I finished the 2024 New York City Marathon on November 3 with a time of 3:48:51. It didn’t go exactly how I’d hoped, but I’m still happy that I ran it, and it was fun.
I was lucky enough to be randomly selected in the lottery for the NYC Marathon this year. It’s the largest marathon in the world, with a course that takes runners through all five boroughs, finishing in Central Park.
Late in my training, I started to have issues with knee pain while running. I cut back on my running and started physical therapy. By the time of the race, I was in a good enough place that I was willing to run, but I felt that it was likely my knee pain would crop up during the race and force me to stop or slow down. My knee was all that was on my mind when I started the race.
In the first few miles, I was nervous but feeling good. I was running faster than I should have (about 7:40/mile), but because I thought my knee pain could make me walk later in the race, I figured it was sustainable.
I saw several friends and family members in Brooklyn, which makes up almost the entire first half of the race. Fortunately, my knee wasn’t hurting, so I help up my 7:40 miles through Brooklyn and Queens.
Feeling good in Brooklyn. (Photo: Rick Rees)
Crossing over the Queensboro bridge into Manhattan (mile 16), I started to slow down. Around that time, I was supposed to eat my next energy gel, but my stomach didn’t feel good and I thought that if I did, I might throw up. I’d been running too fast and not consuming enough food. And so, I totally crashed.
I slowed waaaaaaay down to something like 11-minute miles as I lumbered up First Avenue. I despised the slight rolling hills in this interminable section of the race. But I didn’t stop or walk. I kept running.
Eventually my stomach started to feel better, so I started drinking Gatorade at each aid station. This gave me enough energy to pick up the pace. I wasn’t running 7:40 miles anymore, but neither was I running 11-minute pace.
It felt good to be in Central Park, but it also felt like it just never ended. The last 0.2 miles between the 26-mile marker and the finish line felt like half a mile somehow.
And I finished! My official time was 3:48:51 — faster than my first marathon but much slower than my second.
Clearly, I should not have gone out as fast as I did. I should have kept a more consistent pace. But this is the race that I ran. I’m happy that I ran the race, and quite pleased that I didn’t have any knee pain at all.
Here’s a link to my watch recording.
