Yankers or Bonkers? A marathon tale
2008 is the year of marathons for me. There have been lots of miles logged, and several pairs of running shoes worn out.
I signed up for the 83rd running of the Yonkers marathon because it was close,(1/2 hour drive), it was inexpensive($25 if you register early, $35 a month before until the morning of the event, and is the 2nd oldest marathon that is still active in the world. I even convinced Dave he should do it. Surprisingly we usually stick together during events, and he listens to my ceaseless banter 
This was marathon number 4 this year. The 2 loop, hilly, rolling course is not for setting records. The course is partially open to traffic. It was also a warm Sunday morning on September 21st.
Approximately 300 participants lined up at the start that morning, in front of the Yonkers library near the piers, overlooking the Hudson. The gun went off at 8:45. The first 100 meters is a slow rise until you pass the library, and make a sharp left to a short steep incline. Then another left to a less steep incline, that goes for a few miles. It is shaded and cooler early on. You can see the Hudson River and the Palisades between the houses to the left. The participants spread out within a mile.
After the first few miles the course makes several rights into steeper climbs. It tops out around mile 7 and then drops quickly. The back section of the course is in an industrial area which is now very scenic. It rises slowly again and then there are a series of quick inclines and declines. As you near the end of the first loop you run through downtown Yonkers which is not very picturesque either, and in fact seems to be a little sketchy.
There is a slow decline for about 1.5 miles back to the Yonkers library. We cross the halfway point and the 1/2 marathoners finish. My wife Melissa woke from her nap in the car a few minutes before we arrived to cheer us on and gave us some ‘More Cowbell’.
After a loop we got back to the incline that we started on.
Before mile 14 Dave was feeling woozy and it almost seemed like he was bonking. We walked a bit and I gave him a spare ClifShot and he took some Thermolytes. By mile 14 he seemed to feel a little better but it was getting much warmer, and the inclines seemed steeper. The drop on the back of the course beat up my quads more noticebly than the first time. When we hit the stretch of industrial area again, the sun was overhead and was beating down. It reminded me of what Anton said about the sun being hammer and the road was the anvil. I repeated this to Dave in my cheesiest ‘Ahnold’ accent.
Reapeating this section really beats you down. My legs were getting fatigued and sore. We passed through downtown again and new the finish was almost there. As the last downhill approached my quads were throbbing and I was felling spent. Dave looked like crap too. We came around the last corner Melissa was there to greet us with the cowbell again as we finished 4:28:04.
This was a rough course but the race was well organized and well staffed with volunteers. Aide stations were at every mile. Every aide station had water, and every other aide station had gatorade. They advised ahead of time there would be no gels or food at the aide stations, so I planned for this. Although some of the aide stations supplied some pretzels on their own initiative.
Afterwards they had a huge spread of pasta, and beverages in the library for the runners and they also had enough for the runners supporters as well. They invited my wife to eat up. The schwag factor was awesome. They had a light 1/4 zip windbreaker pullover with embroidered Yonkers marathon logo instead of a t-shirt.
For $25 I got a hard, hilly, warm, catered training run with great aide, schwag, and after run meal. I would hightly recommend it and I plan to do it again next year.