New York City Marathon '08

This is the wrong time for saying prayers
A kiss at the taxi will do
And if the Queensboro Bridge never gets you there
I'll be here waiting for you

-David Mead from "Queensboro Bridge"

DAN MCDOWELL 26M FF IL USA 2:51:33 0:21:37 0:41:45 1:01:39 1:21:36 1:25:57 1:41:57 2:02:04 2:22:26 2:42:36 6:32

I had a blast in New York City visiting friends and exploring the city. Not to mention running the marathon to record a new personal best time and my first negative split. I'm a little spent in terms of expressing myself at this points so I'm going to share some thoughts in list form and share lots of pictures (many of which were stolen from Ken Fandell).

• Thanks to those of you who donated to World Vision!  And, thanks to those who have donated to G.O.T.R. after Chicago!
• I ran with Robert for the first 20 or so miles.  He was a huge reason I was able to stay so steady and not waste energy during the race.
• New York City is a great place to be on Halloween.
• I would love to do a daily run in Central Park.
• The Ferry ride to the start was a lot fun, and had a beautiful view of the sunrise.
• It was really cold hanging out on the island before we began, but you couldn't ask for better weather for the race.  The wind was a factor, but not nearly as tough as the warmth and humidity in Chicago.
• I'm going to be tired and slow in Westchester at the Veterun 10k, but please say "hi" as it may be our last chance to talk for quite some time my friends!.

One final note before I put up a lot of photos.  I'll be gone from this blog for a while as I'll be relocating from Chicago to San Diego over the next weeks and won't have internet access.  However, expect a nice photographic entry as Jason and I will be hitting up several Rave Run sites during our nice road trip.