Get Guaranteed Entry When You Run for Charity

There is no better feeling than crossing the finish line of the ING New York City Marathon having run your 26.2 for charity. Register now to raise money for the charity of your choice (including NYRR’s official charity, Team for Kids) and guarantee your spot on the starting line on November 1.

Review charity options here.

June 1 Lottery Deadline Approaches

U.S. residents must apply for the ING New York City Marathon lottery by June 1.

Don’t miss your opportunity to run the ING New York City Marathon 2009! Apply here.

Run the ING New York City Marathon for Charity

There is no better feeling than crossing the finish line of the ING New York City Marathon having run your 26.2 for charity.

Register now to raise money for the charity of your choice and guarantee your spot on the starting line on November 1.

Guaranteed Entry Deadline is May 1

If you qualify by time standards or by having completed one of the other guaranteed entry options, you must still apply by May 1.

Don’t forget!

Visit here to find out about guaranteed entry options/qualifying standards.

ING New York City Marathon 2009 Application

The application launches today at noon.

Good luck!

Save 50% on 2008 Marathon Gear

Official stuff. Nice selection. All seasons.

Very good deal.

Shop here.

Join the Official ING New York City Marathon Facebook Group

It’s here.

A place to meet-up with other runners, ask questions, join discussions, etc. Good fun!

Look for a New Website in 2009

The ING New York City Marathon website is here.

We’re going to bust out a new design this year around the time when we launch the marathon lottery application in mid-February or so. Don’t hold me to an exact date…

At any rate, we’ve got a lot of good stuff planned, but at the moment it’s all under wraps. More info soon. In the meantime, enjoy a few of the videos from last year’s race.

Follow NYRR on Twitter and Get Healthy in 2009

We’re simply asking 30 minutes a day.

Follow NYRR as we twitter our way into a healthy 2009. Visit www.twitter.com/nyrr_challenge for 31 days in January and get in the habit of being healthy! Just follow our lead and you’ll have a great start to the new year!

Critique Week

Here at NYRR, we truly try to improve everything we do, particularly with the marathon, by examining and thoroughly critiquing what worked and what didn’t. That’s why we asked all of our marathon runners to fill out a survey about their race experience.

This week, we’re taking that information and breaking it down in a series of meetings that address virtually every part of the marathon experience.

There are a lot of exciting ideas being floated and a number of areas where we are striving hard to improve.

In any case, rest assured that we’re on top of it.

Thanks to all of the runners who make this race the world’s greatest. Your feedback helps us improve every year.

9+1 Guaranteed Entry Volunteer Deadline Extended

Attention runners attempting to qualify for the marathon through our 9+1 program. We have extended the volunteer deadline.

During the month of January, participants may continue to volunteer to receive credit toward their 2009 entry. Please note that no January volunteer activity will count toward 2010 guaranteed entry eligibility. As always, all nine races must still be run in 2008.

Support U.S Distance Running

Right now there is only one way to guarantee entry into the 2009 ING New York City Marathon.

How, you ask?

Run for charity. By doing so, you not only lock in a place on the starting line, but you have the added benefit of knowing that you are running for a good cause. At the moment, only one charity is open: The NYRR Champion’s Circle.

By committing to raising money for this charity program, you will help NYRR support U.S. post-collegiate and Olympic development training groups around the country. It’s a great way to support the sport we all love.

For more info, visit here.

More to Come

With the marathon now over and all the runners back into their routines and gearing up for the holidays, we’re starting our planning for 2009.

I can’t reveal any details yet, but we should have more info on INGNYCMarathon.org soon.

In the meantime, if you’re ready to run and want to lock up a spot for next year, there is a charity option already open offering guaranteed entry. With the long lead time to raise your funds, now might be a good time to make your commitment.

Have great Thanksgiving. And thank you runners, fans, and visitors.

Carrera de Amore!

And now another action packed episode of “Carrera de Amore” (the Race of Love).  What the heck, I wonder who rented all these trucks (and there are more I can assure you of that)…

It’s Over! Yay! Sigh…. (choose one)

Fred Lebow, the late, great New York City Marathon race director, wrote of the simultaneous elation and depression he would feel in the days following the race. He likened it to post-partum depression: All the hard work, all the waiting, is over, and you have something amazing to show for it, but there’s a palpable feeling of “now what?”

For runners and organizers alike, the marthon is a pinnacle of achievement. Having experienced PMD (post-marathon depression) many times, I can only say that it’s very real, so if you’re feeling it right now, you are normal. Don’t get carried away, but don’t worry that there’s something seriously wrong with you. Like your inability to walk down stairs, the sad wistfulness will fade over time. And there’s always next year to start training for!

It’s been great blogging to you.

-Gordon

Marathon Monday Sale

It’s at Tavern on the Green from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Lots of cool stuff. Finisher shirts, hats, hoodies, souvenirs, books, DVDs, and more. Details here.

Enjoy!

Race Day Coverage

Read our stories and look at the photos here.

Paula, Gomes dos Santos, Fearnley, and Hunkeler

Here are your winners.

What a great day! Unbelievable!

Stay tuned for complete coverage later today.

Watch WNBC 4 New York

Watch the world’s greatest road race live at 9:00 a.m. on WNBC 4 in New York. And don’t forget to tune-in to Today in New York from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. for pre-race coverage.

Viewers can also watch the race live online. U.S. residents watch at NBCSports.com/Marathon. International viewers, go to UniversalSports.com.

Learn more here.

Slow Learner

I joined a book group back in the mid-1980s, when I was young and single and had time for such things, and the first book we read was Slow Learner, a collection of short stories by Thomas Pynchon. Not much from the stories has stuck with me over the years, but recently I reread the introduction to the volume, in which Pynchon talks about the laborious process of becoming a writer and describes himself as a “slow learner” who has to absorb and reabsorb the same lessons seemingly endless times. On this morning of the 39th running of the ING New York City Marathon, I have awakened early and I’m thinking about my own laborious process of becoming a member of the vast collection of people who put on the marathon.

There is so much to learn in life, though as I get older I find more and more often that the lessons boil down to some of the same basic elements. To get a job–any job–done, you must see the job in its entirety, yet understand intimately the details that apply to you. You must establish and follow your priorities. You must check in frequently with your colleagues and communicate clearly with them. You must listen, really listen, and maintain at all times a respect for those around you. It goes without saying that you must do all of this thoroughly and efficiently–that is, you must not only work hard, but work well.

I have learned all these lessons many times, and yet I am constantly, constantly relearning them, and never more intensely than during marathon week. I like to hope that the learning process has made me a “seasoned” member of the marathon staff, but as NYRR Foundation executive director Cliff Sperber said to me yesterday at a beautiful memorial service for Ryan Shay, “The only thing we really know is that we don’t know anything.” This feels very true at the moment.

My mind is full of the day ahead–of the entirety of the ING New York City Marathon, which will see close to 40,000 people parade through the five boroughs, and also full of the details of my tasks and those of my team, which will center on reporting the day on the marathon’s website in words, photos, and video. It will be a long day, a day filled with many decisions and most likely some indecisions, as we all learn, slowly, how to perform to the best of our abilities. And at times we will feel that we don’t know anything.

For the marathoners, too, today will be full of unknowns. My amazing husband is to run his 22nd consecutive New York City Marathon today. It means so much to him to complete this race each year. Yesterday, while I worked all day, he shepherded our three kids around to the usual Saturday round of soccer practices and birthday parties, and somewhere along the line, while pushing the stroller with our 3-year-old, he strained his back. This morning, despite lots of Aleve and warm baths and rubbing, he is hobbling around the apartment. He briefly considered staying home, but he’s decided to go to the start and give himself the opportunity to run. He is extraordinary in the way that all marathoners are: for for accepting the unknowns, for not giving up, and for what he is capable of achieving.

Good luck, everyone!