Bandit Report: Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon

As a regular listener (and infrequent guest) of The New York Running Show, I've heard Steve talk about the Brooklyn Marathon from its infancy. Over the past year there have been many discussions on the show about the need for not only more road races in the NYC Metro area, but more specifically another marathon. Steve's NYCRUNS staged several races this year but on Sunday, his dream finally became a reality.As race day approached, the newest marathon on the racing scene was featured in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Friends who saw either piece asked me in synagogue on Saturday if I was running in Brooklyn. "Kind of, sort of" I answered.

When Joe tweeted a few days after running the New York City Marathon that he was considering running the inaugural Brooklyn Marathon 2 weeks later, I thought he was joking.As the days went on, I would learn that he was serious. NYCM didn't go exactly as planned, and he wanted another shot at running a quality marathon in 2011. I am not in marathon shape but I really wanted to support Steve as well as be part of an inaugural race. I decided I would pace Joe through half of the race. Amy and several other Twitter friends caught wind of this and soon, Joe had his own entourage for the race. I finally met fellow New York Running guests Frank and Emmy. Emmy ran the NYRR Knickerbocker 60k (that's 37.2 miles) THE DAY BEFORE!

I didn't want to register for the race because then I would have a DNF on record. I already have one of those this year, I didn't want another. Which means I ran a part of the race as bandit. I made sure to bring my own fluids as it's bad etiquette for bandits to utilize the aid stations. The horn went off around 8:15 and the inaugural Brooklyn Marathon was underway. We kept the mood light and the miles were flying by. Newly minted ultramarathoner, Claire was out there cheering her head off. She ran the 60k the day but decided to take Sunday off from running. At one point Steve was driving around in a van and yelled at Amy and I "looking good bandits." Robin jumped in for a miles before falling back to support Sam. After our 3rd full loop, Amy and I peeled off. I know that Joe had a secret plan to get me to the run full distance with him. "C'mon, just one more loop" he was saying. I wish I had it in me to run the whole distance. It was a beautiful day and I was having a great time. I ended up running a little over 14 miles with Joe and left the park in a great mood. I found out later that the rest of his race did not go as well. He encountered some stomach problems but thankfully other friends were there to pick him up and he was able to finish the race strong.

Steve gets a HUGE congratulations on the Brooklyn Marathon. I'm sure there were things that went wrong along the way but  none of them were evident to the runners (or bandits). All of the runners I spoke with were having a great time, the volunteers were great, and the weather was beautiful. Maybe next year, I'll run it 3 weeks after Marine Corps.

Joe and I around Mile 9