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November 11, 2022

NYC Marathon 2022: A Logistical Nightmare

Below is my email to New York Road Runners and some of my thoughts following the race…

I’ll try to be brief as I’d imagine that your organization is already aware of the issue regarding the buses that would take us to the start corrals from the Staten Island Ferry for NYC Marathon 2022, but it was far from ideal, to put it nicely. I took my first DNF in 50+ endurance events, including iron-distance triathlons, ultramarathons, marathons, half-irons, half marathons, and lesser distances.

New York Road Runners envisioned the Staten Island ferry trip would have been completed in 90 minutes, including the bus from ferry to start (https://help.nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon/s/article/transportation-times1). In reality, it turned out to be over double that time and deprived me of the opportunity to run the race as my body was fairly wrecked before I even had the opportunity to start running. In all, I was standing stationary in a packed crowd or standing on a moving bus for around 2.5 hours just following the ferry ride to Staten Island.

For some detail, I was on the 6:45 am ferry to Staten Island, went to the bathroom, and then walked to the buses to get to race start. I am pretty confident I would have been in the mass waiting for the buses beginning at around 7:45 am. I stood in the mass for over two hours and got on the bus at approximately 9:50ish as I recall missing my wave start time of 9:45 am while in the crowd. Throughout waiting in the mass for the buses, there were no people from the race org or even volunteers assisting with the process, which I found odd, given the giant bottleneck. To top it off, the bus I finally caught was standing room only by the time I got on.

Hopefully this can be avoided in the future with some more planning or additional resource management. Most importantly, hopefully this will help others from experiencing the same in the future. I have the experience to know I was failed by the race org., others may not. If you know what went wrong, I’d love to know as well and if you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Richard Chackman

December 29, 2013

From Ultra to More Ultra

Background: I had signed up for the Chicago Marathon way back in March 2013 and began an 18 week training plan for the race that began in June. I left my racing schedule open-ended after the marathon, in case I wanted to do an ultramarathon. While I had this goal in mind when I started training for the Chicago Marathon, I did not specifically create a training plan that would lead up to an ultra. I specifically wanted to train for Chicago and see what I was capable of in that race. With that training under my belt, I knew I could continue training for an ultra or two should I have wanted to do so after Chicago. It turns out I did want to train for those ultras.

NYRR 60K (Nov 16) through Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic (Dec 14)

Week 1: Monday Nov 18 – Sun Nov 24

Run Miles: 30
Total Time: 9:40:24

Mon – still in NYC for the NYRR 60K.

30 min walk to Central Park
6 miles (1:14:05)
45 min walk

Tue – 2 miles (20:00) on the treadmill

Wed – 7 miles (1:15:15)

Thu – 1:40:00 (25.17 miles) trainer Bike

Fri – Day Off

Sat – 12 miles (2:05:00)

1:20:00 (17.5 miles) trainer Bike

Sun – 3 miles (31:02)

Week 2: Nov 25 – Dec 1 – Thanksgiving

Run Miles: 48
Total Time: 8:10:00

Mon – 15:00 trainer Bike

Tue – 7 miles (1:10:00)

Wed – 6 miles (45:00)

Thu – 20 miles (3:15:00)

Fri – 12 miles (2:15:00)

Sat – Day Off

Sun – 3 miles (30:00)

Week 3: Dec 2 – Dec 8

Run Miles: 20
Total Time:

Mon – 60:00 (13.64 miles) trainer Bike

Tue – 4 miles (40:00)

Wed – 3 miles (30:00)

Thu – 3 miles (30:00)

Fri – Day Off

Sat – 8 miles (1:22:00)

Sun – 2 miles (21:00)

30:00 Strength

Week 4: Dec 9 – Dec 15 – Race Week

Run Miles: 56
Total Time: 8:41:30

Mon – Day Off

Tue – 4 miles (38:08)

Wed – 2 miles (20:00) treadmill

Thu – Day Off

Fri – Drive to Tallahassee

Sat – Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic 50 miles

Sun – Day Off

December 19, 2013

NYRR 60K

Where: Central Park, New York City

When: Saturday, November 16, 2013

What: 9 loops + some, around the Central Park inner loop (about 4 miles)

Race HQ in Central Park

Photo finish!

my biggest fan 🙂

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	5:56:33.7	38.17	9:20
1	9:45.6	1.00	9:46
2	9:44.1	1.00	9:44
3	9:30.9	1.00	9:31
4	9:41.8	1.00	9:42
5	9:26.8	1.00	9:27
6	9:39.8	1.00	9:40
7	9:10.9	1.00	9:11
8	10:13.8	1.00	10:14
9	9:15.6	1.00	9:16
10	10:03.3	1.00	10:03
11	9:16.2	1.00	9:16
12	9:46.0	1.00	9:46
13	9:00.8	1.00	9:01
14	9:03.1	1.00	9:03
15	8:58.2	1.00	8:58
16	10:01.8	1.00	10:02
17	8:57.3	1.00	8:57
18	8:58.5	1.00	8:58
19	8:58.4	1.00	8:58
20	9:02.1	1.00	9:02
21	9:03.5	1.00	9:04
22	9:26.8	1.00	9:27
23	8:51.2	1.00	8:51
24	10:16.5	1.00	10:16
25	8:53.7	1.00	8:54
26	9:18.9	1.00	9:19
27	8:45.5	1.00	8:45
28	9:08.7	1.00	9:09
29	9:19.2	1.00	9:19
30	9:46.6	1.00	9:47
31	8:39.9	1.00	8:40
32	8:52.5	1.00	8:52
33	9:48.4	1.00	9:48
34	9:22.1	1.00	9:22
35	9:13.1	1.00	9:13
36	10:38.6	1.00	10:39
37	8:29.8	1.00	8:30
38	8:10.3	1.00	8:10
39	1:53.3	0.17	10:49

Logistics: First off, I decided to do this race the Monday of race-week. I was searching around runningintheusa.com for an ultra that coming weekend or the one after that. I found the NYRR 60K and decided that would be the race. It worked out well since Helena still has an apartment in NYC and it’s a road ultramarathon, much like the Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic, which is what I was getting ready for. So, I booked a flight for Friday after work. Well, our plane to NYC was delayed and I don’t think I laid down for bed until about 1 AM. Luckily, Helena had already ordered my pre-race breakfast and some groceries, which were waiting for us at her building when we arrived. Needless to say though, I slept very little and woke up around 5 AM to have breakfast and get ready for the race.

Race: The race went very well and was not all that eventful. The weather turned out AMAZING. It was raining before the race started but cleared up almost immediately as we began running. It was in the mid-50’s for the entire race. I felt really good through about 30 miles and started to get a little tired on the last few loops. I credit my pacing and fueling for a great race. I held back a little to make sure I finish and wanted to save some in the tank for my 50 miler next month at the Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic. This one was a great success in my book for a first ultra.

OFFICIAL FINISHING TIME: 5:55:38

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