We Did It!

Saturday - Marathon Eve.
One last meal of pasta. At this point I had been eating pasta for the past 3 days mixed with the right balance of protein and fat. Either way, I’m done with the pasta. The dinner took place at the marathon eve pasta dinner at Tavern on the Green. This is always hectic but I’m amazed at how organized they are in managing to feed over 15,000 runners. The dinner is great tradition, and I think it really adds to the marathon experience. Plus, you get a sneak peek at the marathon finish line where the 43,000 runners will pass through the next day. Three other runners along with friends and family joined me for the dinner.

Staten Island
Once we finished our meal, we were shuttled over to Staten Island. We stayed the night at the Hilton Garden Inn on Staten Island that was short drive to start line. Well, a short drive with no traffic. After checking in we had about an hour before we had to meet back downstairs to meet some of the other team members and take part in a Maasai ceremony.

The Ceremony
What took place was part of a traditional Maasai ceremony that the Maasai perform before becoming a warrior. In our case this was a ceremony for us to become warriors before the run. Samson the president of the trust, Sunte and Parashi entered the room dressed in their Shukka’s, beautiful Maasai jewelry (more than I had seen them wear before) and adorned with red paint down the side of their faces. I knew these guys were warriors but now they really looked liked warriors. Each came in and began applying the same face paint to each of the runners.

After applying the paint to each one of the runners Samson stood before us and described the ceremony that we were about to take part in. He explained that traditionally, the Maasai would have to go out and kill a lion to become a warrior but that is no longer practiced. Before beginning, Samson had to make an unfortunate announcement that he would not be able to run with us tomorrow. He had visited a doctor in the city that confirmed he had a stress fracture in one of his legs due to over training. It was a sad moment for the team but he said he would run with us in spirit.

The ceremony began with Samson, Paraishi and Sunte leading us in a series of chants and some singing. We were instructed to call back with our own chants. At one point, we all knelt down in a circle around Sunte as Samson walked around to each of us with a clay carafe with palm fronds extending out from it. The carafe was filled with milk and water, and as he chanted, he lightly splashed us with the milk in and water. Parashi followed behind him with some oil, which he rubbed on our foreheads. The oil symbolized the fat from a sheep they would normally slaughter during the traditional ceremony. The ceremony preceded with more chanting, and at one point all the runners getting in a line in a warrior-like stance with shield in one hand and spear in the other and letting out a series of grunting noises followed by a charge.

The ceremony ended with very heartfelt words from Samson, Parashi, Sunte, Luca and Edward. Samson expressed his sincere gratitude for all the hard work done by all the runners to help raise money and awareness for the Maasai community. Luca followed by expressing his gratitude and mentioned the growing list of key accomplishments of the trust that would not be possible without the help of others.

Feeling energized, empowered and ready to run, we all left that room as Maasai warriors ready to take on the city streets in the morning.

Race Day
The crowds were amazing, louder than I remembered. There were even more bands playing along the way. From marching bands to indie rock bands in Williamsburg to hip hop in the Bronx and Harlem, seeing, feeling and hearing the different cultures from each borough was incredible. All cheering for a bunch of runners!

I’m not sure if it is because I became a Maasai warrior in that hotel conference room the night before, the cheers and support of the crowd, or deeper reasons but I ran faster and harder than I’ve ever run in my life. There were groups at a few cheering stations that erupted as I went by at mile 8, 18, 23 and 25. The cheers and words of encouragement really do make a big difference. The miles early on seemed to fly by with ease.

I was really surprised when I came up on Parashi. He started ahead of me and had slowed to a walk at around mile 14. I slowed up beside him to see if he was okay and he said his lower leg was hurting. He told me to keep going. I asked if he wanted to run with me, which he tried, but in a few strides said he needed to take it easy. I made sure he was okay and with a smile on his face told me to go, go, go. I felt bad moving on without him but I took his words of encouragement and ran on. I’m glad to hear he finished and finished well.

I felt great until about mile 20 and my calves started to cramp. I had to stop and stretch a couple of times but kept going. I pushed hard through the final hills in the park where I was greeted with a loud roar from a group of friends and coworkers that helped push me up one of the final hills to finish line. I arrived to the words of the announcer saying something like “ It looks like one of our Maasai Warriors is approaching the finish line” that gave me chills.

Finishing in 3:09:33 is fast enough to qualify for Boston in April, which supposedly is the marathon of marathons. So I guess I’m going to do all this again soon (I’m not sure it will be as exciting though). Afterwards, I met up with friends and family at PJ Clarks for a well-deserved burger and a beer. It was a great time of celebration with friends, family and other runners after the race.

It felt great to complete the marathon for the Masaai, the team and all the people that support the cause. This will be memorable experience for the rest of my life and has definitely inspired me to pursue more fundraising efforts in the future (again, though they might not be as exciting as this one).

It is day four and most of the pain has subsided, but I know from past experience that the pain from the marathon does not end at the finish line. It stays with you for a few days. Maybe so you don’t forget the exciting and wonderful thing you just accomplished.

Thanks for all the help and support. I especially would like to thank my parents who flew all the way up from Georgia to support me. Dad, thanks for inspiring me to run these crazy races. Also a big thanks to all the groups at each of the cheering stations. The marathon committee in the office. We would not have been as successful without all your help and commitment. Thank you so much to all my friends and family that donated. I’d also like to thank Erika Matthias who set up this blog and helped me share the stories along the way. I hope to keep the blog going and share more stories about races, training, traveling and all the experiences I have in the city. Check back for more updates and photos.

and there you have it...

We have marathonned!
From the sidelines:

Brian performed phenomenally. He will post soon about his amazing experience and personal-best time, though I believe tonight's agenda was "icing and stretching." He was the first of all the Maasai Marathon team to cross the finish line, and we are all very proud.

The experience of cheering the runners on in Central Park in the last stretch was phenomenal itself. Wheelchair racers, runners of every imaginable nationality, intense halloween costumes, the sick and delirious, and men with bloody nipples frightfully staining their jerseys were just a few of the experiences that made the hours of yelling colorful and bearable.

Brian had four teams of support along the route: Fort Greene in Brooklyn (mile 14); 92nd and 1st in upper Manhattan, 92nd and 5th (mile 18), and our team at Central Park East around 74th (mile 24). We were able to follow his pacing and progress through text-message updates and on the internet with our phones, as well.

As we knew Brian was approaching, Team Mile 24 became quite anxious, looking for him... and looking... and looking...we almost missed him! He was nearly past us before a heroic yell came forth from one of our legion, and then we erupted. We were completely exhausted after that sixty seconds of emotional wailing, and panicked at the thought that we nearly missed him. It was then that we realized we despised the white jersey a little bit, whose generic color made picking out the MWCT runners quite difficult. Though finding runners within the horde is probably challenging regardless, it remained difficult to find the crew the entire afternoon, and we only were able to identify probably a third of the MWCT runners. There were definitely a few we were looking for and were quite sad to miss out on (Luca, Sunte- :( we so desperately wanted to yell for you! ).

Seeing the beleaguered troops dragging up the hill (we were mid-hill, the running looked painful at that point), you couldn't help wanting to encourage them, all tens of thousands of them... so we took to identifying people who either looked like they really needed support to keep them moving (or just those who clearly had their name displayed), and then gave them all we had. It was a good time, though completely exhausting after what ended up being four hours. We learned that Italians respond really well to having "Italia!" called out, the French like "Allez la France" maybe half the time, and Brazil responds pretty well, as do the Scandinavias, whereas Deutschland only really responded well at most, a third of the time (not an official study, just an observation under these circumstances). A couple of our team members are considering starting a business, "Say My Name," that strategically plants cheering sections for weary athletes to deliver needed support.

We were really pumped to see Parashi run through, but way later than he should have- his calves were killing him. The problem with taking mega-fast Kenyan runners from their environs in the Maasai wildlands and plopping them on the asphalt of Manhattan is the potential for shock. The asphalt was so unforgiving in comparison to what they normally run on that they switched from their Michelin Thousand Miler sandals to Puma running shoes, and their feet weren't accustomed to them. Samson's stress fracture prevented him from running. Hope this doesn't sour their experience here in the states at all.

The crew, all of them, were very honorable today, battling it out on with the pavement. And as of today the Maasai Marathon effort has raised well over seven hundred thousand dollars, now pushing eight hundred (can we make it more? Donate HERE). But Brian is the hero, first of the MWCT team to cross the finish line and represent us all. Yay! Continue to follow him, he's going places....

thousandmilers are rebounding

Well, the fundraiser went beautifully, and was a lot of fun. We raised over $2500 for the MWCT. Edward and the Maasai showed up, and Edward and Brian spoke, and everyone was joyous. Raffling was exciting and the food and drink was lovely. Thanks to our sponsors, especially the Ainsworth for having us.


The dudes in the photo are all runners, including Brian himself, Edward Norton, and the Maasai: Samson, Parishi, and Sunte. Luca, in the middle, runs things for the MWCT in Kenya. Greg Sauter, far left, is an AECOM team member with us. Many thanks to Steve Guyer, who did the event photography, which can be seen here:

http://www.steveguyer.com/maasaimarathon/

We have all recovered from our hangovers/event burnout, now, and are super excited to go out and support Brian on Sunday... just a couple days away!!! We'll be in a few locations over the city, in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. I think tomorrow we may get together and make posters to wave around in his honor while huddling together in the morning of our post-Halloween daze... better not make this Halloween too much of a wild one.

MWCT Fundraiser Today!

Attention Bleeding Hearts, Lushes and Celebrity Gawkers, alike...

The Fundraiser is today at the Ainsworth here in the Flatiron, and it's going to be a good one... with appearances by the Maasai themselves, Edward Norton, and some others, plus the open bar, your $40 contribution to the MWTC will be well worth it. Show up by 6:30 for the opening ceremonies led by Brian, and look out for the special guests.

Purchase tickets at the door, or here.

About the Thousandmilers

We told you all about Brian Field, our bold and gracious runner, a couple months ago. Here's the rest of us.

Brian Goldberg
(Un)Official Starter and Official Photographer for Weekly Training Runs; Coordinator of the AECOM Marathon Initiative; Neutral-Clad Warrior of Peace and Consensus; fan of asphalt inlay

Brian serves as the (Un)Official Starter of the Weekly Training Runs, counting all the participants and announcing when it is time for us to start running. Seconds before announcing the start, Brian takes the photo of the training run team and share it with the thousandmilers blog.

Brian also helps coordinate the overall AECOM Maasai Marathon effort, liaising among the Maasai Trust, AECOM runners and the AECOM Marathon Committee. He has led AECOM’s pro-bono planning assistance for the Maasai Trust, including facilitating a two-day strategic planning workshop; producing a marketing and business plan for the Trust’s ecotourism lodge, Campi ya Kanzi (www.maasai.com); collaborating with Google to prepare a baseline mapping framework and working with Yale to explore carbon finance payments.

Shaun O'Rourke
Team Captain, Organizer, Mystery Man

Shaun doesn't like to write bios. But he does like Vermont, and time off.

Erika Matthias
MasterBlogger, Mutineer; Grey Sky Enthusiast

Hailing from Seattle, a year of New York City living has Erika straddling the East/West Coast divide. An idealist at heart, she finds herself baffled at the high presence of A-type personalities here, and the low (though increasing) presence of recycling receptacles in the NYC public realm, while also finding herself in love with good bagels and the refreshing openness of the New Yorker spirit. A landscape architect and environmental educator, she is passionate about creating places that inspire and connect people to the places they inhabit.

When she is not covering marathon/Maasai-related events here, drafting construction details or revising Public Design Commission submissions, Erika enjoys writing, laughing, arguing, and taking photos. She lives in the East Village, USA. Her personal blog can be found at mindseye-ea.blogspot.com.

Alejandra Marambio
Chilean Cheerleader; Cross-cultural Diplomat; not a fan of lines or profiteering

Alejandra is a landscape designer with a background in architecture focused on responding to environmental, cultural, and historic contexts. She has a particular interest in promoting landscape design in developing countries (notably, Chile!!!). Alejandra spent her formative years in New York City and moved with her family back to their native Chile at the age of ten. She recently transferred from our San Francisco office to return to New York roots.

Alejandra has been focusing her energy in the effort toward fundraising, notably using her Chilean connections to reach out and help support Brian and the trust. In the actual training she serves more as more of an observer (due to a knee problem) but takes to channeling her positive energies for morale and riding her bike in support.

Jenny Hamann
Girl Friday, Cheerleader, Boilermaker; Most Colorful Attire

Jenny, a landscape designer, has been at EDAW for almost two years. A sprinter by nature, she cannot imagine ever having the desire to run a marathon. Her experience running is strictly on track and never running more than 400 meters. Even so, she still enjoys joining the team on training runs to help achieve our thousand miles.

Jenny's role in the thousandmilers effort is often to channel her social nature toward fundraising and looking for way to increase participation across our global offices. Some little known facts about Jenny are as follows:

-Huge college football fan. (team, Boilermakers; conference, Big Ten, although she also loves SEC games)
-Jenny also has about 60 pairs of shoes, many of them sneakers with flair.
-Lesser-known fact: loves musical biographical movies. Favorite likely the 1998 made-for-TV movie “The Temptations”

Laurel Hunter
Gracious Green Taskmaster; Compost-Worshipping Sun Goddess; costuming

Laurel is an amateur worm farmer and urban gardener who lives in Brooklyn, NY. A southern Californian transplant, Laurel enjoys fresh produce, sunshine, and the beach. She also likes to travel, read, photograph, sketch, build, cook, eat, smell, run, laugh, plant and talk. Touch is her favorite sense. She is a free-spirited person stuck in the body of a compulsive German Scot.

At EDAW, Laurel is on the resorts team and has been involved in the Parking Day and Green Roof charrettes, the Green Team + Sustainability Core Group, the CAD committee, and the Design Core Group. Most recently, Laurel chaired NYC’s LEED study group, producing 15 new LEED AP's in the NYC office. Which to anyone who doesn't think about building stuff like we do all day, means Laurel helped cheer on 15 people to become more knowledgeable and capable of creating environtmentally-friendly, energy-efficient buildings and landscapes.

Laurel keeps the thousandmilers in check, keeping track of the miles we run, our calendar, and fundraising data, and coordinating our running outfits. She will serve a crucial cheering section hostess in Brooklyn on marathon day.

In The Wings
these people have helped us immensely so I'll tell you a little about them.

Katti Yamashita
Fundraising Liason; Shaman; "Knows People"

Katti is really pregnant. She recently injured her rib coughing too hard. Though these things cannot and should not be ignored (in that order, respectively), Katti runs the administration of our office and serves in aiding our fundraising efforts, generously offering her resourcefulness, savoir faire, mad cuisine skills, and industry connections.

Anthony Blanco
AV Club; Wants to Take Your Picture; English, not just British

Anthony does our motion pictures, and is making a star of Brian in the process. To make a living, he is in charge of video for AECOM and does graphic design. He has helped direct movies and has worked with important people. He has two small children. He finds pirates fascinating.

Karen Appel
Fundraising Warrior; Queen of Compliance; Protector of Marshes

Karen juggles two hats at our firm; quality assurance and control for the office, and restoring the natural systems of the Northeast. No small feat. Karen was raised and lives in New Jersey but often travels around the country saving the environment and making sure everyone has crossed their T's and dotted their I's on official documents. She has helped us in coordinating fundraising for the marathon effort.

The Big Event!!!

Join us at The Ainsworth Tuesday, October 27th 6:30-10PM (122 W. 26th St. between 6th and 7th ave.) to celebrate “A Night for the Maasai”. it's going to be a great time with lots of great prizes being raffled off. Sam Adams provided us up with plenty of beer along with some great wine from Pasanella and sons. So pass this along to all your friends and make sure you buy your tickets in advance. I hope you all can make it.

Please RSVP at the link below for advance discount tickets! Tickets will also be available at the door. View the invitation below for the full details. http://forthemaasai.eventbrite.com/

Maasai in NYC

The three Maasai Warrior's are in the city. Read about some of their experiences so far on Edward's twitter page. I can't wait to meet these guys.

Edward Norton on the Marathon and The Cause

MWCT recues lost young elephant

Read this amazing story about a recent elephant rescue on the Kuku Ranch. If you haven't had a chance to make a donation yet please do. Any amount will make a huge difference. Your donations will go directly to the MWCT so they can continue to make incredible efforts such as this. Thanks to all who have already donated!!

http://maasaitrust.wildlifedirect.org/2009/10/14/mwct-rescues-lost-young-elephant/

It's all downhill from here

This past Sunday signified an important milestone in my training. It was the last of three long runs( 20 miles or more) and will be the start of the long awaited taper down to the marathon. Below is a chart from Hal Higdon that I have been following to train for this marathon. I'm on week 16.

I started off my long run this past Sunday in Staten Island with 6000 other runners in the Staten island half marathon. It was nice to be running with so many people and also served as a practice run for the marathon. I think it is good Idea to get out there and run a race leading up to marathon to get used to having so many people around you.

The route was out and back along the water that had excellent views of Manhattan. I was bit surprised by the hills but it was good to get some in. The halfway point of the run took us under the
Verrazano bridge where I know I will be returning in three short weeks.

I finished the half, resisted the temptation to stop with the others and kept going to do the course again. I ran out past mile 4 and turned around to finish the day at 21 miles. All and all it was a great run.