Marathon Sunday was yesterday and like all good former New Yorkers, my mind and heart turned towards Central Park.
Well, not so much Central Park-just the Verrazano Narrows. The start line for the race is on Staten Island.
It was literally outside the front door of my house when I was in high school living on the base at Ft. Wadsworth.
Unfortunately, on Marathon Sunday I always had soccer games. So we had to get up before 6am and get across the bridge BEFORE they closed it. But my dad and brother would hang around watch the start and then collect all of warm-ups that everybody ditched at the start line. We would go through it all, find the good stuff and take the rest to Goodwill.
Weeks before the start of the marathon; port-a-pottys would arrive, a mile long urinal, and all kinds of supplies would get into place. The whole fort would be a buzz. The kids in my high school that were from other countries would be selected to record arrival/start instructions in their native languages for the loud speakers.
It gets in you.
I spent some time this morning on the NY Times Marathon Blog and I just saw this video. It shows in two minutes what the start of the marathon looks like from the top of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. While you watch, to the right of the bridge on the water is a fort. Just above it is the road I lived on.
We spent MANY MANY days in high school exploring that old spooky fort. It makes you all kinds of nostalgic.
Maybe next year.
2 comments:
Oooh, that video gave me goosebumps. And now I'm more than a little jealous that you grew up that close to NYC. I knew there was a reason for that much coolness in one person.
That is so dang cool. I'm not at all inclined to run the marathon but I will totally come out & cheer for you whenever it happens.
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