When I woke up this Sunday morning, I didn’t think about much more than getting into my seat at the breakfast table. But when my dad set my cream-cheese-and-salmon-laden-bagel down on the table, he was looking out of our window nostalgically: “It’s a perfect day for the marathon.”
The majority of Hewitt students are native New Yorkers; as such, the ING New York City marathon is nothing new. But after the marathon was cancelled last year due to Hurricane Sandy, which hit just a few days before the race’s planned date, and then after the tragic Boston Marathon bombing that took place a few months later, all eyes were turned to New York to see how the city would prepare for this year’s race.
To some people’s delight and others’ dismay, things have certainly changed.
“This year, they’ve definitely added more security procedures. There’s a lot of police around, and they’re making sure that the race is a lot safer,” said Tyra Abraham ’14, a three-year marathon volunteer.
Watch the video below for more on the return of the New York Marathon amid heightened security.
Not everyone was a fan of the new security measures, however. “We weren’t allowed to be volunteers this year because of the increased security measures,” said Dr. Sanford Littwin, a long time NYC resident and ING Marathon volunteer. “[The extra security measures] ruined the marathon for me.”
But security was far from the only new aspect of the race. ING publicized a marathon mobile app that showed the elite runner leaderboard and a runner tracker, among many other features.
The winners of the Overall Men and Overall Women divisions, both from Kenya, ran with almost unbelievable speed. In the former division, winner Geoffrey Mutai crossed the finish line in two hours, eight minutes, and 24 seconds; in the latter, winner Priscah Jeptoo finished in two hours, 25 minutes, and seven seconds. Respectively, those are averages of under 5 and 6-minute miles. To see a complete list of the top finishers for the female, male, wheelchair, and handcycle divisions, take a look here.