New York...another bucket list list that every marathoner should run once. It's THE New York City Marathon. Chicago, Boston, NYC. Check, check, check. And big city races aren't even my thing, but these are special.

New York, like all of the big city events, is expensive to run, and expensive to sleep in! We stayed at the Sheraton Times Square which was convenient and a big runner hub. My husband and I took the train from VA and cabbed it to the hotel, then walked to the expo and back. There are tons of restaurants too. I HIGHLY recommend carbo-loading at Trattoria Belvedere; wonderful little Italian restaurant, very cozy! The expo is big and crazy but laid out well and organized. We wandered around and bought a shirt after getting my packet.

The thing that everyone will probably talk about first when speaking of the NYC Marathon, is getting to the start. Fair enough, it is a hassle. But only in that there are a lot of steps; it's not difficult, in fact they make shuffling 50,000 runners around the city look pretty easy. My morning started early, even though the race didn't start till 10-something. After having breakfast and coffee, I made my way a couple of blocks down the road to the subway. Easy. Took the subway (with several other runners) to the Staten Island Ferry. Check. Hung out a while just because there was no reason to rush by now. It's warm and there are bathrooms (race day was COLD and WINNNNNDY). Finally got on one of the ferries, which was enormous and comfortable. Check. Got to Staten Island, took a warm bus to the start village. Done. Shivered and walked around the starting village until it was time to line up in my corral and wave.

The course is unique, meandering over the various bridges and through each borough. Very cool. Fantastic crowd support the whole way, lots of well stocked aid stations. Even in the windy weather, the people came out in droves to cheer us on. Passing Central Park in the home stretch was awesome, and crossing the finish line was special all by itself. Great medal too.

Exiting the finish area was lengthy but the walk is good for tired legs. I highly recommend not checking a bag so that you get the giveaway, in my year it was a sweet blue hooded poncho. Very nice for the walk back to the hotel with my husband. It's lined and pretty warm.

All in all, NYC is special. I never want to live there, but I loved running there. Take the time to explore the city, see the sights, enjoy the many, many restaurants, and cherish the run. OH...and eat a black and white cookie (my favorite!).