New York City Marathon totally lived up to its name. It exceeded all of the expectations and I had a huge smile on my face the entire way around. Though it's said it's not a PB course, I managed to PB even with the inclines. The crows were amazing, overall I had the BEST time! 

WOW, where do I start, fantastic Marathon, I will get the only minus point out of the way first, it is quite expensive compared to other Marathons.

With that out of the way, I got a place in the ballot first time, I received loads of emails updating me throughout the year, with more as it got closer to race day. Number pick up was easy and there was so much NYC Marathon memorabilia it was difficult to take it all in.

Race day meant getting to the Staten Island Ferry to travel get to the start line, with good views of The Satatue of Liberty as you cross. Once on Staten Island, you get onto one of the buses (they must have had every bus there was on staten island). 

Once at the start, you are directed to your race village depending on your wave colour, there, there is free hot drinks, bagels, water, Gatorade, waffles, fresh Daniel's and bananas, I was careful not to stuff myself, which would have been easy to do. Also i have never seen so many toilets  which is understandable with over 54,000 runners.

Once underway, the crowds were really fantastic, I have run London and Manchester Marathons where I thought the support was equally fantastic but New York was another level, Brooklyn was one consistent party all the way along and the other boroughs were not that far behind, the only place there wasnt were the bridges because they couldn't get on there!!. Ahhh, the bridges, they were not that steep but they seem to go on for ever and they were tough (for me anyway). After mile 3, there were water and Gatorade stations at every mile point, and towards the end pieces of bananas. There were also 3 aid stations where gels were given out. I cannot praise the aid stations enough. 

Once over the finish line you receive your medal and your goody bag which includes protein drink, water, Gatorade, apple amongst other things. Depending if you chose bag drop or to receive a poncho you are directed to the relevant route, which seems to take an age.

The following days you can get your medal engraved and buy any last minute merchandise you want including a finishers t shirt which you don't get in your goody bag and a New York Times paper with people finishing times in.

As you can probably guess, I would highly recommend this race. If I wasnt on the other side of the world I would try an run it each year.

NYC Marathon 100% lives up to the hype. I got in on my first time entering the ballot and I think it’s much easier for international runners to gain entry this way than it is for runners in the US.

NYRR are outstanding. In the days leading up to the race, they put on lots of free talks about the marathon at their ‘Hub’ near Central Park and put out more race merchandise than I’ve ever seen for any other marathon. NYCM is not an easy course as the ‘hills’ are not particularly steep but are near to a mile long, particularly over the bridge at Mile 15 coming into Manhattan. Hill training will pay off.

Much is made of getting to the start in Staten Island, but in reality I found it no more of a ‘chore’ than getting to Greenwich for the London Marathon. If you stay in Manhattan, you can catch a subway in minutes to the Ferry Terminal before being treated to fantastic views of the Statue of Liberty on the short ferry journey to Staten Island. At the starting village there were therapy dogs, free bagels and coffee and more porta potties than I’ve ever seen in my life in one place!

The views of the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge above you on the first mile will stay with you forever. Brooklyn is a non-stop street party. The energy from the crowd really picks up in The Bronx and the supporters’ signs are hilarious throughout. You’ll see live bands, DJs with giant performing rigs, people blaring music from their homes and will never be bored for a single second.

For anyone pacing a 6h+ marathon, know that the finish line stays up even up to 10 hours after the last wave. NYCM is incredibly friendly towards those at the back of the pack and you certainly won’t be coming in through the finish on your own at that pace.

Do not hesitate to do this marathon at least once in your life!