The New York City Marathon. What a great idea. Let's have 30,000 people run through the five boroughs of New York City. Their mission? To see whom is fastest? Well, maybe for the first 20 or 30. The goal of the remainder of the crowd? To see who lives.
Why would anyone run 26.2 miles? The original marathon was run between Athens and Marathon, Greece. A messenger who had to deliver news of a battle ran the trip. He delivered his message. Then he died. On Sunday 30,000 runners commemorated that achievement.
My view of the festivities was from an ambulance.
What a wonderful way to see New York City. It was a quiet day. My squad was covering Central Park. The runners had their own medical response set up, which didn't include us, so we watched the race.
Central Park is an interesting place to work as an EMT. I wasn't with the crew two weeks ago when a call came in for a "loose lion" but I was told the story on Sunday. The squad on duty heard the call over the police frequency. The ambulance is issued a police radio at the beginning of each tour. Although there hadn't been any report of someone injured the crew responded to the area of the Central Park Zoo. Upon arrival the police met them. The officer asked, "What are you doing here?” The driver responded, "We're going to stand by in case anyone is injured by the lion". "What lion?" asked the cop. "The loose lion" responded the driver. It was then that the cop explained that there was not a loose lion in the park. The call was for a loose LINE. A power line had fallen down.
This is why it is important for everyone to have the same accent when using emergency radios.
Back to the race.
The winners of the race are impressive runners. Where I was sitting, as the race turns from Fifth Ave. into the park at 90th street, the lead runners were looking strong. An hour later the rest of the runners arrived. Anyone can run the NYC Marathon. You don't need to qualify for the race. That some of these people were still standing, let alone running, was amazing.
The first runner took about two hours and seven minutes. Wow. The race started at about 11:00 a.m. and at a little after one in the afternoon the winner crossed the finish line. I left the park at about 6:30 p.m. Runners were still coming. Actually, they were more like walkers, staggered and crawlers.
As I was leaving the park I walked across Central Park West, which is the street bordering the parks west side. At 86th Street the road had been closed. There were about a dozen cops directing traffic. I was transfixed. The traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see. It was evening already. It was a wonderful sight. It was even more wonderful because I wasn't driving.
I love the city at night. All of the lights make it look like a carnival. Adding to the ambiance were at least 200 United Parcel Service (UPS) trucks. The cops were directing them out of the park. It appears that a fleet of UPS trucks follows the marathon, picking up those who have given up. It was a true New York moment for me.
To add to the joy of the day I descended into the bowels of the city to take the subway to Penn Station. I was on my way home. Upon approaching the turnstile with my Metrocard I hear a cop yell, "Hey, what do you think you're doing"? Oh great. Now what? He says, "Come here". So, I approach him and his partner. "What are you doing? I can't believe you were even thinking of paying to ride the subway. You're EMS. You go though the side gate".
It appears that, in the Big City, uniformed personnel, who are called MOS (members of service), do not pay to ride the trains. I was escorted through the side gate. Every day I feel more at home in this city.
That's all from the Big City for now. I hope you are well.
