Men’s Health Urbanathon New York City 2008-Taste of Defeat

The 2008 Mens Urbanathon in New York City has come and past.  I finished the event in just under 2 hours, nothing near my goal of less than 1hr 15mins.  It was a painful experience but I loved every minute of it.  I can still smell the early morning dew of this past foggy Saturday morning.  I was running late up 72 St towards Central Park starting line.  I even saw the Frontliners, about 6 runners literally sprinting down the opposite way followed by the main crowd, all yelling at me “You’re running the wrong way!”. I felt like a fish running upstream but I had to run back to the starting line to be officially in the race. Once that happened, I made up a lot of lost ground by the time I hit the first of four obstacle courses.  The Jersey Barricades and Culvert Crawl. Both were a piece of cake, no problems there.

Next came Obstacle course Two, Cargo Net crawl, Monkey Bars and Marine Hurdles. Net crawl was a cinch, I glided like a snake on a mission but Monkey Bars was the beginning of the end for me.  The Bars were wet and felt like Oil.  I lost grip on the first rung and took a nasty fall on my hips and left knee.  I dusted off and gave it a second attempt.  Made it to the third rung and suddenly I felt a hard thump on my spine, knocking me off the Bars once again, landing on the same side. As if the fall wasn’t enough, the “kicker” fell on top of me.  I layed on the ground for a few seconds to distance myself from the pain my body felt. That’s when my mind started to negotiate whether to finish or not, the voice Coach Sonnon likes to call “the Inner Pansey”.  Well I got up and started to move to shut up this “Inner Pansey” before it actually convinced me to stop.  The race director disqualified me for the Marine Hurdles and instead made me run an extra lap to the end of the pier to make up for that event.  That was a sour taste of defeat but I made up my mind to finish the race no matter how long it will take me. It was amazing how many thoughts traveled through my mind on that short distance of Pier 54.  I ran to my next obstacle with a smile and renewed determination and energy, breath by breath.

I arrived at the Third obstacle (the one I dreaded and fear the most) , 55 Flights of stairs up 7 World Trade Center!  It was actually easier than I thought.  Pacing with my Exhales, I reached the top in about 15 mins. I don’t know how anybody ascended and descended in less than 14mins but it was done (something to shoot for next year).  Coming back down the stairs, I felt a “Third Wind” and I rode it all the way to the finish line where I hurdled over a Taxi (that was a great feeling). 

But it wasn’t quite over yet. Still had the Rope Wall which I didn’t make on my first attempt. Another taste of defeat.  But with some help from the great volunteers, I got over the wall.

Final Result; Placed 751 (of 944) with a time of 1:55:48.  Not a great time or place but the truth is I had the time of my life and I look forward to next year’s race.  Look out fellow competitors, I plan on reaching this year’s goal time of 1hr 15mins or less next year for sure!!!