The first Sunday in November is New York City Marathon day. Last year 3.972 Italians (men and women) took part. Among them also the vice president of the Chamber Maurizio Lupi who concluded with a more than decent time under 4 hours. And good times have also been achieved in the past by the singer Gianni Morandi and the ez cyclist Davide Cassani. Even this year, despite the economic crisis, there will be more than three thousand of our compatriots who will gather on Sunday morning at the Staten Island military base, waiting for the most popular running event of the year to kick off at 10:10. .
These are significant data for a population that is reputed to be quite sedentary. A commonplace that could finally be debunked if we consider that from 2000 to today there are more than 20 thousand Italians who, at least once a year, run the 42 km and 195 meters of a marathon. As for the New York appointment, there were four victories by Italian athletes (2 times Pizzolato and then Gianni Poli and Giacomo Leone) and one in the women's field (Franca Fiacconi) as well as a second place (Laura Fogli).
For all the running people, the dream is to go running, once in a lifetime, in New York. Why? After all, in New York, as in Reggio Emilia, the distance to cover is the same, the athletic preparation is the same, the kilometers to grind in training are the same. Yet in New York everything is different: there is the charm of the city, but above all there is the participation of the city, the support that reaches above all those who are at the end of the race. Throughout the 26 miles of the route, the runner, especially the poorest, is never (or almost never) alone.
Let's start with the maximum time. In large marathons usually the maximum time (the one within which to arrive to be classified) is between four and 6 hours. In New York it's 8 XNUMX/XNUMX hours. In short, it is within the reach of anyone with a decent workout, at least in terms of resistance. And then there's a whole city that gathers around the race. Something unexpected and fantastic for those who, like our Sunday racing convicts, are used to taking all kinds of insults from motorists, annoyed by a competitive event that slows down traffic.
Most of the Italian runners (the reference is not to the top runners, but to the people of the "tapascioni", as the last in line are called) leave for New York on Thursday. So you have at least a couple of days to adjust to the new time zone. All are already in possession of the bib, to obtain which they had to sign up for at least six months, purchasing the relative travel package made available by some agencies that operate in the field, they did the canonical seven weeks of specific training (long and short repetitions , changes in pace, medium, long and in some cases very long runs), and are looking forward to Sunday.
The next day, Friday, in Central Park, where the marathon will end on Sunday, there is the traditional training of the Italians: a short leg walk at a very gentle pace (between 6 and 6 and a half km), just to ease the tension of the pre-race and maintain a minimum of confidence with the race. Then you go to complete your registration and collect your goody bag at the marathon centre. Meanwhile, we start drinking lots of water because the real risk to the body, in a race of more than 40 kilometres, is that of dehydration: and the runner must drink, not because he is thirsty, but because he must never be thirsty. At that point, anyone who wants can participate in a reconnaissance bus along the route. Which, organized by the usual ad hoc tour operators, is particularly useful, because on Sunday it will be comfortable to run in places that, at least approximately, are known.
Then on Saturday morning there is the official presentation of the race in the square in front of the UN building. An appointment that the Italians largely snub, but which is very funny, since the runners flock, often dressed in the national colors: the Dutch are extraordinary, all rigorously in orange. We play, joke and exchange shirts between athletes from different countries. Then everyone back to the hotel to drink water and eat pasta to accumulate the glycogen load (the marathon runner's gasoline). Some technical meetings usually take place in the afternoon: experts and former athletes of rank advise the many tapascioni on the best way to approach the race. Those who have to compete the next morning then go to bed very early. But not before having fulfilled some fundamental obligations: choice of clothing in which to run, based on the weather forecast; placement of the bib on the race shirt with the four ordinance pins, placement in the shoe strings of the chip (a gadget that will allow you to take the start, transit and finish times, but above all to check that the athlete follows the regular And here we are finally on the morning of the race: wake up at 4, breakfast at 5 (the hotels are prepared for the eventuality) and departure by 6 with special buses of the organization (the security measures are impressive) towards Staten Island , and the military base, place of the starting meeting. And here it will be a matter of waiting, waiting, waiting. Naturally all the athletes will be well covered, at least until half an hour before the start, when the bag (transparent for safety reasons) with overalls and jackets.It will resume upon arrival It is therefore necessary that the athletes also bring an old overalls or sweater to be thrown away only at the time of departure. Special voluntary organizations will collect everything and allocate it to the homeless and homeless in New York.
Finally we are at 10 and 10 and we leave: or rather the top runners and those who have the best bib numbers leave. Because, although there are three starting lines (the marathon will unify only after about ten kilometres) at least half an hour will pass between the start of the first and last competitor. Don't worry, because thanks to the chip everyone will have their own "real time". The race will take place in five districts of the city: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan. The passage on the Verrazzano bridge immediately after the departure was beautiful. From there we arrive in Brooklyn. The crossing of this district takes almost 20 kilometers. There is huge public participation which incites the athletes, especially the last ones. With the exception of what marathon runners call the mile of silence: the crossing (around the tenth kilometre) of a neighborhood inhabited by very traditionalist Jews, who do not hide their absolute disinterest in the marathon. One of the most evocative moments of the race is the arrival in Manhattan through what is perhaps the most demanding passage of the race: the Queensboro bridge. There is no public on the bridges and therefore there is no incitement from the crowd and therefore nothing is heard but the rumble and resonance of the footsteps of the runners. But then, in the end, a progressive noise of shouts begins to be heard, which becomes a real roar when you definitively leave the bridge arriving in Harlem. We are at the twenty-sixth kilometre. It's time to resort to supplements and malyodextrins to prevent muscles from succumbing to the aggression of lactic acid. The race will now develop entirely in Manhattan, with a long passage inside Central Park, from which it will exit to cross Columbus circle (less than a kilometer), and then return for the last 300 meters of the race. The race is over. The athlete is immediately refreshed with hot drinks, celebrated, covered by a special thermal sheet. Then, another three or four hundred meters, to return the chip and be awarded the "finisher" medal. Whoever shows up in a restaurant in Manhattan with this precious recognition in the evening will have free wine and beer.
As, perhaps, you will have understood, yours truly did the New York marathon. Indeed, she did it twice: in 2005 and 2006. At the end of a dignified tapascione "career" with ten marathons completed. In New York I had the worst times ever. Partly because I was at the end of my career and the ailments (including a hip prosthesis) made themselves felt, partly because I hadn't taken care of the specific preparation, as on other occasions. But I am convinced that New York is a party as well as a race. And you have to enjoy the holidays even if you have to go slowly. To make the weather better go to Reggio Emilia, Berlin or Rotterdam. To name a few of the routes that are considered fastest. But beware 42 kilometers are 42 kilometers! And therefore, party or not, the preparation must still be demanding.
