Although Paul has run something like four marathons -- including one earlier this year in Lake Placid -- a month from tomorrow will mark his first time in the New York City Marathon.
That's because it's fairly difficult to get into. There seems to be three basic ways: (1) join a fundraising team, (2) join a special New York running team and commit to running a certain number of races throughout the year, spending hundreds of dollars in entry fees in the process, or (3) take your chances in a lottery.
Paul did the third -- in fact, he's entered the lottery three years and failed. Fortunately, three strikes and you're not out: you're actually in. That is, after three failed attempts you get an automatic berth the following year. That rule is going away next year, Paul tells me, so he made it in just under the wire.
I've given up trying to follow his training schedule, but I do know that he runs all hours of the day, several days a week. Sometimes he'll get up at 6 or 6:30 in the morning to get in a few miles before work. More often he'll go out to the shore for a couple of hours in the evening. And I can usually count on him putting in a long run -- sometimes up to 18 miles -- either Saturday or Sunday morning.
Now Paul runs half-marathons for fun. When Paul found out last week that there was a half-marathon in the neighborhood this past Sunday, he signed up a few days before the race and ran the 13.1 miles in 1:50. He's not the fastest guy on the track -- the winner clocked in around 1:15 -- but it's still pretty respectable for someone who's basically just doing this for fun.
The New York City Marathon route passes a block away from our apartment, and I am looking forward to cheering Paul on, even if I won't be up for waddling down to the finish line in Central Park (I'll only be three weeks short of our due date by that time). And Paul's looking forward to crossing off a goal he's had since moving to New York five years ago.
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