Setting New Records At New York City Marathon – Impressive And Intimidating As A Runner
We’ve talked about it on the show here and there. I’m a runner. Or I try to be. I haven’t run an actual race in a while. In fact, the last race might have been the Big Run 5K that Dub and I did together. But honestly, I want to get back to running more consistently, and sign up for more races. And I saw this morning that new records were set at the New York City Marathon this past weekend.
Running
I have never run a marathon. The farthest distance I’ve done is a half marathon, which is 13.1 miles. And that was a HUGE challenge for me. For my first half, I wasn’t nearly prepared enough. I didn’t think I’d ever run another. But since then, I have run 4 more half marathons.
I am not a fast runner. And I have no formal running training. I’ve been saying for a while that I’d love to have a running coach, because I really want to be more efficient and run faster. I think my best time for a half marathon was around 2 hours and 22 minutes. So, when I saw the new record set at the New York City Marathon, I was definitely intimidated!
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon took place yesterday, Sunday, November 5, 2023. According to New York Road Runners, the marathon brought around 50,000 runners to run that 26.2 miles. And of course, there were countless spectators watching.
In the men’s division, a new record was set by Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia. He wasn’t thinking of breaking the record, but he did it… by 8 seconds! Tola finished the 26.2 mile course in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 58 seconds. The previous record was held by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011.
Tola isn’t a first timer to the New York City Marathon. He finished fourth back in 2018 and 2019.
Again, as a runner… I am both impressed and intimidated by his finish time. It took him less time than it took me to run 13.1 miles.
The Women’s Winner
So, how did the women fare? The race was a bit closer for the finishers in the women’s competition. It came down to the final stretch when Hellen Obiri of Kenya pulled away from the pack in the last 400 meters of the race.
Obiri race the marathon for the first time last year, and came in sixth place then. This year, she took first place and finished in 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 23 seconds. The second place winner was just 10 seconds behind Obiri.
For the women’s competition, the course record is 2:22:31! That was set back in 2003. That’s like my HALF marathon personal best.
Goals
Now, I don’t think I’ll ever run a full marathon. Honestly, I tend to get really bored when running long distances. And then if I don’t train well, my whole body starts hurting.
I know I’ll never break any records like these amazing marathon runners, but I do plan on getting back to training more consistently. And then I’ll be picking my next races to run!
Currently, my goal is to get back to running at least 3 days a week. Guitar Pull season has made that a little bit difficult, but after next week, I have no excuses right? And then I’ll head into 2024 with a plan.
And in honor of setting new goals, here’s a look back at the last half marathon I ran earlier this year:
