GaryMrMets
10-29-2005, 05:42 PM
All quiet on the course in weeks leading up to NYC Marathon
By ROB GLOSTER
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - It all starts at the world's longest urinal and ends at a tavern.
It passes by school yards and funeral homes, churches and check-cashing shops. It blurs social and ethnic boundaries as it crosses five bridges and curves through parks.
The New York City Marathon transforms the Big Apple for a day in early November, turning its pockmarked streets into giant pedestrian malls. The race takes over the city, replacing traffic chaos with the sights, sounds and smells of 37,000 runners and 2 million spectators lining the route.
In the weeks leading up to the race, though, there are few signs of the coming marathon. On a sunny Wednesday in late October, it's a routine business day at the laundromats and pharmacies along Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue. Delivery vans are double-parked up and down Manhattan's cavernous First Avenue.
It's the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, so the streets of Williamsburg in Brooklyn teem with Hasidic families returning from synagogue. In the Bronx, kids race home from school. In Queens, the pizza parlors are packed.
To get an idea of what the route looks like before the marathon takes it over, I pulled out my sister's 30-year-old orange one-speed Raleigh and joined AP graphic artist Chris Kaeser for a bicycle tour of the course and a taste of everyday life in New York City's five boroughs.
Take away the cars, add the spectators, and here's what the runners will see:
The marathon begins on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Bridge. Before two 75 mm howitzers signal the start, runners mingle in a huge athletes village at Fort Wadsworth. There are religious services on race day.
``Runners are pretty desperate, they'll latch onto anything to get through the 26 miles,'' says start coordinator Vic Navarra, who's been doing this since 1982.
The athletes village also offers 700 portable toilets and what Navarra boasts is the ``world's longest urinal'' at 285 feet - just short of a football field.
As they cross the bridge, with the Statue of Liberty to their left in New York Bay, runners jostle for position and prepare for a sharp turn at the 24-hour Sunoco ($2.93 for regular on that recent October afternoon).
Leaving behind the smell of fried chicken, they'll make a right turn onto Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue at the Pizzeria Uno. There won't be any time for dominos or Arabic Pumpkin Seeds at the Hookah Tea Room.
An endless string of traffic lights looms ahead on Fourth Avenue.
Runners hope they won't have to stop at the shoe repair shops or at the Art of Healing Medical Center. There seems to be a pharmacy on every corner. The brick Our Lady of Angels, with its handsome rose window, is not far from Las Rosas Funeral Home - which sits between miles 5 and 6.
Over the years, quite a few runners have knocked on the doors at Las Rosas and asked to use the bathroom.
``The family just looks at them and they understand,'' says funeral director Rosa Sepulveda. ``We try not to have a funeral that day, but if we have a removal we try to do it very early.''
Blue and orange marathon flags fly from light poles. Laundry flaps from the window of an apartment building. The Wash Depot offers professional dry cleaning and private mailbox rentals.
Many store signs are in Spanish. The Arabic script on the door at the Al-Noor Day School asks to ``Grant Me Knowledge.''
At mile 8, runners pass the Williamsburg Savings Bank, the tallest building in Brooklyn. Known as ``The Willie,'' the 512-foot stone building was built in the late 1920s.
The bank building overshadows a garden center that, in the days leading up to Halloween, offered pumpkins for sale. The campaign for New York mayor is in full swing, with bright blue ``Mike Bloomberg: Leadership for Brooklyn'' signs all around.
On this October day, a Mister Softee ice cream truck sits in front of the bank. The Vitamin Shoppe is across the street.
Just past the bank, runners make a right turn onto Lafayette Street in front of the Brooklyn Academy of Music - where a Czech film festival concludes on marathon day. Across the street is the Thomas Beisl Viennese restaurant and beer garden.
The restaurant will be open this Sunday, but owner Thomas Ferlesch knows from experience not to expect any marathoners to stop by for a bite or a brew.
``There are a lot of people climbing up on the window sills and using my bathroom, and nobody eats. All in all, I cannot say it is good for business,'' Ferlesch says. ``We are open all day, with brunch from 10:30 to 3. I wish I would have a group of runners decide that it's not worth it, let's just have some eggs Benedict.''
The course slants uphill slightly as it curves through Bedford-Stuyvesant. On Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, the Spanish signs are replaced by Hebrew lettering on temples and stores. Hasidic families with double strollers fill the sidewalks.
Right after the Williamsburg Bridge, at mile 11, a building-tall banner aimed at the marathoners proclaims:
DON'T STOP.
YOU'LL NEVER FIND
A CAB OUT HERE.
At The Bagel Store, part-owner Eli Rodriguez says runners in previous years have stopped in for a snack or water. They jog in place in line while waiting to order.
``Whole wheat bagels, grainy bagels are popular that day. The runners just want to get some carbs to finish the race,'' he says. ``And cookies, too.''
A few blocks past is McCarren Park, where the asphalt baseball diamond offers a view of the distant Empire State Building. Stan Liszewski was standing in the park a few years back on marathon day, drinking a beer.
``A guy running in the race grabbed the can out of my hand, guzzled the beer and kept going,'' Liszewski says. ``He was really thirsty.''
The route continues through the commercial section of Greenpoint, a neighborhood once home to actress Mae West. It passes the Lomzynianka Restauracja, a Polish restaurant, and Salamander Shoes. Then it's across the Pulaski Bridge (the race's halfway mark) for a short stretch in Queens, including a pass under the Long Island Expressway.
Halfway across the Queensboro Bridge, the United Nations looms to the left. There's a mild incline on the bridge, and on many days a stiff breeze blowing off the East River.
The pizzerias and barber shops of Brooklyn and Queens are replaced by Manhattan's trendy shops. Among the first stores runners pass after getting off the bridge is Vidal's Chandeliers (sconces for sale).
Then it's a long stretch on rutty First Avenue. On marathon day, it will be blissfully clear of cars, taxis, buses and delivery vans. Runners feed off the enthusiasm of the crowds, from the Upper East Side to East Harlem. Among the entertainment on race day will be the musical group Squirrels from Hell, at mile 19.
Those crowds can get so loud that runners lose their focus. Top American marathoner Meb Keflezighi got so caught up in the excitement during his first New York Marathon in 2002 that he picked up his pace too much and later struggled in the final miles.
``The crowd is amazing in New York, you have people on the street 10 deep,'' says Keflezighi, who was runner-up last year. ``It's definitely a lot of fun, with the different ethnicities and different backgrounds and different languages.''
The Willis Avenue Bridge, at mile 20, brings the course into the Bronx for a one-mile stretch. Crossing back into Manhattan on the Madison Avenue Bridge, Yankee Stadium is on the right in the distance.
The course continues onto Fifth Avenue, which is known for a stretch as National Black Theatre Way, and past newly renovated apartments looking out on Marcus Garvey Park. Central Park finally comes into view as runners make their toughest climb of the day.
Marathoners enter the park at 90th Street, a block before the Guggenheim Museum. Just inside the park is a statue of marathon co-founder Fred Lebow looking at his watch. Runners go the wrong way on the park's one-way streets, coming out briefly at 59th Street - even if they're struggling to breathe, runners will recognize that spot as a staging area for horse-drawn carriages the rest of the year.
Then it's back into the park at Columbus Circle for a final stretch that ends at Tavern on the Green, a former sheep barn.
On this October afternoon, a few joggers trot past the tavern without even a glance at the finish-area bleachers. It will be quite a bit more exciting this Sunday.
``You've got people on the left side and right side, in front of you, behind you and all around you,'' says Keflezighi, who will try again to become the first American man to win in New York since 1982. ``It's a great atmosphere. You definitely need that the last three miles to be able to carry in to the finish line.''
10/28/05 13:54 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
By ROB GLOSTER
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - It all starts at the world's longest urinal and ends at a tavern.
It passes by school yards and funeral homes, churches and check-cashing shops. It blurs social and ethnic boundaries as it crosses five bridges and curves through parks.
The New York City Marathon transforms the Big Apple for a day in early November, turning its pockmarked streets into giant pedestrian malls. The race takes over the city, replacing traffic chaos with the sights, sounds and smells of 37,000 runners and 2 million spectators lining the route.
In the weeks leading up to the race, though, there are few signs of the coming marathon. On a sunny Wednesday in late October, it's a routine business day at the laundromats and pharmacies along Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue. Delivery vans are double-parked up and down Manhattan's cavernous First Avenue.
It's the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, so the streets of Williamsburg in Brooklyn teem with Hasidic families returning from synagogue. In the Bronx, kids race home from school. In Queens, the pizza parlors are packed.
To get an idea of what the route looks like before the marathon takes it over, I pulled out my sister's 30-year-old orange one-speed Raleigh and joined AP graphic artist Chris Kaeser for a bicycle tour of the course and a taste of everyday life in New York City's five boroughs.
Take away the cars, add the spectators, and here's what the runners will see:
The marathon begins on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Bridge. Before two 75 mm howitzers signal the start, runners mingle in a huge athletes village at Fort Wadsworth. There are religious services on race day.
``Runners are pretty desperate, they'll latch onto anything to get through the 26 miles,'' says start coordinator Vic Navarra, who's been doing this since 1982.
The athletes village also offers 700 portable toilets and what Navarra boasts is the ``world's longest urinal'' at 285 feet - just short of a football field.
As they cross the bridge, with the Statue of Liberty to their left in New York Bay, runners jostle for position and prepare for a sharp turn at the 24-hour Sunoco ($2.93 for regular on that recent October afternoon).
Leaving behind the smell of fried chicken, they'll make a right turn onto Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue at the Pizzeria Uno. There won't be any time for dominos or Arabic Pumpkin Seeds at the Hookah Tea Room.
An endless string of traffic lights looms ahead on Fourth Avenue.
Runners hope they won't have to stop at the shoe repair shops or at the Art of Healing Medical Center. There seems to be a pharmacy on every corner. The brick Our Lady of Angels, with its handsome rose window, is not far from Las Rosas Funeral Home - which sits between miles 5 and 6.
Over the years, quite a few runners have knocked on the doors at Las Rosas and asked to use the bathroom.
``The family just looks at them and they understand,'' says funeral director Rosa Sepulveda. ``We try not to have a funeral that day, but if we have a removal we try to do it very early.''
Blue and orange marathon flags fly from light poles. Laundry flaps from the window of an apartment building. The Wash Depot offers professional dry cleaning and private mailbox rentals.
Many store signs are in Spanish. The Arabic script on the door at the Al-Noor Day School asks to ``Grant Me Knowledge.''
At mile 8, runners pass the Williamsburg Savings Bank, the tallest building in Brooklyn. Known as ``The Willie,'' the 512-foot stone building was built in the late 1920s.
The bank building overshadows a garden center that, in the days leading up to Halloween, offered pumpkins for sale. The campaign for New York mayor is in full swing, with bright blue ``Mike Bloomberg: Leadership for Brooklyn'' signs all around.
On this October day, a Mister Softee ice cream truck sits in front of the bank. The Vitamin Shoppe is across the street.
Just past the bank, runners make a right turn onto Lafayette Street in front of the Brooklyn Academy of Music - where a Czech film festival concludes on marathon day. Across the street is the Thomas Beisl Viennese restaurant and beer garden.
The restaurant will be open this Sunday, but owner Thomas Ferlesch knows from experience not to expect any marathoners to stop by for a bite or a brew.
``There are a lot of people climbing up on the window sills and using my bathroom, and nobody eats. All in all, I cannot say it is good for business,'' Ferlesch says. ``We are open all day, with brunch from 10:30 to 3. I wish I would have a group of runners decide that it's not worth it, let's just have some eggs Benedict.''
The course slants uphill slightly as it curves through Bedford-Stuyvesant. On Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, the Spanish signs are replaced by Hebrew lettering on temples and stores. Hasidic families with double strollers fill the sidewalks.
Right after the Williamsburg Bridge, at mile 11, a building-tall banner aimed at the marathoners proclaims:
DON'T STOP.
YOU'LL NEVER FIND
A CAB OUT HERE.
At The Bagel Store, part-owner Eli Rodriguez says runners in previous years have stopped in for a snack or water. They jog in place in line while waiting to order.
``Whole wheat bagels, grainy bagels are popular that day. The runners just want to get some carbs to finish the race,'' he says. ``And cookies, too.''
A few blocks past is McCarren Park, where the asphalt baseball diamond offers a view of the distant Empire State Building. Stan Liszewski was standing in the park a few years back on marathon day, drinking a beer.
``A guy running in the race grabbed the can out of my hand, guzzled the beer and kept going,'' Liszewski says. ``He was really thirsty.''
The route continues through the commercial section of Greenpoint, a neighborhood once home to actress Mae West. It passes the Lomzynianka Restauracja, a Polish restaurant, and Salamander Shoes. Then it's across the Pulaski Bridge (the race's halfway mark) for a short stretch in Queens, including a pass under the Long Island Expressway.
Halfway across the Queensboro Bridge, the United Nations looms to the left. There's a mild incline on the bridge, and on many days a stiff breeze blowing off the East River.
The pizzerias and barber shops of Brooklyn and Queens are replaced by Manhattan's trendy shops. Among the first stores runners pass after getting off the bridge is Vidal's Chandeliers (sconces for sale).
Then it's a long stretch on rutty First Avenue. On marathon day, it will be blissfully clear of cars, taxis, buses and delivery vans. Runners feed off the enthusiasm of the crowds, from the Upper East Side to East Harlem. Among the entertainment on race day will be the musical group Squirrels from Hell, at mile 19.
Those crowds can get so loud that runners lose their focus. Top American marathoner Meb Keflezighi got so caught up in the excitement during his first New York Marathon in 2002 that he picked up his pace too much and later struggled in the final miles.
``The crowd is amazing in New York, you have people on the street 10 deep,'' says Keflezighi, who was runner-up last year. ``It's definitely a lot of fun, with the different ethnicities and different backgrounds and different languages.''
The Willis Avenue Bridge, at mile 20, brings the course into the Bronx for a one-mile stretch. Crossing back into Manhattan on the Madison Avenue Bridge, Yankee Stadium is on the right in the distance.
The course continues onto Fifth Avenue, which is known for a stretch as National Black Theatre Way, and past newly renovated apartments looking out on Marcus Garvey Park. Central Park finally comes into view as runners make their toughest climb of the day.
Marathoners enter the park at 90th Street, a block before the Guggenheim Museum. Just inside the park is a statue of marathon co-founder Fred Lebow looking at his watch. Runners go the wrong way on the park's one-way streets, coming out briefly at 59th Street - even if they're struggling to breathe, runners will recognize that spot as a staging area for horse-drawn carriages the rest of the year.
Then it's back into the park at Columbus Circle for a final stretch that ends at Tavern on the Green, a former sheep barn.
On this October afternoon, a few joggers trot past the tavern without even a glance at the finish-area bleachers. It will be quite a bit more exciting this Sunday.
``You've got people on the left side and right side, in front of you, behind you and all around you,'' says Keflezighi, who will try again to become the first American man to win in New York since 1982. ``It's a great atmosphere. You definitely need that the last three miles to be able to carry in to the finish line.''
10/28/05 13:54 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.