get entry into the race in one of the following years. I was online at the time of registration. But the website said I had a two hour wait, a TWO HOUR WAIT to sign up for the virtual marathon. I got distracted as I had some meetings that day. I am sure even if I was able to sign in, I wouldn't have been in the first few hundreds.

Halloween

To my surprise, they had a virtual marathon option to sign up for. And I did. While I am on it, I thought I may as well run it this weekend instead of the Halloween day. So, I moved up my marathon plans by a week, WHY NOT!

If you are not into running races, and you are wondering 'what is a virtual marathon?'. Let me explain. A virtual race is a race that you sign up on the race website. You can run anywhere on the planet, upload your GPS tracking for evidence of running, and you will be considered completed. There are variations of this depending on the virtual race committee. You can do free virtual races. You can pay some money and get the race t-shirt and the medal. In some cases the results are a honor system. 

For the NYC marathon, you can run any day between October 17th through November 1st. You have to upload your GPS tracking results into an app call Strava, as Strava is sponsoring the event. I have been using Strava for many years, so really no prep work. Their website has this definition of a virtual race, A virtual race is a race that can be run at your convenience during a specified period of time. 

I ran the 2020 Chicago Marathon two Saturdays ago. I haven't run much since then, just a few training miles. I was not sure if my body was fully recovered. I was just gonna try running this Saturday, October 24th 2020.

It also dawned on me that this could be the only way that I may be able to run the NYC Marathon. 

With that in mind, I did no preparation :). My wife made pasta dinner the night before. I laid out my running gear all set to go. I went to bed a bit early than normal at 9 pm. I woke up at 3 am on Saturday early morning and got ready by 3:15 am. It was 31F weather outside. So, I was in semi winter gear for this Chicago weather. Yes, I live in Chicago area and I am running the virtual NYC marathon. If this is all confusing, no worries. Just keep reading :) 

Gear check: winter tights, base layer, jacket, hat, headlamps, reflector, red blinking light at the back for visibility. And out I go. 

It was COLD!!!. I think this was the lowest temps this year so far, but my mind was set in getting it done. The streets were lonely. Since I ran the virtual Chicago Marathon only a couple of weeks ago, I kind of knew what to expect. But anything can happen in 26.2 miles. I ran the same route in empty streets.

Love the lonely dark cold streets 

Also love the well lit bigger streets 

Safety first when you are running in the dark - red blinking light on my back

When I hit some milestones I did a Snapchat to the family at miles 6.2 (10k), 13.1 (half marathon), 16, 20 and 26.2. When I did the Snap at mile 6.2, I removed my gloves and it fell off somewhere! I had to backtrack a little to get it from the pile of leaves.

I had downloaded an NPR podcast 6-episode series and decided to listen to it. I like to learn about things that I usually don't come across in my job or life. This was an interesting podcast, the hosts were good and it was well made.

At around mile-12, I was listening to the podcast and just running on a lonely long dark street when I suddenly noticed two deer sitting on the grass near the sidewalk next to me. I had to stop and take a picture.

Two deer just chilling

A long lonely early morning dark cold run like this helps to slow down the time and enjoy everything. I admired the Halloween decorations in front of the houses, saw deer 3 or 4 times, an old rail track and an old train, various shades of the sky, fall colors and more.

Just liked this old rail track

The sun came out around 7 am. It felt nice to have some sunlight. It was still COLD! 

Love the fall colors

I was running on this street enjoying the fall colors when two runners were came up on the other side of the street. The lady went "Are  you Siva?". I am like "Yes". "I am Patty, Jung's friend. This is my son. We are also doing the virtual NYC marathon. Jung is looking for you. What time did you start?". Patty was going to go to NY and run the virtual marathon but decided to run in Chicago with her son Jimmy who is in college. We took a quick picture and went in opposite directions. 

Patty and her son are also running the virtual NYC marathon

At around mile-16, my running friend Jung joined me for a few miles. I had a quick pit stop around mile-17. Did I say I was not carrying any hydration. I want to see how much my body can push without hydration. It was 20 miles last time.  Jung is recovering from a plantar fasciitis injury. She ran a little over 3 miles with me. We ran towards her house. Once I dropped her, I had 6.2 miles to the finish. 

My running friend Jung

I switched to my favorite Bollywood songs for the last 6 miles which made me smile and push through the final miles. I picked up some pace and got it done!

It took me almost the same amount of time to finish the virtual 2020 NYC marathon that it took me to complete the virtual 2020 Chicago marathon a couple of weeks ago. I was happy with the outcome. My main goal was to enjoy a long run. Mission Accomplished!!

Customary Superman pose

I am grateful for good health, and everything in life. My wife Amy and our dog Nym came out to say "Congrats" when I finished! I was content to get it done. On to the next one!

Amy and Nym (if you can see our dog in the middle towards the back)

My physically and social distanced, global pandemic, solo, virtual 2020 Chicago Marathon

I wanted to capture my 2020 virtual Chicago Marathon experience when it was fresh on my mind. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Chicago Marathon was cancelled. I had run the Chicago Marathon for the past 8 years since 2012 and I was eagerly looking forward to the 9th one, but 2020 had other plans. 

Chicago Marathon is one of the six world marathon major races. Others are Boston, New York, London, Berlin and Tokyo. I consider it a privilege and a great honor to live and run in this race for so many years. The Chicago Marathon is usually the second Sunday of October in the beautiful fall weather which attracts around 40,000 runners from around the world. There are usually over 1.5 million spectators packing the streets of the city and the race runs through 29 neighborhoods. You can feel the diversity and the various cultures as you float through it.

"Ah, the sun is finally out!"

It's 3:45 am and I was ready to hit the road

Things that were the same this year:

• The nostalgic feeling leading up to the weekend.
• The pre-race meal and race prep.
• The distance. Yes, it was 26.2 even in the virtual edition! :) 

Things that were NOT the same this year:

• No marathon expo. This was a tradition.
• No bathroom lines before the race start.
• Nobody on the streets.
• No start line.
• No thousands of runners to weave around.
• No gatorade.
• No medal at the finish line.
• No 312 beer or the nutrition from Marianos at the finish line. 
• Oh yeah, did I mention, there was no finish line.

Dark and peaceful at 4:30 am

Purple lighting at this house

So, I signed up to run the 2020 Chicago Marathon virtual edition. 

What is a virtual race? You run the marathon distance of 26.2 at once anywhere on the planet and upload the proof of your run to the race website. I wanted to do my 9th Chicago Marathon, just to experience this run. I am sure I will remember this for a long time.

I did not train for the race at all. I ran a virtual 2000k this summer and was somewhat burned out. I was running very low mileage leading up to the race weekend. 

Yes, trying to take a selfie without
my headlight botching it.

This will be my second solo self-supported marathon distance this year. I ran the previous one during the July 4th weekend. That was a hot one in July. This one was much more pleasant.

I couldn't sleep the previous night. Woke up at 3:00 am, was ready to run by 3:45 am to head out. It was dark, calm and pleasant to run at the wee hours.

My plan was to run a half-marathon distance (13.1 miles) like a big loop in my neighborhood and stop for a quick sip of water and run another 13.1 loop to complete the 26.2 marathon distance. So, I did not carry water or any nutrition with me. I was not sure if I was being dumb or just winging it. 

Picking up some speed around mile-10

When my GPS watch hit 13.1 miles, I just felt good and kept running. I didn't get the sip of water until mile-20. I was keeping up good pace, enjoyed running in the early morning darkness with no one in the streets. The weather was surprisingly warm but the wind felt good. 

It felt good when the sun came out. It was a beautiful sunrise. I did a few snapchats to check-in with family at some major milestones like 10k, half marathon, 20 miles and at the end mile 26.2. 

Yes, I had red blinking backlights
along with headlamps and reflector vest

Halloween season is upon us

No one is out here

Fall colors

Halloween season: this house had elaborate decorations

My friend Jung came out to run a few with me,
we ran miles-21 to 24 together

I had 2 goals: to have fun and to finish within five hours. Both goals accomplished. This was by far the best race experience I had. 

When I finished the entire marathon distance, I really felt very good.

And that's a wrap up of the 2020 Chicago Marathon!

Finally done!!!