Best Day Ever - Part Three

Day two in NYC and it was time to register for the marathon at the expo, collect my bib and drop off my racing chair to be transported to the start line. Again Harry was a useful bloke to have around when he helped cart my chair to the expo. On the way we went to a bagel bakery for breakfast, Harry had sussed it out after doing some searching online. The bagel place was epic with so many different combinations of cream cheese and assorted favourings. I went for the jalapeno schmear (bagel term) and a small Americano coffee. It ended up being great breakfast, very filling and tasty. Only complaint would be the coffee was way too long, this would become a theme on our trip. With food on board we headed to the marathon expo and the process of getting your bib and race shirt was pretty easy. I also splashed out and and bought a New Balance jacket - major sponsor. I needed a rain jacket anyway. We then dropped off my wheelchair, the lovely people there even topped up my tyre pressures.

Me and the support team up the ESB

We headed back to the hotel and a short time later Karen (my cousin) and Brian Henderson who live in Washington DC arrived at the hotel. The plan was to watch the rugby match between the All Blacks and Ireland at a pub, the kick off in Chicago was 4pm EST. With some time to spare we decided it was a good time to go up the ESB, Empire State Building. Karen and Brian passed on this as they had done it numerous times. They were given the task of finding a good Irish pub to view the rugby. We headed up this iconic building and we were treated with some great views.

We then re-joined the the Henderson's at the Pig n Whistle and it was here my pre-race carb loading for the marathon started. If I am at an Irish pub it is very difficult not to have a pint of Guinness. We then had fish and chips which made me thirsty so it was not difficult to have another pint. Prior to kick off a Irish woman was looking for a couple of seats for her and an Irish friend so we invited her to join us. They ended up being good company as we chatted before the game. The match was pretty intense and to ease the nerves it made sense to have another pint. The All Blacks got the win and soon after we went our separate ways with the Henderson's who were staying on 1st Avenue and were going to support me in the race on this road. We had an early night and again I found it hard to get sleep, something I am use to the night before a race. I had a 3:00AM start to look forward to the next morning.