New York Diary
Photos by Lavina Melwani
New York Marathon Musings
I walk – I don’t run. But since part of the New York City Marathon takes part on 1st Avenue – right outside my apartment – I feel I kind of own it and am an intrinsic part of it! Streets and side streets in the area are closed to vehicular traffic and kids of all ages can wander freely.
Every year I do a walkathon myself along the route, stopping to root for the runners, chat with people, take pictures, comment on cute kids and cute dogs, and have a drink in a bar with a friend. I love the thronging multitudes because I am a diehard people watcher. The more you watch, the more you realize that everyone has a story, a story uniquely their own.
On this beautiful nippy fall day, I realized that the NY Marathon is so much more than just a sporting event – it is a virtual churning of community, of families and friends, an outpouring of love and camaraderie. Thousands of homemade signs, families rooting for their mom, patients in wheelchairs outside Sloane Kettering cheering for their favorite staff, friends going crazy with handclasps and high fives as their runner passes them. Little kids waiting patiently for their dad to come through, holding signs high while babies sleep in prams and dogs wait patiently for this puzzling human ritual to be over. Some lucky dogs are even treated to cold water at the café while they wait.
The day is also about celebration – the neighboring cafes are full and beer and fast food is the choice for those who don’t want to leave their spots as Chief Cheerleaders. Some enterprising kids had also turned entrepreneurs with a homemade Bake sale. Foodies all!
Runners are not just brawny fit young champions – there are also champions of another kind – older, aging, perhaps even sick. They are running, running, running to create a better version of themselves, challenging themselves, perhaps running in memory of someone who could not be there. I saw participants in wheelchairs. I also saw an older couple, their hands cuffed together, running together. Who were they, why had they cuffed their hands together? So many love stories with unknown beginnings and endings.
NYC Marathon-
The Marathon also has a particular New York flavor – it is about immigrants and their energy. New Yorkers may have come to these shores from across the globe, but they retain a lasting love of their original homeland. I saw a lovely young girl with the French flags braided through her hair.
Another woman was waving the Japanese flag as if her life depended on it. I asked her about the flag and she said that though she is Japanese, she is American too but wanted to be there for any runners from Japan. They would see the iconic flag with the large red circle, and feel cheered, knowing that someone was there for them, she said. She had a volunteer force including husband, a toddler and a baby also waving the Japanese flags. What a welcoming force for a new Japanese immigrant in the NY Marathon! I took a picture of the happy family. It shows the power of American immigration and multiculturalism – how it makes us stronger and unique as a nation.
Related Article:
NYC Marathon – The City That Runs Together, Sticks Together!
