Every year, the first Sunday of November in New York City is a sacred day. People line the streets of the 5 boroughs from musicians to ladies who brunch to people handing out orange slices to kids waiting patiently to high five the 53,000 runners who commit to move their body a grand total of 26.2 miles. Last year, I got to be one of those runners, which was a huge experience for me. If you follow my blog hardcore, you might have read some of my musings on this topic.
Since I wouldn’t be running this year, I decided to volunteer again. I had volunteered two years ago in the medical tent at mile 14 and had a great day. It was exhilarating, challenging, fun and tiring and I was excited to do it again.
This year I found myself in the team of medics at the finish line. This was a completely different experience from the halfway point. The finish line is where a lot can happen. There is a great amount of emotion at the finish line. I remember that I too had tears in my eyes when I crossed. The fact that you finished something so colossal is actually emotionally overwhelming. Apart from the feelings at the finish line, there a serious condition called Exercise Associated Collapse.
When you run for 26.2 miles, your body has to make a few changes in order to oxygenate all your tissues. Your vasculature opens up so your blood can flow around your body quicker to deliver more of that precious precious oxygen. At the finish line, if you stop moving or change that speed you were moving at with all of your veins and arteries open for maximum blood flow, you will pool your blood, become lightheaded and collapse. It’s easy to treat, you get the runner to the medical tent where they put their feet up and that pooled blood starts recirculating through the body. However, you have to worry that it could be something worse. So in our team, we also had six defibrillators distributed amongst the team from finish line to medal retrieval. Luckily, we didn’t need to open them, but you had to be ever poised to do so if need be.
All in all, the long day was incredibly rewarding. I stayed there for almost a full twelve hour shift. Watching the runners cross the finish line is amazing, whether they were an elite runner, professional runner, amateur runner, para athlete, etc, it didn’t matter. Being able to give back to an event that really touched my life was quite special.
One woman crossed the finish line, came straight up to me and put her hands on my shoulders. I thought maybe she needed help, she sat in the wheelchair (this is when I realized she didn’t speak English) and just needed to catch her breath. She held very strong eye contact with me and I just told her she was okay and she did it. I didn’t want her to sit for too long, so I stood her up and she walked away. I watched her to be sure she was okay and she turned around and blew me a kiss! Talk about an intense moment!
Not everyone could walk away and I found myself transporting patients from the finish line to the medical tent alongside another volunteer. It dawned on me halfway through the day that I was actually doing what I do at work, just in a different setting and without an ambulance or helicopter. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
I also met some really great people. When you work alongside others all day like that, assessing possible patients and moving them quickly to the first medical tent, you start to understand each other’s nuances and how they think and it forms a quick bond. Hopefully I will see them next year if I am not running. 🙂
All in all, I just wanted to use this post to point out the amazing energy of NYC on this day. Towards the latter part of the night, when the sweep has gone through and the last runners are finishing their race, the energy changes. The lights come up and the hot chocolate comes out. People’s families start crossing the finish line alongside them. You go from a crowd full of people to a finish line full of volunteers eager to cheer everyone on. The energy is just as palpable as it is when the elites come through.
NYC Marathon day might be one of my favorite days of the year.
Mar Tells Mini Tales 
Very cool!
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