We Ran Anyway...(part 1)

     It's been a month since I was supposed to have run my dream marathon, carrying the American flag through the 5 boroughs of New York City with thousands of exuberant fans lining 26.2 miles of the famous race course, cheering for their beloved country and all the dedicated runners who were looking to cross that glorious ING NYC Marathon finish line in Central Park...not so...not this year...God had different plans.

It was an exciting Thursday morning in the Bringgold home. We were preparing to leave on a 1100 mile trip to NYC.  After sending the younger kids off to school with Papa, we were on our way.  First night's destination: Toledo, OH, which was almost exactly half-way to NYC.  So very thankful to my dear friend and her family for generously sharing their home with us both there and back!

 Backing up a bit, Super Storm/Hurricane Sandy had barged into NY on Monday having no mercy on anything in her path. We had heard about the damage done, and had seen some footage but really didn't know or understand the extent of it. There was much debate on if the 36-year-old race would still be held.  New Yorker's are very proud of their traditions and their city.  This is not an easy decision.  It was announced Friday morning that the marathon was still on, so we continued our journey.  Although, all along, I had said, "It's going to take more than a hurricane to keep me from running!"  Throughout the morning, I had received several calls and texts from friends warning me not to run because they had heard on the news that some New Yorker's were very upset that the marathon was still on and they were planning to throw stuff at the runners...What?! Are they serious?!  I just shook my head and continued to say, "I'm still running, I knew in my heart I was meant to."  So we kept driving.

 We passed many caravans heading east hauling food, generators, clean-up equipment and other necessary supplies to aid the victims.  We knew gas was sparse, so we filled up on the east side of Pennsylvania, to avoid having to fill up at all until we returned back to Pennsylvania.  Many were already forming long lines for gas.  As we got closer to NY, some gas stations were even closed because they had no gas.

Then my uncle, the anchorman in Duluth called.  I filled him in on what was developing.  He informed their station's sports reporter, then she called me for an interview.  We had the interview, she wished me luck and we hung up.  Not even two minutes later my uncle sent me the dreaded text..."JEAN, THEY JUST CANCELLED THE MARATHON!"  ...(silence)... ~Keep in mind, we were only 2 hours away from our hotel~  The text continued, "call back, our news reporter wants to interview you again."   Honestly, at this point, I didn't know what to say, still stunned.  I shared with her the same feelings I'm certain that 47,000 other runners were feeling.  Obviously disappointment, but at the same time, empathy for the thousands who were devastatingly affected by Sandy, and probably a little confused as to why wait to cancel 36 hours before the start of the world's largest marathon.  "What now?" my husband asked. "I'm still gonna run," I responded.

I phoned my friend, a New Jersey resident who works in Manhattan.  I asked him, should we still be travelling east?  He assured me that our hotel was fine, and had not kicked anyone out just to make room for us.  He continued to say, "Jean, just run anyway..."  I had a major burning within and knew, this is why I came.  It wasn't for the personal glory of me carrying the flag past thousands of spectators, I needed to run so the flag could lift the spirits of the people of NY.  "That's it!" I said. "I'm going to run anyway, in Central Park, and carry out what I came here to do!"  I sent a mass email to my fellow Hope For the Warrior teammates inviting them to join me in Central Park the morning of the 4th.

We arrived to our hotel, only being honked at twice (good driving honey!) and after parking our car in the parking garage across the street from our hotel, which was located on Broadway, we had to unload all our luggage & supplies, then roll & carry them across Broadway, through the people and the traffic to our hotel...a little different than checking into a hotel in Iowa! ☺  It was dark.  We were tired and anxious to explore and get a better handle on things in the morning.

Our Hotel

Morning came as promised, and I was quite anxious to head to the Health and Fitness Expo, just to see if I could find and commiserate with other disappointed runners.  Weird reason, right?  As predicted, we found many other runners, picking up their bag with the bib number that shall never be used, taking pictures in front of the the huge mural of the Brooklyn Bridge, only to pretend that it might have been real.  Shopping for ING NYC Marathon apparel was fun... everything was half price.  I know, right?  The other 50% went to helping the hurricane victims. We learned so many stories of how and when people found out.  The worst  I had heard was of a man whose plane had just backed away from the terminal in South Africa (a 20-hr flight) when he found out.  Yikes!  Many had just picked up their bib numbers when it was announced over the loud speaker at the expo.  I met a couple who had on WI sweatshirts, and talked with them, sharing our disappointments, etc.  It was like one big therapy session.  A couple of girls had informed me that they had heard there was going to be a group meeting in Central Park, Sunday morning to 'run anyway'... "Interesting!" I said, "I had sent out an email about doing the very same thing."  Little did I know, I was not the only one with the burning desire to run...not even close...

The bib number I'll never use

 Boys at the Expo

                                                                           ~to be continued~