No Quit in NY: 2022 New York City Marathon Recap

If you’ve been around the marathon scene, you have heard that the Boston Marathon is amazing for its prestige but that New York City is actually a more incredible experience.  As a veteran of 4 Boston Marathons, it was hard to believe that to be true.  2022 was the year to find out.

I took a leave from the marathon while my children were really little.  My last competitive marathon was 2016, CIM.  The very last one that I ran was Big Sur in 2018- an adventure marathon.  My women friends have been running very fast over the marathon and that stirred some curiosity in me: if they can do that, what can I do?  My friend and neighbor Will ran NYC 2021 and completely loved it.  My running women Kaili and Meaghan planned to run NYC 22 and wanted me to come too.  Will’s family and my family are very close.  It was when my kids started asking me if I could run NYC like Will that I decided to go for it, diving back into the marathon world.  

It’s important that the marathon training itself be the journey that you love because race day can be flimsy.  Any number of curveballs can get thrown at you.  I have quoted Kobe Bryant many times here: the training is actually the “living the dream” part.  Training alongside Kaili and Meaghan and our crew of Strong Women and a handful of very fine men was living the dream. 

We found out in September that Kaili, Meaghan and I were selected for the Sub-Elite field at the New York City Marathon.  This was an unbelievable honour. A total of about 100 people were chosen as the most competitive entrants and would get to experience the race just like the professional field does. An amazing set up for an amazing adventure.  

With my bigger kids, I found that my body was able to adapt to the grind of marathon training again. I could still do the 6 days a week of training. I  could do the 100km weeks. I did the wild 32km long runs with 17km of work.  I made a training stop at 5km National Champs. I finally crushed a 5 and a half year old half marathon PB with a 1:24:57 performance at the Valley in October, following 2 x 100km mileage weeks.  I had a solid race plan from Coach Lee.  I had studied this storied course on my own with the thousands of hours of youtube content available. 

I was ready for the streets of New York, November 6, 2022.

Friday and Saturday:

The team lead up to the race was awesome. We did the New York things. 

Tawnya (Love Training More athlete who I coach) and I arrived in the city first around lunchtime on Friday.  We did some amazing carb loading in the iconic Chelsea Market. 

Kaili, Meaghan and support crew of Brett and Evan arrived mid-afternoon and we enjoyed the over-the-top expo. The very best moment here was picking up our sub-elite bibs from the designated sub-elite staffer who made us feel very special.  Thank you, NYRR.

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We had a delightful meal at a neighborhood Italian place and just enjoyed the privilege of being here, in this amazing city with this amazing opportunity to run the streets of New York.  

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Our team shake our run was carefully planned by team captain Brett Ruskin.  Will and Marc were now with us. We took the ferry down to the Staten Island Ferry. Brett  bike-led us along Battery Park with the Statue of Liberty alongside us.  So special. 

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Saturday afternoon, Tawnya and I wandered around Chinatown, ate mochi in Columbus Park, relaxed in our hotel rooms.  Then it was time to enjoy a team meal then a last women-team prep session in my room. 

I studied the marathon course carefully for this one, hopeful that it would help my execution.  I had the second half of the marathon divided up and dedicated to people.  The dedication idea came from my friend Dave Martin, who asked me at the last Hammer practice if I could run a mile for him.  Going to bed Saturday night, I had what I needed for a large day. 

Race day:

The weather conditions were not favorable. It was one of the hottest NYC Marathons on record: 23 degrees C with sun and 83% humidity. They were the same for everyone. The day had to go on.

Early in the morning, Meaghan said it best: “this is a forever day”. One of the ones you always remember. It was simply thrilling to experience this with my running women. 

The outcome of my race is already known. A 3:24:09. I had trained for and was prepared for the sub3 that Kaili ran. It’s very much ok that it didn’t happen. It was me who chose not to run the race that way. There are many ways to run a marathon- sometimes the best choice is to run it simply because you can. Because you are alive and because it’s fun and it becomes a celebration of yourself and the special city that you are in and these moments on foot through and with the city. The choice happened and I knew it was the right one. I had an epic, party filled 26 miles journey through New York City. 

Here is how it unfolded. 

The Sub-Elite experience was magic. The first order of the day was to arrive at the pro and sub-elite buses on 54th street between 6th and 7th. They would depart at 5:45am, for a police-escorted journey to Staten Island. 

Here we met Sam, the sub-elite coordinator. Big fun.  We boarded our bus, together as a trio, with 47 other women.  We were brought, with the pro field, to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, 3km from the start line, where we would chill, enjoy some refreshments and stay warm.  Then we would be bussed back to the start line and deposited just adjacent to the start line, where the first 100 spots on the line were protected for us.  

Just before I left for NYC, I was watching another runner’s youtube video about his subelite experience and it showed this elite walk to the 100 spots and my daughter breathed, “Wow, Mommy, you are going feel so special.”

That is what it was.

It was pretty awesome entering the track facility.  Meaghan asked what space we should claim.  I said, “Definitely the high jump crash mat.”  We set up here.  

I know it was the right space to claim because Des Linden claimed the other corner.

We did our chill…. As much as pre-race nerves allow one to chill.  The pro women began to warm up around us.  Sam, the Elite Coordinator, was giving announcements: 20 minutes to departure for the pro women. And so on.  We laughed at his last announcement, “Pro Women, your bus is leaving in 5 minutes, I am so serious right now, you need to be on that bus!”  

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Soon it was our turn to get back on the bus.  We would be deposited just adjacent to the start line.  

As I watched my fellow sub-elite women step off the bus from our back window, I saw one of my running idols, Alysia Montano. “OMG, look girls! It’s really her!”  

We get off the bus too and wouldn’t you know it, I walked through our very special corridor right onto our subelite start line with Alysia, after she gave me a big hug.  She was next to me. I said hello and I congratulated her on her important work with her non-profit, &Mother, and she hugged me.  We talked about our babies. She achieved having NYRR place lactation stations on the marathon course for nursing parents.   I talked about how my bra top was currently full of energy gels but 10 years ago, those stations would have been for me.  It was quite a moment.  She asked to take a selfie with Kaili, Meaghan and I.  Then she said, “Well, there’s me but there’s also Ashton.” Because Ashton Kutcher was standing right behind us.  

Of course, we spoke to him next.  Kaili said hello and asked if he was excited.  She asked him his goal. I asked him if he wanted some pace help, and offered for him to run with us.  Ashton asked what our goal was. I said we were running 2:57.  “WHAT!? Get outta here with your 2:57!” he says.  “I’m trying to run under 4 hours. 2:57. Jeeez.” 

So we did not run with Ashton. Possibly, our conversation can’t even count as a pep talk.  He was nice. And so pretty.  

Now it’s the final race instructions.  It’s the phenomenal jet flyover.  Meaghan, Kaili and I experience it in a group hug.  Now it’s go time.  I have watched this race start on television countless times spanning nearly 2 decades.  This time, the cannon and the Frank Sinatra are for me.  We go. 

The first 2 miles are over the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge.  It is steep. It’s the steepest hill of the day. 

Tawnya and I listened to this hilarious radio show on route to LaGuardia on Monday where the host was “blowing the whistle” on the New York Marathon, alleging that the bridge doesn’t even count, it’s all for show so that the ABC choppers can do their flyovers and the race actually starts at the foot of the bridge meaning the race is 28 miles long. Haha. The bridge was long. It was part of the race though! The downhill was way farther down than I expected.  Kaili and I were running fast. I was worried about our too fast splits here. I wanted to hit 5km at 21:00 to 21:10 to please Coach Lee. 

We were a little fast hitting 5km. I was having quite a problem. It started when I left the hotel that morning.  I couldn’t see well out of one contact lens.  Maybe something got stuck to it. They were brand new disposable daily lenses.  It was weird.   Usually tears will wash that out.  When we got to the buses, I decided that I might have mixed up the left and right contacts and should swap them. They have different prescriptions.  I do that in the bathroom of a hotel next to the buses.  But it doesn’t help much.  At the track, while we were running celebrity watching, I couldn’t see anyone’s faces.  I was trying to manage it.  Is it the contacts?  I switch left and right eyes again in the bathroom.  It doesn’t help.  There’s nothing else I can do. I tell Meaghan that I need legs, not eyes. 

Now that we are out on the course, my vision is cloudy. I can hardly see the numbers on my watch.  I have it on autolap and when it pops up each 1 kilometer split, that number is much bigger and I can mostly see it.  But I can’t read the mile flags on the course.  I can’t see the water stations ahead so I don’t know that we are at them until we are fully at them.  I can’t really see Brooklyn around me.  Now I am starting to lose control of my cool.  It’s probably something messed up with this 1 pair of disposable contacts.  I can’t take them out and abandon them, my vision is too poor.  My vision is also so poor that I need to get my eyes dilated to check on my retina health every year and my sister with equally poor vision has had a partial retinal detachment.  This is why I am freaking out.  I can’t confirm that it’s my contacts and not a retinal emergency and I can’t see my damn watch to keep myself under pace control. 

Kaili and I split through 10km, faster than the Coach Lee plan. Our support Brett, Evan and Leslie are stationed at mile 8.  I can’t wait to see them, except I can’t actually see clearly and can’t see anyone in the crowd.  

This section of Brooklyn is amazing.  It was wildly crowded and loud. I wanted to be together with Kaili when we saw our personal videojournalist, Brett.  Kaili spots them! AMAZING! 

Anticipating this moment had pulled me to mile 8.  But once mile 8 was over, I knew my race was going to change. 

I didn’t like the way that I felt. I was hot. My effort didn’t match Kaili’s.  Mine was more. I was internally spiraling out of control over my vision. I didn’t like this. And I didn’t come here, I didn’t pour all of this time into my athlete life, and travel away from my family to run this most amazing of races in a way that I didn’t like. 

I had no idea that this was going to happen but instantly and clearly- I had 2 polarized choices. Run a sub3 with Kaili or do whatever the heck I want, have a party with the city over the next 18 miles. There was nothing in between. 

I couldn’t really see the crowds in Brooklyn but in my mind, I saw little kid faces. My kids. They don’t actually care what the time on the clock is. People at home don’t care. I would be a New York marathoner, I would get my medal, no matter what way I ran the rest of this course. 

I chose the party. 

That was the last time I didn’t like something on the course. 

First, I made about a 6 minute stop at a medical tent and got the most excellent help fixing myself for the rest of the race. We took out my contacts, washed them out as best as possible, washed my eyes, put them back in. I could now see the writing on the physician’s clipboard.  I promised to stop at the next medical tent if it wasn’t improved.  Comforted that I wasn’t experiencing a retinal detachment, I was ready to carry on, party on.  

I stepped back on the course to have my personal NYC party.

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It was so much fun.

My race mile dedications could still happen, even after letting go of my performance goal. 

First up would be Queens, which would be for my husband. I chose Queens for him because he had been singing a Beastie Boys song to me all week. Over the Pulaski Bridge, stepping into Queens, all kinds of love hit me. The crowds here were incredible. So loud. Music: so loud. So much love for my husband explodes inside me. I am running along in that not sobbing but burning-your-throat-holding-it-back emotional outpouring that I only get on a race course. I live it deeply. 

I am now looking at the crowds, head up, smile huge and I love all of the “Go Erin’s!” I am receiving. There is a glorious parade of them. 

I do some raise-the-roofs. I do some airplane arms. I do the party. 

Queens: I loved you.

I know I am running this race right. 

Next comes the Queensborough Bridge which is for my son, Levi. He chose the bridge for his mile because it’s cool to run on a bridge and he remembers mommy running on the Confederation bridge at midnight. In my final week of training, with my final race prep, I had the pleasure of watching my kids race a 1 mile cross country race hosted by my high school team. Levi placed 4th, after three grade 5 students. As a grade 3 kid, he outran all of the grade 4 kids and the rest do the grade 5 and 6 kids. Afterwards, I asked him: “how did you do that? Outrun all the other big kids?” He said, simply, “well, I just believed in myself.” 

The Queensborough bridge is touted as the one of the hardest sections of the race as you leave the screaming crowds of Brooklyn and Queens behind.  Runners say that it becomes lonely.  It’s long.  I have planned to do what Levi does, “just believe in myself.” 

The bridge is quite long. For me, it’s not lonely though as I have my Levi with me.

The Manhattan skyline sparkles majestically, rising from the river next to me.  Someone next to me breathes, “Wow, there she is.”  Being on the bridge gives you an amazing unobstructed view of the city. It’s quite something. 

Off the bridge, you arrive in Manhattan.  Coming onto First Ave would be for my dad. Known as Thunder-Alley, this is known to be the loudest and most spectator-heavy part of the course. Here is where you can run a little faster and feel like a superstar. The last race that I ran at home on PEI was the 2021 PEI Half Marathon. My dad had been on the golf course with a golf partner who said to him, “oh, my daughter is running that race too.” My dad quietly responded, “my daughter is faster”. So here, I am the faster daughter. While I am not running as fast as my performance goal was planned to be, this is still fast. I am enough. 

This section is indeed a thunderously loud party. It feels like all of New York has come out to party with us.

A marathon is really long. First Ave does become really long.  I am at 27km. But I want to be at 32km.  There are 5km in between.  But there’s No Quit in New York. That’s the New York Ranger’s motto. We are going to the Ranger’s game in a few hours. There’s No Quit in New York for Erin either. I need this medal. 

I am thinking now about my daughter’s hockey team.  One little girl asking Coach Erin on Tuesday,  “wow, you can actually run a marathon? How old are you? My mom is 40 and she can’t run 1 centimetre.”  This child is not going to care what my final time is. Only that I ran the marathon. It’s not a “quit” when there is a medal in your hand. While there are moments where it’s long and hard at any pace but I always know I will make it.  I am happy that I have given myself permission to do whatever the heck I want and right now, that is high-five some kids. 

My favorite moment of the race was along First Avenue at mile 19.  I could hear a drum band up ahead. I couldn’t tell if it was all drums or if it was kitchen sink/pots/pans drums or what. I could just hear the steady thrumming beat… pulling me closer.  

This drum band was so New York: so extra, so large, so loud, so happy.  They infused me with so much race joy.  

I learned afterwards that this was Fogo Azul, the New York City based an all-women, trans, non-binary, gender non-confirming Brazilian Samba Reggea Drum Line. 

Filled up by these drums, I could now get myself to mile 20 for Dave.  No Quit in NY.

Again, the idea to dedicate miles to special people came from my friend Dave, who asked me at the last Hammer practice if I could run a mile for him. He said choose any mile. I chose mile 20, through the Bronx, as this mile is all about resiliency. I imagined myself stepping into stride with imaginary Dave on the Willis Avenue bridge into the Bronx.

I loved the Bronx second to Queens. The Bronx Run Club absolutely made me soar. I smiled so wide. I had been waiting for the Japanese Taiko Drummers and I loved locking eyes with a female lead drummer. The support was amazing. Imaginary Dave and I had the best mile run possible through the Bronx.

Over the shortest of the 5 bridges, the Madison Avenue Bridge, I am now back in Manhattan, in Harlem. Mile 21-23 is for my mom. I had planned for this to be the last section where I had to be patient but fierce all at once. My mom is both of those. When I hit here, I started to think about my mother. I saw her in the women in the crowd next to me. I ran with so much love here. I smiled hugely. It feels like 900 people are calling my name because they are. 

Mile 23 is for my late coach Cliff. I saw my friend Rami, fellow Cliff’s Antique at the last Road Hammer practice before I left for New York. He told me that Cliff would be so proud of me, about to do this marathon. When I was texting with Rami’s wife Tash after arriving in New York, I told her about how much that talk about Cliff mattered and how special it was that we are able to take turns to stand in for Cliff for each other. Now I had Cliff here with me, on this amazing race course, alongside Central Park with New York rising ahead of me. I ran for him. It didn’t matter what pace. Just that I am here and I am running and I am honoring myself and this city. 

Mile 24 to 25.6 were for me.  Through densely packed Central Park, this section was amazing.  The crowds were deep and the rope barricade seems to have been dropped and they have moved into the road some.   At one point, I locked eyes with a elderly gray-haired woman in the crowd. She was using oxygen vis nasal cannula. She nodded at me in a proud way and smiled.  I was doing this because I could. It was right. 

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My daughter asked me to run the last 800m for her.  She chose the sprint to the line to be for her. Serendipitously, there was a flag that read 800m to go.  My vision had cleared and I could see it.  It was Regan’s 800m flag.  I had asked my daughter what her message for me would be at this point.  She said, say: “Regan knows you can run faster than this. Do it.” I had a strong push to the finish- me and my daughter firmly projected next to me. 

The finish line is perfection. 

I did it right.

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I get my Strava post up quickly because I know that I have many loved ones tracking and wondering what happened. I needed them to know that I was happy- this was the party edition of the New York City Marathon. 

Did I want something different from this race? At the outset, I wanted something different. I had a performance goal. But you can only have what you get and I maximized what I got- my own way. I wouldn’t trade my party. Mile 8, that last mile that I ran with Kaili was not how I wanted to feel and I didn’t feel that way again.

I read a lot of content about how others experienced this hot day.  Here are some gems that I pulled out:

“My heart is filled with love and gratitude and as I get older I am learning that every healthy start/finish line is a win.” Aliphine Tuliamuk, USA, 7th place finish.

“It’s rare to find a more distilled, purified, beautiful version of humanity than in a place like NYC on the morning of the marathon. Look for it.  You’ll find it. I promise.”  Tommy Rivs.  

I found it, Tommy.

Kaili and Meaghan both went on to have seriously phenomenal sub3 performances, as the 3rd and 4th fastest Canadians: 2:58:32 for Meaghan and 2:58:35 for Kaili.  On that day, in that heat and 83% humidity, that is just phenomenal.  

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Later that evening, as my crew exited the NY Rangers Game, my friend Marc said to me: “our life is different from theirs (our other Hammers). We have kids. We have to train in a different way and race too. For us, it’s as much about this experience, the time together, the team together.” 100%. 

Thank you, New York, with love. 

Home: 

A fact that I know well: very few people care about your actual finish time.  They simply think you are awesome because you ran a freaking marathon.  No one at work on Tuesday asked me what my time was.  They just think it’s cool that I ran a marathon.

My kids didn’t ask about my finish time.  My daughter was just happy to have me home. My son took my medal and walked away with it. I wasn’t sure where he was going. He took it to the living room to hang it from the Christmas stocking hook on the fireplace, where he has already hung my USATF Indoor Masters’ Gold Medal.  It hangs there with no time attached to it.

At breakfast on Tuesday, my daughter happily chatted away about how she is pretty sure that I am a little bit famous for running the New York City Marathon and that someday, we will run the Berlin, Tokyo and London Marathoners together to complete the world majors.  

Look for it.  You’ll find it.