Why the Jersey City Marathon?

I went to run the Jersey Marathon, on the Manhattan side. But why did I do it?

When talking about running marathons abroad, almost everyone talks about the majors (which are, for the unwary, Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York) and, perhaps a little less frequently, about marathons in major cities. tourist cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Rome, Disney or Miami, for example. Okay, there’s Buenos Aires too, but… Isn’t Buenos Aires the biggest Brazilian marathon?

Anyway, what defines the choice of a marathon abroad for most Brazilians is the fact that the marathon is famous with the marathon combo. And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course. I’ve run some of these tests, I’m not criticizing the behavior. But there is a certain strangeness when I answer that I chose to run a marathon in Estonia, Bilbao or New Jersey, which is the subject of this text. Not that they aren’t places where you can’t do tourism, it’s just that they aren’t very… obvious choices, right?

Perhaps it lacks a bit of charm, perhaps there is that business of being a marathon that “nobody” does, the fact is that the typical Brazilian marathoner who goes abroad not only wants to run a marathon, but he also wants to run a marathon that people other people recognize and want to run or have already run. After all, it’s not just about running, but also being able to talk about running, exchanging similar experiences.

But a marathon is a marathon anywhere in the world, the 42,195 meters are measured that way (hopefully) in Alaska and Russia, Kazakhstan and Manhattan, São Paulo or Everest. The fundamental identification is this distance and the challenge of traversing it.

Of course, the races can be more or less organized, more or less easy in relation to the course, climate or altimetry and there are also other factors such as the time of year, accessibility to get to the race location, amounts involved and other important reasons. but do not form a direct part of the choice of race in the sporting sense. The process of choosing a test has many variables and they don’t just go through the fact that the test is famous or that social factor above.

And as the marathon runner becomes more experienced and more experienced, it is natural that they choose to run in other places in the world besides those more beaten. Even friends like Tadeu Guglielmo, who has run on 7 continents and never repeats a marathon, or like Nilson Lima, who is chasing the 400 marathons, have to look for those races that are unknown to the general public, different or exotic in general view, because they have very specific goals, which can only be achieved if they also come to run these smaller races.

I am neither one nor the other. I’m not the Brazilian who only runs giant races, and I’m very far from being one of those fantastic friends mentioned above, references in the world of racing, not having a very peculiar reason. I just like to run marathons and if it’s good, even better. And why run abroad? Because yes, it had been a while since I had raced outside Brazil and the date was interesting for my cycle, with few races in Brazil and many abroad. And why run in Jersey City? Because yes, since there was a Brazilian holiday in between, the place is easy to get to (there are many flight options there), the race would be very flat, the hotel infrastructure is good and would allow me to get ready, run and keep working on the weekdays I would spend here.

And also because I have friends around here. My groomsmen live a 30 minute drive from here. And for those thinking about tourism (I’m no different), Jersey City is a river crossing away from Manhattan, man!

Honestly, in the days I spent here, my only contact with greater Manhattan was a subway ride to Brooklyn to see an NBA game. Most of the time I decided to take a walk around Newark, where the hotel is, Madison, where my friends live or at the hotel itself, where I had work waiting for me. There will certainly be those who consider this trip a waste because of this, but the primary objective was to run a good marathon abroad. I repeat, nothing against those who do tourism, I do a lot too, but going to Manhattan was not among my priorities at the moment.

The priority was the race and the goal was fully achieved. Temperature around 14 degrees, with a light but constant rain, which lowers the thermal sensation a little and with little wind, that is, pleasant for running, but not perfect because of the puddles and wet glasses. I wasn’t cold or hot. Very flat, few climbs and, when they exist, short and not very steep. Access to the event was very easy via the PATH train (which connects New Jersey to New York), with a station 200m from the arena. There was also the option of a half marathon and the start was punctual, with the illustrious presence of Joan Benoit Samuelson, the legendary winner of the first Olympic marathon in LA-1984. Brazilians in the test? Probably some who live here, since there are many Brazilians living in the region, I even saw a thin shin from André Savazoni’s advisory, running ahead of the 3:10 am peloton.

And speaking of the peloton, let me register and thank the pacesetters, something that helps runners in general a lot, especially if the work is well done, as it was for me in this race. I left with the 4:00 am squad as a reference, then I started using the 3:50 am for that purpose and it was great. Even though I only ran about 10 km with them, the reference of where they were helped me set my own race pace.

For those who want to run, a small and friendly race, with excellent logistics. I stood in line for about 5 minutes to use a chemical toilet before the test. I went to the starting bay with 5 minutes to go, without those monstrous crowds that require hours of preparation. Street party? A little, far from what you see in the majors, but more people than you see in the Brazilian competitions (and consider that it was a little cold and raining). Correct hydration, chemical toilets at these points (I didn’t use them this time, but I always observe them, as I’m a preferred customer), a route with nice points (we passed next to the Statue of Liberty and in cute residential neighborhoods) and other rather ugly ones (some streets near ports, parking lots for trucks and containers). Was there beer at the end? No, unfortunately I didn’t, but I had friends here, remember? With the fundamental recommendation to provide me with adequate hydration.

Anyway, everything was very quiet for what I wanted, which was to run. And that I did, even better than I expected. Hence the Jersey City Marathon!