Time to head out to New York again, this time to run the 2019 TCS New York City marathon. This will be my third year running this marathon, New York is by far the best marathon I have run, hence coming back three times.

This year I am travelling with my wife and daughter and then heading down to Florida for 10 days at Disney World. I am not sure what will be more tiring, Running the marathon or walking around Disney World?? Having my wife and daughter cheering me on will be such a boost if I can spot them in the crowds on Sunday.

Travel:

So we are in New York from Friday – Monday morning. We left home Thursday evening to stay at the Clayton Hotel at Manchester airport.

Our flight was due to depart at 9am Friday so we like to stay over to give those extra few minutes in bed before a long day of travelling.

This was the flight long-haul flight my daughter has been on since the 9hr flight to the Dominican Republic, but she wasn’t even 1yr old when we took that flight. Now she is 4yrs old and far more independent so we were a little concerned with finding enough things to keep her occupied on the flight.

It turned out, there was nothing to be concerned about. She was happily playing with her Frozen dolls, Peppa Pig cars and watched some Disney movies. She also had an hour nap which we were so pleased with, the aim for this evening is to keep her awake as long as possible to help her get over the jet lag before we get to Disney next week.

We landed on time, had a relatively short wait at border control and the taxi ride into Manhattan was quicker than usual too.

Everything went so smoothly that I was in the hotel earlier than any of the other NYC marathon trips. So smoothly that we even had a complimentary room upgrade!! what is going on?? the hotel even left a Frozen birthday balloon and a cake for my daughter.

We are staying at the Belvedere Hotel on 48th Street and with our upgrade, we have an amazing view out of the Hudson River and out south over Manhattan.

It was a quick drop the bags off and head out to the expo to collect my marathon and 5k Dash race bibs.

Expo:

I had arranged to meet an Instagram buddy @GoBobbyGoGo at the expo this evening. Me and Bobby had tried to meet up at the 2018 NYC marathon and the 2019 Brooklyn Half but for various reasons meant we missed each other.

This year Bobby was at the expo with AfterShokz so I said I would come over to their booth to meet up.

Just as we entered the expo I heard someone shouting Mark. I turned around not expecting it to be me they were calling. I was thousands of miles from home right!

I turned around to see another really good Instagram friend @TheMarathonMarcus and then spotted Bobby with him. We had a good chat about all things New York Marathon and sorted life’s great mysteries out there and then before I headed in to get my bibs. It was so good to see Marcus again and to finally met up with Bobby after so many missed opportunities over the last 12 months.

Bib collection went smoothly, they have so many collection desks that I have never had to queue in the 3 visits to the expo. The collection for the Abbott 5k Dash sometimes has a little wait but today I walked straight up to the counter and picked up my bib and beanie hat.

I had a wander around the expo buying more race gear that I absolutely must buy but don’t really need. Another jacket and a singlet, which I do actually need some more singlets for next summer so that was ok.

After the expo, the jet lag was kicking in. I was feeling tired and flagging, my daughter seemed to be going strong still.

We decided to grab a shake shack whilst passing, something quick and easy with no fuss. Then headed back to the hotel to unpack, shower and put my daughter to bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was gone.

I pulled together my race gear for tomorrow’s Abbott 5k Dash to the Finish.

Just before writing this blog, I nipped out to grab a big bottle of water. As I was waiting to cross the road, who did I bump into? Bobby again!! in the whole of New York, we just happen to bump into each other twice in one day. It does make you think that the universe runs in strange ways. Almost fate making up for the missed meetings.

Once back to the room, it was shower, blog and bed by 11pm. A good start at getting over the jet lag. The alarm is set for 7:30am for the 30min walk to the start of the 5k dash.