
While I’ve lived in New York for five years, I’ve never gone to watch the New York City Marathon in person. To be honest, I didn’t really know much about it until the Poland Spring® brand reached out inviting me to attend. If you asked me to go last year, my answer probably would’ve been,“eh I’m good catching the highlights on TV,” but ever since committing to getting over my fear of running, I really have grown to love my weekly jogs. PS I wrote a post about my running journey with my tips for newbies here.

The marathon was really exciting. Nick and I woke up early on Sunday and headed to Central Park where they were setting up the finish line. The race hadn’t even started yet, so we got to check out everything before the crowds arrived which was pretty cool. For those that aren’t familiar with the race route—it started in Staten Island, then on to Brooklyn with runners proceeding over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan up the Upper East Side, before ending in Central Park.

After peeping around Central Park, we walked over to 1st Avenue to see if we could catch a glimpse of the frontrunners. The elite women started first, followed by the elite men—basically these are the professional career runners. All the non-professionals start together once the elites have taken off. Along 1st Avenue there was a lot of activity and groups of people showing spirit for friends and loved ones running the marathon. This is also where the Poland Spring® brand had set up one of many hydration stations where runners could grab a quick sip of water along the race route. Gosh, I can’t imagine how tired they must have been after 17+ miles. The race is 26miles total!! And here I am thinking I’m cool that I can run two…

Probably the best moment for me was seeing Shalene Flanagan become the first American woman to win the race in 40 years. Go USA and G I R L P O W E R. Even a few days later I’m still in total awe of participants. As a newbie runner, it was really inspiring to see folks of all different ages, backgrounds & skill levels rocking out the race & supporting one another— the sense of community and camaraderie definitely gave me all the feels. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll give the marathon a try! The TCS New York City Marathon is just one example of greatness in New York. To see more examples, visit PolandSpring.com/local-greatness/.
Big thank you to the Poland Spring® brand for sponsoring this post!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Regional Spring Waters. The opinions and text are all mine.
Dana says
Loved seeing your behind the scenes at the marathon. It’s been a goal of mine to run this one, and I’m hoping 2018 will be the year!
Pink Champagne Problems
Lynne says
Wow…didn’t know much about this marathon! What a great route. A beautiful day! I’ll pass on running 26 miles…
Run Katie Run!
Diana says
Running the NYC Marathon has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I FINALLY did it this past Sunday! It was absolutely the most amazing and thrilling experience I’ve ever had. I am still on Cloud 9 and feel like I can do anything I’m determined to do from now on. It took me 2 training cycles (I got injured right before last year and had to defer to this year), but it was all worth it in the end. The crowds were absolutely AMAZING… everyone came out even in the rain! It really shows what an incredible city NYC is!! Thanks for supporting the runners!
Allie says
Isn’t watching marathons so inspiring? It’s just so amazing that everyone running the race trained so hard for so long! What an awesome experience you got to have! xxAllie http://www.theallthatglittersblog.com
Khloe says
Not a fan of how a marathon sounds haha, but you look awesome!
Gigi says
It was a perfect day for the marathon. So happy you were there.