Spontaneous New York Marathon

America Unable to participate in the New York City Marathon, a software engineer organized a spontaneous marathon without a license, without requiring registration or payment of entry fee, and allowed runners to run relays.

“Everyone wait a minute,” Matt White, a tall man in a gray shirt, announced, signaling that the race was about to start.

A few minutes before 9 p.m. on July 14, a small group of runners gathered around the Manhattan entrance to Williamsburg—the bridge over the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn—hastily taped homemade bib numbers to their shirts. When the clock struck 9 p.m., White—the unofficial Race Director—gathered the group and, with a twinkle in his eye, announced, “Run whatever pace you want, whatever feels right.” Then the first lap of the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon began.

The Williamsburg Bridge connects the two banks of the East River, seen from Brooklyn to Manhattan, New York. Photo: AP

Earlier in July, White posted a link inviting people to the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon on Reddit at r/RunNYC . The race quickly spread and sparked excitement in the New York running community.

The link states that the race "will start at 9 p.m. on Friday, July 14," and that runners will "experience the excitement/joy/victory/challenge of running over 10 laps of the bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn." But White stressed that "runners may have to run more than 10 laps," as he wasn't sure how long the Williamsburg Bridge was, and couldn't find consistent results when he "asked for help" from Google.

White is a 28-year-old software engineer who used to row in college and doesn’t consider himself an athlete. He runs for several months each year and enjoys challenging himself with one or two unique endurance feats.

A few weeks earlier, White had excitedly signed up for the 2023 New York City Marathon on November 5, but was turned down. That day, he decided to run a marathon alone on a course near his Brooklyn home. “I thought it was funny,” White says. “So I looked for more interesting places to run.” He then chose the Williamsburg Bridge and came up with the idea of ​​doing a spontaneous race.

The humor, playfulness, and flair displayed on White's Reddit link caught the attention of Reddit users and prompted runners like James Jackson to drop plans and show up in Williamsburg on Friday night. Jackson read through the site and was immediately drawn to it. "This is great, this is fun. Someone is crazy. But it's fun," he said.

White (wearing the number 66) also ran the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon - the race he called for, organized and declared open. Photo: Runner's World

Then Jackson found White’s marathon on Strava, the world’s most popular social network for runners. “I had never heard of this guy. But White was like a cat with a foot fetish and wanted to run a marathon,” Jackson says. “Someone took a screenshot of the announcement and sent it to the group chat. And we all said, ‘This is awesome, I want to support it.’”

Jackson’s friend, Miranda Feamster, had never run a marathon before. So when encouraged to enter the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon, Feamster suggested in the group chat that they compete as a team and split up the distances.

Initially, people were confused by the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon website, which said there was no registration, no entry fee, no aid stations, and no event permit. It all seemed like a joke. The race introduction read: "After months of exploring the New York route, we're excited to announce a straight-and-turn route."

White continues his humorous tone by noting that runners can expect “some famous hills” along the way, including Williamsburg on the Manhattan side and Williamsburg on the Brooklyn side. Despite the roar of traffic below the pedestrian walkway, the Williamsburg Bridge is a popular place to run, but it’s not exactly a place to run multiple laps in a row.

A pedestrian walkway runs over the Williamsburg Bridge, with the car path underneath. Photo: NYC

Runners quickly hailed White as a genius. His eccentricity attracted about 35 people to the unofficial race. Some wore green shirts, like Emily Templeton, who had started running a few months earlier and was training for the Warriors Ultra-Run, a 28-mile overnight experience that recreated the escape route from the 1979 film, The Warriors. She saw the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon at night as a great opportunity to practice.

Several seasoned runners also participated. The unofficial champion was 24-year-old Diego Arantes, who clocked 2 hours, 33 minutes, 49 seconds. He relied on the GPS on his watch to know when he had run the full 26.5 miles. Arantes had set a goal of breaking 2:20 at either the Philadelphia Marathon or the London Marathon, so he took the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon seriously. The Brazilian said he was motivated by “the random, crazy endurance challenges” at White’s spontaneous race. Arantes also only learned about the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon the night before and thought, “Why not?”

Runners were all smiles as they passed the cheering area, at the halfway point of the bridge, where electrolyte drinks, water, pineapple chunks, and a selection of beers were available. This was also where the runners in groups switched places in relay style. In her first marathon, Feamster took charge at the end, and her team completed the 26.5 miles in 3 hours, 19 minutes, 1 second. Then they stepped off the Williamsburg Bridge to a rendition of Queen's iconic "We Are the Champions."

Two runners run through the cheering area and water station in the middle of the Williamsburg Bridge during a spontaneous run in New York on the evening of July 14. Photo: Runner's World

Before the race, White was nervous about running a marathon with a group for the first time. But after going home and immediately going to bed, he woke up the next morning feeling optimistic. Everyone expressed excitement about the 2024 Williamsburg Bridge Marathon and the idea could inspire others to organize similar special races on other bridges.

White even reported the end of the race with a message on Reddit expressing his gratitude to those who attended the spontaneous and unofficial race. "It was a pleasure running on the Williamsburg Bridge with you guys," he wrote. "As I mentioned, when I left my apartment to go to the track, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I experienced exceeded my wildest dreams for this race."

Hong Duy (according to Runner's World )

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/giai-marathon-tu-phat-o-new-york-4638957.html