TCS, TFK, NYC MARATHON! WHAT? HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! Nov 2, 2014
The Brooklyn 1/2 May 18 2013
What's been happening since the ING NYC Marathon of 2011? A lot! For starters I battled with running injuries. Weight issues. Love hate relationship with running. In 2012 I didn't run much. Just a few races. After training all summer in 2011 for the marathon in November. Then all the excitement, expo, hoopla, and celebrations leading up to the marathon. Marathon day 50,000 plus runners and over 2 million spectators it was an amazing experience. Then I came home and...crash! "PMD" post marathon depression. So I did a lot of running by myself spent a lot of time at the gym during 2012. Switched gyms three times again. Alienated "once again" lots of folks and made new friends. By the end 2012 Wendi aka @haikugrl decided to run the Festival of lights 5k with our friend Marie. It was Marie's 1st race. Remember that Festival of lights was my very 1st race ever in December of '09. Doing the run again sparked a whole new eagerness in me. So much so, that Wendi, Marie and I started a running group and started training for Gate River Run 15k 2013. Then Wendi & I went on to do the 2013 May 18 Brooklyn 1/2 marathon in New York. That's us in the picture on the left at the expo. We came back and trained all summer for the Marine Corps 1/2 Marathon in October with Marie. That said, we did 1 to 2 races a month every month in 2013. Then in December 2013 we did Festival of lights again but this time with our dogs Charlie and Dexter. Dexter won his age group males 1-3 years old.
Festival of Lights 2013 5k
So here we are in 2014. And so far we've ran a race every month except April. This is where it get's interesting. You see, every year, Wendi and I sign up for the NYC Marathon. Every year we don't get selected. That's why in 2011 I ran with the TFK charity. I didn't make the lottery so I raised $100 dollars a mile for a total of 2620 dollars and got entry into the marathon. Anyway, fast forward to 2014. In mid March Wendi and I got the email saying ., "sorry you didn't get in this year..."
Side note: In 2014 TCS or Tata consultants took over for ING in the running of the New York City Marathon.
TCS is now the promoter & sponsor for NYCM. That said, 2014 will be their inaugural race.
...back to "sorry you didn't get in this year..." So at the Bottom of the rejection email there was a blurb. Very small and it simply said that in honor of TCS taking over for ING and this being their 1st marathon they would be holding a sweepstakes and choosing 26 lucky runners out of literally millions to run the NYC marathon in 2014. And all I had to do was click on the icon to be in the drawing. I figured what are the chances of being 1 of 26 out of millions. Since I didn't get chosen to be 1 of 50 thousand out of millions. Right? So I clicked on the icon and went on about my life. I figured after Gate River Run in March it was gonna be an easy summer of running, travelling, partying with Wendi. A couple of races here and there. We were already planning to do the Hoover Dam 1/2 in October. When on March 31st I get an email...
"Dear Joseph:
Congratulations! You are one of the 26 lucky winners of the Tata Consultancy Services and NYRR Team for Kids sweepstake. You have won a non-complimentary guaranteed entry to run the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon with NYRR Team for Kids. Tata Consultancy Services will be fulfilling the $2,620 fundraising commitment. You will only be responsible for paying your race entry fee and processing fee (if you had not previously applied to the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon. For entry and processing fees please visithttp://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/plan-your-race/getting-in..."
Side note: In 2014 TCS or Tata consultants took over for ING in the running of the New York City Marathon.
TCS is now the promoter & sponsor for NYCM. That said, 2014 will be their inaugural race.
...back to "sorry you didn't get in this year..." So at the Bottom of the rejection email there was a blurb. Very small and it simply said that in honor of TCS taking over for ING and this being their 1st marathon they would be holding a sweepstakes and choosing 26 lucky runners out of literally millions to run the NYC marathon in 2014. And all I had to do was click on the icon to be in the drawing. I figured what are the chances of being 1 of 26 out of millions. Since I didn't get chosen to be 1 of 50 thousand out of millions. Right? So I clicked on the icon and went on about my life. I figured after Gate River Run in March it was gonna be an easy summer of running, travelling, partying with Wendi. A couple of races here and there. We were already planning to do the Hoover Dam 1/2 in October. When on March 31st I get an email...
"Dear Joseph:
Congratulations! You are one of the 26 lucky winners of the Tata Consultancy Services and NYRR Team for Kids sweepstake. You have won a non-complimentary guaranteed entry to run the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon with NYRR Team for Kids. Tata Consultancy Services will be fulfilling the $2,620 fundraising commitment. You will only be responsible for paying your race entry fee and processing fee (if you had not previously applied to the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon. For entry and processing fees please visithttp://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/plan-your-race/getting-in..."
Well, there you have it. It is now May and I'm turning 54 this month and celebrating my 17th wedding anniversary. Wendi and I have actually been together 23 years. It's gonna be an interesting summer. This journey is far from over. This is most definitely to be continued....