Run, Run, As Fast As You Can: Welcome The New York City Marathon

After you have fallen back (Daylight Savings) and had a complete sugar rush (Halloween) you should surely have enough energy to rouse yourself for today's big event: The ING New York City Marathon, sponsored by New York Road Runners. One of the world’s premiere road races, the New York Marathon draws more than 36,000 runners, 2 million spectators, and more than 300 million TV viewers worldwide.
Race coverage will be presented on WNBC-TV (Channel 4) from 9:00 am–2:00 PM in New York; nationally, from 2:00 pm–4:00 PM.(And of course, you can always try to weasel your way in and watch it in person.)
The time limit for the course is 8½ hours from the 10:10 am start.
The race begins in Staten Island, runs (pun intended) through all five boroughs, and ends up near West 66th Street in Manhattan. Originally, the race course (in 1970) had runners repeatedly dashing around Central Park; it now involves crossing major bridges (going across the East River on the Queensboro Bridge is considered one of the most challenging parts of the race), zooming through residential and commercial neighborhoods, and finishing near Manhattan's Tavern on the Green Restaurant in Central Park. A staggered start sends everyone off in waves.
Along the way, entertainment (music ranging from Hip Hop to Jazz to Dance to R&B); free food and water samples; and the sheer high of watching the racers race keeps viewers enthralled.
Yes, it blocks traffic and makes getting anywhere in the city today a nightmare, but really, when can you see 30,000 runners dashing through all five boroughs just because they can?

Get Revved Up for the Weekend's Half-Marathon

Those of us who find it tiring to even watch the New York City marathon, or walk to a good vantage point, may take heart in this Sunday’s Half-Marathon, (August 16, starting at 7:00 am).
Beginning at Central Park’s East Drive, the course makes a clockwise loop around the park, continues to the south end of the park, and veers onto Seventh Avenue. Runners then head south to Times Square and along the Hudson River waterfront to lower Manhattan. The race, sponsored by The New York Road Runners Club, ends on West Street near Rector Street and Battery Park.
If watching the runners isn’t enough for you, entertainment will be provided throughout the course. It might be worth joining the crowd at Times Square just to say you were part of the Times Square Sing-Along—-lyrics to classic songs will be projected on an enormous video screen, while Broadway performers lead the festivities. Both runners and viewers are welcome to join in, but if the runners have enough breath to sing ”Hello, Dolly," they aren’t doing their job.
Other entertainment activities include Samba New York! at 42nd Street and the West Side Highway; The Creamsicles, a band that will play funk, surf rock and gypsy punk (No, we don’t know what that means either); and the "Corridor of Sound,” five DJ Stations near the finish along the West Side Highway, with--wait for it--a variety of city sounds. Yes, you could probably step outside and hear the same thing, but what fun would that be?