New York Marathon 2002 The Original

Well done Alex!!

After too many distractions in retirement, it looks like I'm back .... managed a 20 miler today in 3 hrs 10 minutes. ... roll on April 23rd

BOBO ? T&T man ? Anyone going to the expo on the Friday ?
Trafalgar thistle on Saturday ?

Well done George, that's a great time.

We will be at the Expo on Friday but not sure what time we will be there. Send us you mobile no and we'll get in touch.

Did a 20.5 miler yesterday in 3:26 and felt reasonably good afterwards. We reckon we can add another mile on for the 1900ft of climb and the two hailstorms we ran through !!

Hello George & Bobo - good to hear that all is well. Might also be at the Expo on Friday. Email me nearer the date and let's see if we can synchronise sports watches! Won't be there for the Tafalgar get-together though - T&T Senior is coming to watch his son plod round the streets of London and doesn't drink (T&T-total ;-) so probably best not to inflict it on him!

Can't make concrete plans yet but 90 % certain of getting to thistle trafalgar hotel at 5.30 on Saturday evening.

And Redhead sends her regards - she is hoping to do New York this year.

Hi gang and hi Redhead too.

Seaweed and I did Zurich mara last sunday. It was very cold and extremely wet all day but it was a good event in spite of that. Not a good time I'm afraid due to being undertrained, but we got round in just under 5 hours and Seaweed was as fresh as a daisy afterwards.

Good luck to all FLMers

Good stuff, OB! Another one done and dusted - is Zurich a good race (apart from the nasty weather!)?

T & T - No problem, let's see if we can meet up at the expo. We will be partaking of the pasta meal followed by some retail therapy. I've got my eye on a Fullers London Pride running vest or cycling top.

Mrs B is getting so excited she's nearly ready to pop.

Now where's that Champion Thread, I need to run through some past predictions made by some Leeds fans re the Blades and promotion!!

T&TM

I posted this on the Copenhagen thread (I know, I know), so you might as well see it here since you asked.

"Zurich Marathon 2006

I’d not been to Zurich before, apart from squatting on the runway en-route to somewhere else. In many ways it’s a typical European capital city with a splendid chocolate shop bang in the centre. It isn’t huge, in fact quite compact and its main feature is the lake it surrounds.

Pros
Good sized event. Approx. 6,000 runners which is just how I like it.
Extremely well organised. (it is Switzerland after all)
Plenty of sport drinks, energy bars and bananas, even for those of us at the back
Scenic route, or it would have been if the cloud cover wasn’t at zero!
Very flat
Good crowd support, considering the bad weather, at least for the early hours
Good medal and finisher’s T shirt

Cons
The atrocious weather, which of course was just bad luck.
A sports drink and an apple do not count as adequate sustenance immediately after a marathon.

Highs
The ringing of cow bells and the calls of ‘hop, hop, hop’ in Alpine sports stylee, was novel and welcome.
Christian names were printed on number bibs and me being in UJ shorts when everyone else was in waterproofs and bin liners attracted the attention of the locals. I got about 200 mentions, including lots of ‘well done old chap’ and the like, whereas Seaweed got three. It was the reverse of New York where he got all the mentions for having ‘Seaweed’ on his vest.
For the above reason, having one of the bands break into God Save the Queen as we ran past was the big high with plenty of laughs.
Dancing past the Brazilian band (?) and getting their applause.
Getting back to the hotel for a swim and very hot Jacuzzi

Lows
A large part of the course was out and back alongside the lake which was ok but at about 30km, you turned and headed back out again for 1km which was a big downer.
Running the last 7 or 8kms on tram tracks with tight turns through a deserted city centre. I’m sure it would have been different in better weather but by the time we got there, everyone had gone and it was very bleak.

I expect more will come to mind but that’s it for now."

In spite of some of the above, I recommend it.

Thanks OB - looks like one for the future for me maybe. Nice size and flat is always good! Not sure about "squatting on the runway" though ;-)

Hello Bobo - hope Mrs B doesn't go pop with excitement before The Big Day. Congrats to the Blades - was chatting to my mate at the West Ham game yesterday saying how great it'll be having Neil Warnock shaping up with Jose Moan-inho next season (provided Jose doesn't get the old heave-ho in the close season, of course). I'm probably looking at Friday to register - any good for you and Mrs B, or George?

good to see you back on the thread and Well Done OB !!
Zurich sounds a bit like the Milan marathon I did in December... good crowds early on but lots of tram lines and cobbles just when least wanted !!!

T&T man, BOBO, hoping to do expo early on Friday cos I got plans for Friday afternoon. I'll know for sure by Wednesday.

trying to get myself together for berlin,but high mileage training,the peak of long runs and a family holiday on a steeply hilled greek island don't really mix...2 x 2 1/2 hour runs in a week,but grim conditions meant i had to head out at 5.45 am...
how is everyone-i can't now access this from work,so i'm not expecting a lot of instant banter,but we are also now moved out to newbury-so do come and see if you are about...

Following a merger we now have access again...hurrah
anyone else still running??have just got my macmillan entry for flm 2007 and determined to do better than berlin where i scraped 5.11 in 29c heat...melty.