NYC Marathon: Running with a rabbi and a blind woman

Yes, I recently ran with a rabbi and a blind woman.  But first, let me give a little background...

In 2012, I registered for the NYC Marathon lottery.  When the lottery closed, I learned that I had not been selected to participate.  When expressing my disappointment to a friend, she told me of a charity that helps disabled athletes run the marathon.  The charity uses "guides" to help the athlete complete the race, and they pay the costly entrance fee.  I was intrigued.  I immediately looked into it.  Unfortunately, I had missed the cutoff for the upcoming marathon.

Fast forward to August 2013... On a whim, I decided to submit an application to work as a guide for the 2013 NYC Marathon.  Much to my surprise, I was contacted a few weeks later with an invitation.  I was assigned to help a blind woman from New Zealand run her first marathon.  I learned I would be part of a small team assisting her.  Over the next few weeks, I corresponded with the blind athlete as well as the other members of our team, one of which I found out was a Jewish rabbi.  In the meantime, Cory started feeling left out and worked his connections with JetBlue to get a slot running with the FDNY.

A few days before the race we learned that due to enhanced security at the starting line, my entire team would not be able to start the race together.  Two of us would have to position ourselves a few miles into the race and jump in when our athlete came by.  Those two people turned out to be me and the rabbi.

On November 1, we dropped the kids off with Grandma and Grandpa and hopped on a red-eye flight to New York City.  We landed about 5:15 a.m. on Saturday morning and began our whirlwind tour of the city.  After spending the morning sightseeing, we dropped off our backpacks at the hotel and headed to the convention center to pick up our race packets.  When we got there, I found myself in the longest line I had ever seen.  It stretched through the convention center, out the door, down the street, around the corner, and down the next street before doubling back and ending back inside the convention center.  Fortunately, it moved quickly.  We picked up our stuff, browsed the expo, and left to eat lunch and catch a matinee of Wicked.  After the show (which we totally enjoyed), we headed to the hotel and ordered pizza for dinner.  We called the kids, watched a little TV, and went to bed early. 

The next morning, we dressed quickly, checked out of our hotel, and headed to the Park Central Hotel to store our bags with the FDNY group.  Then, Cory hopped on a bus with the FDNY runners and headed to the starting line while I waited to meet up with my new rabbi friend to travel to mile 4 together.  The time passed quickly, and it wasn't long before Rabbi Michael showed up.  He was super nice, and we got along splendidly.  We made our way to mile 4 and started watching for our team to come through.  As I waited, I ate a banana and looked for a garbage to throw my banana peel in. I spotted a 50 gallon barrel and almost tossed it in...until I realized it was full of Gatorade waiting to be put in cups (see below).

We didn't wait long before the professional runners passed our checkpoint.  They were going FAST!  When the first wave of general runners started coming through, Michael held up a sign he made to help the team spot us (see below).

I was glad we had it.  When it started getting busy, it was a little stressful trying to spot them in the mass of people (see below).

Luckily, we found our runner.  We configured ourselves in a diamond type shape.  One person ran in front and acted as a snowplow.  Vinnie ran in the middle with her husband on her left holding a tether.  I ran on her right for most of the race (slightly behind her to help protect her from getting pushed from behind), and Rabbi Michael floated around as needed.  Here are a few pictures...

 

 

The miles passed quickly.  Between the spectators cheering and the live bands playing throughout the course, it was more of a 26 mile party than a marathon.  We were having so much fun, and Vinnie was doing great.  At the halfway point, however, she tripped on a piece of rubber sticking up from the road.  She went down, and I could not catch her.  She skinned her elbow a bit, which started to bleed, but otherwise she seemed ok.  We helped her up, and she started running again.

Around mile 20, her knee started bothering her.  She took some pain medication and we walked for a while.  Then we started up a slow jog again.  At mile 23, I got a phone call from Cory.  He was about a mile ahead of us and was waiting for us to catch up so we could finish together.  We met up with Cory and finished strong.  My blind athlete finished in 4 hours and 59 minutes.  She did amazing!

After taking a few group pictures and saying our good-byes, Cory and I headed back to the Park Central Hotel to get our bags, have a quick shower, and eat a plate of food (courtesy of the FDNY).  Then, we headed straight to the airport to fly home.  It was a very short weekend, but it was an unforgettable experience. Who knew that running with a blind woman and a rabbi could be so much fun!?!?!!!!