Mark and I rose early on Sunday morning and mozied down the street to the West Side Highway to watch the NYC Half-Marathon. I finally got a taste of what it's like to "roll out of bed and watch the runners go by" (a phrase I've used many-a-time in various marathon spectating stories!). The south-bound lands of the highway were closed to traffic, prompting many passerby to ask us if there was "a parade coming through". Silly question--a) it was 7:30 a.m.! and b) when is there ever a parade anywhere but 5th and 7th avenues?

With my video camera in hand, I excitedly cheered for the runners. Haile Gebersailasee--one of the all-time distance running greats--ran by first: He was leading by over two minutes! He was trailed by Abdi, then a string of Ethiopians and Kenyans, then Alan Culpepper, who wound up finishing in 8th place. The women streamed by about 15 minutes later, followed by the masses (over 10,000 people ran!). Mark was impressed that I knew the names of all of the top runners. I only later pointed out that their race bibs had their names printed on them! (But I kind of knew who they were, anyway!).

Afterwards, we went on a nice bike ride up the WSH (two hours later, runners/walkers were still streaming past) and into Central Park. By now, we know that it's a terrible idea to bike after 9 a.m. on Sundays, but it was a beautiful morning and we just couldn't resist. We made it without any major hiccups, but I realized that I have a nasty case of road rage when it comes to clueless bikers and pedestrians!