The trip
For March, we’d already booked to go to the US with Ciara’s parents and I managed to incporporate a small race on our route from New York City to Niagara falls. It’s called the Two Rivers Marathon in Lackawaxen Pennsylvania and it had a very local feel to it, completely different to the large scale marathons I was familiar with.
It was back to Gatwick again for a Norse flight to JFK. We had four days exploring the city and did a lot of the standardtourist stuff. I did feel especially like a local though on my morning runs around Central park. Given the grid nature of Manhattan and the constant road crossing if you don't run laps of a single block, Central Park is where everyone goes to do exercise. The main path around the park was a highway at 6 am of runners and cyclists, solo and in training groups.
We picked up our car from East 92nd and it was a baptism of fire for me on my first day driving in the US. An ambulance came up behind me almost straight away and we missed an important turn towards FDR Drive. The lack of phone signal didn't help with the rerouting but we did eventually get back on track, not to say it was easy with the extreme congestion anyway. After an hour or so the roads did widen and empty out was we headed away from the city. We made it to our Airbnb and we were on the road again briefly in the morning for the short drive to the start line.
The race
We parked up outside the fire station across the road from the start and headed to pick up my number. It wasn't a long wait from then until the start at which point I said thanks for hanging around to Ciara and her parents and got on the move. There wasn't much for them to do, especially early in the morning (just have a look at Lackawaxen on Google street view) so I did want to be fairly quick to not keep them waiting too long.
The race was a double out and back, once for those doing the half marathon and twice for those. It was wonderfully sceninic folllowing the Lackawaxen River. The name of the race comes from the town being the meeting point of this and the Deleware river. The gentle noise of the river and not much else was very peaceful and the road we were running on didn't quite have the same traffic flow as NYC.
The first turnaround came fairly quickly and I was soon on my way back. My travel companions were waiting at the start area to cheer me on in between their shorter walk around the town. Again I turned around and started mile 14 and was kindly supported by the occasional local resident. The upcoming 2024 election meant that the usual cardboard marathon boost signs were outnumbered by "Trump 2024" signs. As the course was more spread out for the second half, and the half marathoners were no more, the peace and quiet was even more noticeable.
After the final turnaround, I did begin to tire and walked for a minute or so after each water station. As I knew I was hopping straight back in the driver's seat after the race for a three hour drive to the next Airbnb, I didn't want to overcook my legs. The finish line eventually came and I ended up winnig the sub-25 age category. A nice surprise for someone who usually only goes home with a participation award. Ithica was our next stop on the way to Niagara falls where we crossed into Canada and I did my first marathon in the snow.
