Marathon Sunday: Strictly for the Runners?

Now I don't think I'm a great runner by any means, but I do run fairly often compared to other people I know. I usually try to go out for a jog at least five days out of the week, and each time I go out, I'll do about nine miles. Generally, I won't pass anyone else out for their own run. Sometimes I'll pass by one other person; at most, two. Maybe it's my timing, maybe it's the location I chose, I'm not really sure. But in any case, as I was running my normal route through the Upper West Side just after noon, I realized that there were significantly more joggers out that day; I must have passed by ten, maybe as many as fifteen runners along the route.

Okay, okay. I admit it wasn't just any Sunday, it was Marathon Sunday, but this still doesn't explain anything for me. For one, I wasn't anywhere near the course. And secondly, I have always been a bit hesitant about running on Marathon Sunday, personally.

Let me explain where my hesitation comes from. Marathon Sunday in New York is, obviously, all about the marathon and the runners doing the race. So when I'm out running on my own, I feel like a bit of a fake.

I can already imagine:

"Excuse me miss, you're not on the course"

"Oh no, I'm just out for a run, I'm not in the marathon, thanks"

"HA! Not in the Marathon! Well, all the real runners today are in the Marathon! Hahaha!"

Basically, I was a bit surprised to see such an abundance of non-marathon runners out on Sunday. And while the majority were probably feeling inspired, I know this wasn't the case for at least one other pair of runners who strode down Tenth Avenue wearing matching "Detroit Marathon" t-shirts, as if their worth was written across their chest.