The crowds lining the streets to watch the ING NYC Marathon were as much a part of Sunday’s race as the runners. Giddy exuberance ruled the day as thousands of spectators cheered on their sons and daughters, husbands, wives, and friends. In Harlem, the last stretch of the race, people held homemade signs and kept an anxious eye out for their own marathoner amid the sea of sweaty runners. When their loved one came into view, families invariably erupted into cheers and screams of support.
I found one fan, Monty, standing in the shade near 116th St. and 5th Avenue, cheering on members of the Italia team.
Cheering for Italia by Lindsay Lowe
A little farther down 5th Avenue, the incessant clanging of cowbells pierced the air. Lines of fans clad in windbreakers and scarves rang the bells and shouted words of support to runners, whether they knew them or not. Each part of the course had its own almost musical rhythm–sometimes inspiring, sometimes jarring.
Drummers along the course provided a different kind of rhythm:
All along the course, hundreds of volunteers manned water and Gatorade stations. Adults and kids hurried to fill cups and hand them to runners, who downed the drink in a few gulps, threw the cup aside, and kept going, never missing a step. One volunteer, Wendy, said that her station had already gone through thousands of cups.
Cries of “water, water!” added another layer to the cacophony of the day. Near the end of the race, the splashing, crunching sound of marathoners running over discarded water cups grew louder and louder. Piles of cups like the one below served as a reminder of how hard the City would have to work after Sunday’s excitement was over.
