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With this weekend’s New York City marathon in full swing it leaves me reminiscing over my own two NYC marathon race experiences.

I ran my first New York marathon in 2010 raising money for team AUTISM. I had 3 LOVES for this race; #1 Fundraising for Team Autism, #2 running another 26.2 miles and #3 the city of New York.

I am proud to say that I was the #1 fundraiser for Team Autism in the southeast region. They threw a huge celebration the night before the race where the partners and spouses benefited way more from the wonderful Italian spread than the runners did. While my husband was serving up mass quantities of Veal Osso Buco and the like; I was eating plain pasta and bread in small portions so as not to upset my stomach for the long run the next day.

The next morning was race day. I suited up in my personalized tank top with my name, MELODY on the front.

I got to the Team Autism bus and off to the race we went. We were the last bus to arrive at the starting area and pandemonium set in. Where do I go? Where’s my coral? Why are the loud speaker messages in foreign languages? And then before you know it I heard in clear English “If you plan on running the New York City Marathon you need to come to the start line now!” What? I never found my coral, but off running I went. And what a Journey the next 4 + hours would be.

The weather could not have been more perfect for running, 42 degrees and sunny. From the Verrazano Bridge we saw Helicopters flying in formation, huge ship liners spewing red, white and blue streams of water, the star bangled banner blasted out over the intercom and the city skyline was crystal clear in the distance. The mood was electric! A woman beside me had run the race over 25 times and she shouted “We are running the F—ing NEW YORK CITY MARATHON!!” and indeed we were!

Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan. I wish I could re-Live every minute and every mile but the coup de grace was at mile 24. I was exhausted, beat up and feeling like I might not finish. I was running slower than most people walk. Then due to my name being on my shirt the crowd was yelling “Go Melody” and low and behold my husband, Stuart was crossing a grassy knoll in Central park and heard my name. Of course there must be tons of Melody’s, but he knew I should be there around that time, as he had seen me at miles 6, 13 and 17. He pushed his way through the crowd and suddenly he was running beside me with a sign that read “RUN FOR CONNOR” (Connor is my cousins autistic son who inspired me to raise money for Team Autism and to whom I dedicated this marathon) The crowd started shouting “RUN FOR CONNOR, RUN FOR CONNOR” at which point I started to cry, and cry hard, then I realized that running and crying do not go together, especially after you have run 24 miles and still have 2.2 miles to go. I dried my tears and off I went. Crossing the finish line was so sweet. I did it! I was proud, exhausted, and emotions were high. I cried again! Tears of joy! After the race I found my wonderful husband and the first thing I did was call my Papa (my father) and then my mother.

My next race there would be no Papa to call, as he passed away the March before. It was my first race that he would not be at the finish line or within a phone call. But friends and family were by my side in 2014 as I embarked on my second NYC marathon. I ran with my Sister in law Teresa, our friend Bill and one of my best friends Amanda. After 3 years of being turned down in the lottery all of us received automatic entries into the world’s greatest marathon.

The weather was in the 50’s but rainy and the wind gusts were up to 35mph and higher on the Verrazano Bridge. I was in nowhere near the good shape I was in 2010 but my goal was just to finish and get a medal. And that I did. For over 6 hours I was running and walking and testing my mental toughness. Many times during that long run I wanted to quit, but I knew that was not a choice so in 6 hours and 3 seconds I finally finished!

The Victory was still sweet, I still cried and I still think New York is the best city in the world to run a marathon.