Big Changes for Next Year's Marathon

NYRR and TCS Sign Premier Partnership and Title Sponsorship of New York City Marathon

Partnership includes naming rights of TCS New York City Marathon, beginning in 2014, and support of multiple races and community initiatives throughout the five boroughs 

Eight-year partnership with TCS to provide unprecedented support for NYRR’s mission to help and inspire people through running 

New York, October 2, 2013- New York Road Runners (NYRR) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, today announced an eight-year partnership, with TCS taking on the role of Title Sponsor in 2014 of the premier long-distance athletic event in the world – the New York City Marathon.  Beginning in 2014, the prestigious race will be called the TCS New York City Marathon and is a part of a year-round premier partnership between TCS and NYRR to provide support for the NYRR 5-Borough Series and key heritage events, as well as year-round youth and community-focused events and programs, starting November 5, 2013.

The new global partnership—fueled by movement and empowered by technology—is built on a shared commitment to elevating the health and well-being of individuals and embodies TCS’s historical dedication to strongly supporting the communities in which it operates. The spark of this joint “movement” starts today in New York City, driven by TCS’s digital, financial, strategic, and marketing support of NYRR events and programs, most notably a goal to make the New York City Marathon the most technologically advanced and socially engaged marathon in the world.

“We are thrilled that TCS will be joining NYRR as our premier partner and title sponsor of the NYC Marathon,” said Mary Wittenberg, president and CEO of New York Road Runners. “TCS won us over with their commitment to our sport and to elevating the health and well-being of our community, their technological excellence and their belief in the infinite potential in front of us to jointly help and inspire people through running.”

“We are delighted to be the title sponsor of the New York City Marathon from 2014. This partnership presents a great way for us to accelerate our engagement with communities in the New York area and across North America to raise awareness about health and fitness. Starting in 2014, we also aspire to make the TCS New York City Marathon a more technology-enriched and socially engaged experience for all its participants and fans across the world, using our core technology skills,” said Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO and managing director of TCS.

He added: “As a marathoner myself, I’m personally proud to partner with the NYRR team to support the world’s most prestigious marathon as well as many year-round events and community programs across the five boroughs of New York. This partnership will also help us project the awareness and understanding of the TCS brand and its values beyond our core audiences and into the communities where we operate, not only in North America but globally.”

With TCS, NYRR unveiled today the new logo for the 2014 Marathon, designed to commemorate the unprecedented new partnership and to provide an iconic uplifting symbol for the race. The new logo represents both organizations' forward-thinking, community-focused vision.

What do you think of the new logo?

With Sadness in Our Hearts

We couldn't let the terrible events of Marathon Monday pass without mentioning them.  

A Royal Flush has always been a big part of the running community.  We work with many races, large and small.  We volunteer at races.  Our employees are runners.  We truly love being a part of the running community and we realize how special it is.

That being said, we realize that any marathon day, no matter where it is or how big the race, is a really special day.  Those runners have trained for months, maybe even years, to get to this place and are so excited for what that day holds for them.  The memory of those miles will be with them forever and it is such a fantastic accomplishment.

Those runners in Boston missed out on that special feeling.  Something truly tragic will forever tarnish what should have been a wonderful day in their memory.

We are sorry for the runners, the people there to support them and for the entire City of Boston.  No words can express the sadness in our hearts at this moment.  Our thoughts and our prayers are with all the people affected by this.

Port-A-Potty service's NYC marathon run cut short

From Saturday’s CT Post

Rob Varnon

A particular view from the starting place of the New York City Marathon on Fort Wadsorth, Staten Island. Bridgeport-based A Royal Flush worked around the clock to get set up for the race on Sunday, Nov. 4, only to learn that the premier event had been cancelled as the city stuggled to recover from Hurricane Sandy. Photo: Contributed Photo / CT

For the last two days, a Bridgeport company crammed in almost a week's worth of work lining the storm-battered streets of New York City with thousands of portable toilets in preparation for the world's premier road race -- only to hear that it was canceled just 39 hours before the start.

Debbie Russo, one of the owners of A Royal Flush, headquartered at 14 Andover St., Bridgeport, was confident Friday her employees were up to the challenge of providing the 40,000 runners and thousands of volunteers and spectators with a service that often goes unnoticed when it's done right. A Royal Flush appeared to be on track, she said, despite losing three vital prep days and having to navigate debris and blocked roads in New York. The company had placed 1,700 of its units at the starting line at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island before Hurricane Sandy struck and A Royal Flush crew secured them through the storm on Monday.

The New York Road Runners, which organizes the event, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the decision to cancel on Friday night.

Earlier press reports indicated the New York Road Runners has insurance to cover cancellations, but details as to what that means for vendors and participants who paid to run were not clear at presstime.

It is a dramatic letdown for a company whose presence at the event might have been one of its greatest moments since it began providing units for the New York race in 1996.

The company was asked to provide the portable toilets just a few days ago, when the New York Road Runners and Mayor Bloomberg had declared the marathon would go on. Supporters of the decision to run said the 26.2-mile race would serve as a symbol and metaphor for the recovery effort. But many others said the hardships felt around the city were too great to hold the event.

"My heart (was) telling me not to run," said Ronnie Behringer, a Norwalk resident who had picked up her race packet on Thursday. "I would just like to see all that energy and all those resources go to helping people who are still underwater."

A veteran of 27 marathons, three of which were in New York, Behringer was appreciative of the service provided by A Royal Flush.

"Under normal circumstances resources like that are primary," she said. "The first thing you do at the start of a race is look for the Port-a-John."

She said nerves and hydration get the best of all runners. And, she said she's seen what happens when there aren't enough of them.

"Not to be indelicate, but I have seen large marathons where there aren't enough Port-a-Johns and runners will go anywhere," she said.

Marty Schaivone, owner of Stratford-based MS Running Productions is a race director and longtime runner, said he saw both sides of the argument about holding the race. Race organizers spend the better part of a year preparing for an event like this. It's an tremendous effort to bring together vendors, volunteers, equipment and runners, he said. Then to have to cancel it is "a brutal call," he said.

Schaivone had to make that same decision this weekend for two races in the area, the Southport Racquet Club 5K on Saturday and the Weston Reservoir Run Half Marathon on Sunday. But those races were postponed until later. He said he can't see that for the City's marathon.

"There's no postponement date for New York," he said.

But Schaivone also said there was a tremendous outcry in the running community against holding the event while people in New York went without power, heat and water.

For Russo, the Marathon usually marks the end of the company's season of events and construction, but she believes the units will be put to more use as a season of restoration begins and the region moves to rebuild.

"We are proud to be a partner in such a great event, but happy that the resources will go for useful purposes," she said.

A Restroom Plan Can Reduce Worry

From Friday’s NY Times

By TALYA MINSBERG

A raceday outfit. A prerace meal. A playlist. A warm-up routine.

Jacob Silberberg for The New York Times

A runner near Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn looks for a free bathroom during the New York City Marathon.

And there is one more thing runners obsess over but are often too shy to discuss in public: making sure that digestive issues have been dealt with. “If you don’t address it or wing it then that’s when you lose valuable time in the marathon,” John Honerkamp, chief coach for New York Road Runners, said.

It is a vital part of any proper prerace routine, said Adam Banks, chief executive of NY SportsMed, a sports therapy practice. “Carrying that extra weight with you for 26 miles is extremely uncomfortable.”

That’s why 1,750 portable restrooms, from A Royal Flush, are placed at the start of the New York City Marathon.

“A lot of runners laugh about it, but a really important component to having a good race is doing your prerace business,” said Beth Risdon, a running coach and running blogger.

“I think many, many runners have found themselves in the middle of a race or training run where they really honestly don’t know what to do,” she said.

“A lot of people feel kind of alone in that and it’s important to dialogue about it that because we’ve all kind of been there,” Risdon said.

The prerace restroom routine is also about avoiding the horror stories — tales of runners who do not make it to the next portable restroom or athletes who add minutes to their finishing time thanks to an unplanned visit to one.

Risdon said such occurrences are part of a shared runner experience. “It’s really natural given the sport of running. The most important thing is to remedy that and to minimize the risk of that happening.”

So how do runners ensure that everything is taken care of before a race?

It is a question Honerkamp said he receives almost every day by e-mail.

“Usually I get in parentheses, ‘Sorry for asking this’ or ‘This is an embarrassing question,’ ,” he said. “When they do ask it’s rare that you don’t get a smiley face or an ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m asking this.’ But it is important.”

Risdon advises meticulously watching nutrition during training.

“I think the predominant thing to pay attention to is diet,” she said. “The best thing for someone who is training for their first race is to experiment, just like we do with clothing and hydration, to see what works with our body and what doesn’t.”

Because many New York City marathoners come up on their final long run before a much-deserved taper period, drastically reducing their mileage in the weeks before the race, it is time for race nutrition trial and error.

Runners aim to find prerace fuel that will wake up the gastrointestinal tract and keep lactic-acid-filled legs moving, Banks said. He recently spoke to a client about facilitating the prerace routine, saying: “We talked about taking a laxative enema, but decided that none of that was good. So hopefully a few cups of coffee would do the trick.”

“Simulate the morning of the race before the race,” Jay Hachadoorian, head running coach at NY SportsMed, said. “Run your last long run with the shoes you’re going to run in and the gear you’ll run in. Same thing with food. If you aren’t going into the marathon with a nutrition plan, you are going in unprepared.”

Risdon advises keeping a particularly fastidious approach to diet immediately before the marathon, saying “Watch what you eat the three days before a race, it can make a big difference on raceday.”

Undoubtedly the goal for most runners is to finish the race without a bathroom break.

But Hachadoorian tells his runners to prepare for gastrointestinal setbacks. “Bring a wet wipe; you’re a more confident runner when you feel clean after using the Porta-Potty,” he said. “You never know what condition a Porta-Potty will be in when you get to it.”

Tom Therkildsen of the Road Runners events team said there would be 2,450 portable restrooms available to athletes. He said the New York City Marathon has the second most portable restrooms per event in the nation, after the Rose Bowl.

Jessie Lavintman, a half-marathon runner who lives in Minnesota, might have said it best.

“If you can win in the bathroom, you can win in the race.”

Race Day is Almost Here!

Don’t forget that daylight savings time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 4.

Don't forget set your clock back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night!!!!

Good Luck!

History of the NYC Marathon

With race week almost here, I thought I would share this history of the New York City Marathon, that I found on the marathon’s website:

History of the ING New York City Marathon

Around the world, the word "marathon" evokes images of New York City. Before the New York race began, marathons were modest events run by a few athletes and followed by a few fans interested in the limits of human endurance. New York Road Runners and marathon co-founder Fred Lebow changed that. Today many marathons are huge media events that take over entire cities around the globe. None is as prominent as the ING New York City Marathon, but all city marathons are modeled on it. Modern marathoning owes its start -- and its world-class status -- to New York.

The first New York City Marathon, though, was a humble affair. In 1970, 127 runners paid the $1 entry fee to NYRR to participate in a 26.2-mile race that looped several times within Central Park. Fifty-five runners crossed the finish line.

When Lebow redrew the course through all five New York boroughs six years later, not everyone could appreciate his vision. But 2,090 runners lined up at the start for the chance to run from Staten Island through Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx to Manhattan. The expanded course attracted two-time Olympic marathon medalist Frank Shorter, along with reporters and television cameras. Thousands of spectators lined the streets and cheered the runners. By reconfiguring the course, Lebow had drawn the city together and attracted recognition around the world.

The New York City Marathon's unique mix of athletics, neighborhood spirit, and international media attention soon attracted the world's best runners to the annual fall race. By the late 1970s, the running boom was exploding and New York was at the center. More than 9,000 people participated in 1978 when Norwegian Grete Waitz set a women's marathon world record, finishing in 2:32:30.

Several men's and women's records fell in the early years, but the New York race was soon about more than speed. When international sanctions against South African athletes were lifted in 1992, Willie Mtolo chose to run New York. He bested the field and garnered media coverage around the world. When Tegla Loroupe broke the tape at the Central Park finish in 1994, her win proved that African women were on par with the African men in their ability to run the 26.2-mile distance. She did it in New York, and the world took notice. Soon Kenyan women were invited to other major distance races.

In 2000, NYRR added an official wheelchair division to the marathon. Now the ING New York City Marathon has grown to become one of the most competitive wheelchair marathons anywhere in the world, with more than 200 wheelchair and handcycle athletes. In addition, a wide variety of ambulatory athletes with disabilities participate.

While the marathon has always been a focus of community spirit, with more than two million New Yorkers lining the streets to support the runners, that aspect of the race was most apparent in November 2001. Less than two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the New York City Marathon became a race of hope and renewal for participants, spectators, and all New Yorkers, and patriotism ran high as the marathon hosted the men's and women's USA Marathon Championships.

New York has continued to lead in race management. In 2002, NYRR created a separate start for the professional women as a way to highlight the most competitive women's field in race history. In 2003, ING became the title sponsor of the race and joined with NYRR to fund grassroots running and fitness programs among the city's youth through the ING Run for Something Better program. 

NYRR hosted the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials -- Men's Marathon in Central Park on the same weekend as the ING New York City Marathon 2007. In 2008, the marathon was successfully staged with three wave starts. The 2009 race was the marathon's 40th running and hosted the USA Men's Marathon Championship. In 2010, the marathon expanded its reach to friends, family, and fans with the I'M IN theme. In 2011, there were more than 47,000 finishers (the most ever), and Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya ran 2:05:05 to set a men's open course record, while women's wheelchair champion Amanda McGrory of the United States pushed her way to a 1:50:24 course best.

More than four decades after its start, the ING New York City Marathon continues to grow in size and to be the leader among marathons around the world.

New York City Marathon to Be Shown Live Nationally

From the New York Times:

The New York City Marathon will be broadcast live and across the nation for the first time in nearly two decades, the most significant feature of a new television deal that is expected to be announced by New York Road Runners as soon as Friday.

As part of a five-year deal, the race will be carried for three and a half hours on ESPN2, which reaches nearly every household with cable or satellite television, and for five hours on WABC, ABC’s affiliate in the New York area. WABC will also broadcast the marathon’s opening ceremony and a half-hour preview show the night before the race, which will be held Nov. 4, and ABC will televise a highlight show a few hours after the race.

The NYC Half Marathon in March and the Fifth Avenue Mile may also be televised.

The Road Runners will receive guaranteed payments from the networks and share any revenue generated by the broadcasts.

The race was last broadcast live and nationally in 1993, the last year ABC televised the event. Since then, the race has been broadcast live in the New York metropolitan area by WPIX and, more recently, by WNBC, an affiliate of NBC, which also produced a highlight show that was shown on tape delay. Universal Sports also showed the race to some cable households.

The Road Runners hope that showing the event live across the country on ESPN will attract more runners and sponsors to the club and the marathon, which is already the largest in the country. The race, which had more than 47,000 entrants last year, is expected to expand to about 55,000 runners in coming years.

The NYC Half is expected to accept 15,000 runners this year, 50 percent more than last year.

“The drama of the marathon plays out best live, and it’s seen around the world and in the city, so there was a gap because it wasn’t seen nationally,” said Mary Wittenberg, the chief executive of the Road Runners. “It’s not just the world’s race, but America’s race.”

The marathon is by far the Road Runners’ biggest moneymaker and an economic engine for the city. About half the entrants come from overseas; many bring their families and friends, who spend tens of thousands of dollars in hotels, restaurants and shops.

As the race has grown in size, it has also become more expensive to run. This year, entrance fees have increased about $60, largely because the New York Police Department has started to charge athletic event organizers to recoup its costs for providing traffic control and security.

In addition to an $11 application fee, members of the Road Runners must pay $216 to enter the race, up from $156 last year. International applicants will pay $347 compared with $281 last year.

Will you be watching?

Congratulations Runners!

Congratulations to everyone who ran and finished yesterday’s New York City Marathon. You should be so proud of yourself for this accomplishment.

Sincerely,

Everyone at A Royal Flush, Inc.

It’s Finally Here!

It’s Marathon weekend in NYC!

Pretty soon, over 47,000 runners will cross the Verrazano bridge at the start of one of the most amazing races I have ever run!  The runners will have a gorgeous view up the Hudson river and they may even be able to see the tip of Manhattan or the Statue of Liberty. 

From their they will run through Brooklyn, into Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge which will be shaking from the cheers of spectators on First Ave.  Then, they will head up First Ave into the Bronx and finish coming down Fifth Ave and into Central Park.

I can honestly say that this race is one to the best races I have ever run.  It was an amazing experience and worth every grueling mile. So runners remember to have fun, take in the moments and most of all, be proud of your accomplishments!

Just remember:

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-Fred Lebow

Everyone at A Royal Flush, Inc. is rooting for you!

New York City Marathon History

As race week is finally upon us, I thought I would share this brief history of the New York City Marathon. 

From the NYC Marathon Website:

History of the ING New York City Marathon

Around the world, the word "marathon" evokes images of New York City. Before the New York race began, marathons were modest events run by a few athletes and followed by a few fans interested in the limits of human endurance. New York Road Runners and marathon co-founder Fred Lebow changed that. Today many marathons are huge media events that take over entire cities around the globe. None is as prominent as the ING New York City Marathon, but all city marathons are modeled on it. Modern marathoning owes its start -- and its world-class status -- to New York.

Fred Lebow Statue in Central Park

The first New York City Marathon, though, was a humble affair. In 1970, 127 runners paid the $1 entry fee to NYRR to participate in a 26.2-mile race that looped several times within Central Park. Fifty-five runners crossed the finish line.

When Lebow redrew the course through all five New York boroughs six years later, not everyone could appreciate his vision. But 2,090 runners lined up at the start for the chance to run from Staten Island through Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx to Manhattan. The expanded course attracted two-time Olympic marathon medalist Frank Shorter, along with reporters and television cameras. Thousands of spectators lined the streets and cheered the runners. By reconfiguring the course, Lebow had drawn the city together and attracted recognition around the world.

The New York City Marathon's unique mix of athletics, neighborhood spirit, and international media attention soon attracted the world's best runners to the annual fall race. By the late 1970s, the running boom was exploding and New York was at the center. More than 9,000 people participated in 1978 when Norwegian Grete Waitz set a women's marathon world record, finishing in 2:32:30.

Grete Waitz, a Nine Time NYC Marathon Winner

Several men's and women's records fell in the early years, but the New York race was soon about more than speed. When international sanctions against South African athletes were lifted in 1992, Willie Mtolo chose to run New York. He bested the field and garnered media coverage around the world. When Tegla Loroupe broke the tape at the Central Park finish in 1994, her win proved that African women were on par with the African men in their ability to run the 26.2-mile distance. She did it in New York, and the world took notice. Soon Kenyan women were invited to other major distance races.

In 2000, NYRR added an official wheelchair division to the marathon. Now the ING New York City Marathon has grown to become one of the most competitive wheelchair marathons anywhere in the world, with more than 200 wheelchair and handcycle athletes. In addition, a wide variety of ambulatory athletes with disabilities participate.

While the marathon has always been a focus of community spirit, with more than two million New Yorkers lining the streets to support the runners, that aspect of the race was most apparent in November 2001. Less than two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the New York City Marathon became a race of hope and renewal for participants, spectators, and all New Yorkers, and patriotism ran high as the marathon hosted the men's and women's USA Marathon Championships.

New York has continued to lead in race management. In 2002, NYRR created a separate start for the professional women as a way to highlight the most competitive women's field in race history. In 2003, ING became the title sponsor of the race and joined with NYRR to fund grassroots running and fitness programs among the city's youth through the ING Run for Something Better program.

NYRR hosted the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials -- Men's Marathon in Central Park on the same weekend as the ING New York City Marathon 2007. In 2008, the marathon was successfully staged with three wave starts. The 2009 race was the marathon's 40th running and hosted the USA Men's Marathon Championship. In 2010, the marathon expanded its reach to friends, family, and fans with the I'M IN theme. There were more than 45,000 finishers, the most ever.

Forty years after its start, the ING New York City Marathon continues to grow in size and to be the leader among marathons around the world

ING New York City Marathon Makes Big Strides

From Crains New York:

New York Road Runners adds Olympic-style events to build on its $340 million in economic activity and tout the sport.

By Lisa Fickenscher

The Big Apple may not have won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, but its ING New York City Marathon is fast becoming Olympian in its pageantry.

New York Road Runners, which organizes the 26.2-mile race on the first Sunday of every November, is amping up this year's edition, turning it into a three-day extravaganza.

Two days before the Nov. 6 race, for the first time in the competition's 42-year history, there will be a Parade of Nations ceremony, featuring runners from nearly 50 different countries carrying their flags. NYRR is also establishing a Hall of Fame and will induct its first two members on that Friday. The day's program will include fireworks in Central Park and an international culinary event called Taste of Travel.

The Olympic theme will continue on Nov. 5 with a 3.1-mile race starting near the United Nations and featuring past marathon medalists—including Deena Kastor—as well as Olympic hopefuls.

The initiatives are part of a larger effort by the Road Runners to expand the marquee event into the broadest possible advertisement for the sport, while continuing to transform the race into an economic and fundraising powerhouse.

“We are the annual Super Bowl in New York,” said NYRR Chief Executive Mary Wittenberg.

The marathon generated $340 million in economic activity for the city last year, drawing 2 million spectators and more than 45,000 runners, according to a study that its organizers commissioned earlier this year. At least half of the runners come from abroad, bringing family members with them in many cases, and staying here for an average of six nights.

This year, about 47,000 runners—out of 140,000 applicants—are signed up for the race.

Celebrities line up

The list of notables competing includes former New York Rangers captain Mark Messier; speed skater Apolo Ohno, an Olympic gold medalist; model Christy Turlington Burns; and restaurateur Joe Bastianich.

Even some local politicos are taking up the challenge. Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott will run his first marathon, while the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, will race in his 17th—his fourth in New York.

The new prerace events represent a “significant investment,” said Ms. Wittenberg, who enlisted local celebrity restaurateur Danny Meyer to cater them. “We take the attitude, 'Build it first, and they will come,' “ said Ms. Wittenberg, who would not divulge the expansion's cost.

NYRR hopes to eventually sell the television rights to the Parade of Nations and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. WNBC holds the broadcast rights to the race.

Ms. Wittenberg is also looking for a permanent home for the Hall of Fame, which would be part of a larger international running center—most likely in Harlem near Central Park.

“That area is a great fit for us, and we hope to have outposts in the other boroughs as well,” she said.

Community outreach is a big focus for the organization, which has running programs at 400 of the city's 1,700 public schools. Ms. Wittenberg is hiring two additional staffers to develop relationships with more schools.

The first inductees to the Hall of Fame are likely to be two legendary runners associated with the marathon: the late Fred Lebow, co-founder of NYRR, and Norwegian star Grete Waitz, nine-time winner of the women's competition, who died in April of cancer. Her widower, Jack Waitz, and other family members are running this year's race in her honor.

Charitable fundraising has become a big part of the event in recent years. Last year, 8,000 runners raised $30 million for nearly 200 charities. About $20 million of that went to New York City programs.

New app tracks runners

The race has become a showcase, too, for the latest in social media. This year, NYRR partnered with MapMyRun, a website with a mobile geo-locator app that pinpoints the location of runners, so their family and friends can track their progress over the course. Using this technology, businesses, such as restaurants, can send an alert when a runner is near their location.

Even as NYRR gears up for this year's race, Ms. Wittenberg is looking ahead to next year. ING's 10-year sponsorship contract is up in 2013. The financial services company was the marathon's first title sponsor, but it will likely not be the last.

Reupping with ING or finding a new sponsor will be a major undertaking for the running group. The partnership with ING has provided a positive starting point.

“Our relationship,” said Ms. Wittenberg, “has been a great example of a good partnership.”

New York City Marathon

This article is from July but seeing as we just passed the ten year anniversary of September 11th, I thought I would share this with you.

Ten Years After September 11, Families of Flight 93 Heroes Will Run the ING New York City Marathon in Honor of Their Fallen Family Members

Group will be an official charity partner; other 9/11 charities include Tuesday’s Children and the Nicholas Rossomando 9/11 Memorial Scholarship Fund

New York, July 25, 2011—To mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, 24 members of the Families of Flight 93 Runners charity will run the ING New York City Marathon 2011 on Sunday, November 6, to remember the heroes of Flight 93 and to raise awareness and funds for the Flight 93 National Memorial site in Shanksville, PA. Families of Flight 93 Runners is one of the marathon’s 209 official charity partners. Two other charity partners this year honor 9/11 victims: Tuesday’s Children and the Nicholas Rossomando 9/11 Memorial Scholarship Fund.

For several members of the Families of Flight 93 Runners, this year’s race will be a return to New York. In 2002, just 14 months after the September 11 attacks, a small group honored their loved ones by running the New York City Marathon wearing shirts emblazoned with "Flight 93 Family Runners: They Never Gave Up and Neither Will We."

"Running in 2002 reinforced my belief in the innate kindness and generosity of humanity," said team spokesperson Kiki Homer, sister of LeRoy W. Homer, Jr., copilot of Flight 93. "The ING New York City Marathon is a positive and moving experience; it inspires us to challenge ourselves and celebrate life. To cross the finish line this year will demonstrate in a powerful and tangible way the strength of collective determination and action, symbolic of the efforts of our loved ones. As our team runs the marathon together in November, I am also hopeful that many will be reminded that they are not alone on their continuous journey of healing from the tragedy of September 11."

Several members of the Families of Flight 93 Runners embarked on their inspirational journey to the Marathon starting line by taking part in the ING New York City Marathon Long Training Run in Central Park last Saturday, July 23. This non-competitive run of distances from six to 20 miles featured pace teams and a field of more than 2,500 runners.

"It is so fitting

Last year, runners raised more than $30 million for official ING New York City Marathon charities.

Passing of a Legend

Yesterday was a sad day for the running community and we morn the loss of a running legend.

Grete Waitz, a Norwegian athlete who shocked the running community by setting a world record in her first marathon in New York City in 1978, died in Oslo on Tuesday at the age of 57. Waitz, who won a total of nine New York City marathons, will be remembered as the event's most dominant competitor. She acknowledged in 2005 that she had an undisclosed type of cancer.

The one-time school teacher's rise to prominence was fast and unconventional. Fred Lebow, the race's founder and director back in 1978, recruited Waitz to run that year's NYC marathon, despite her little experience in long-distance running. As the world-record holder in the 3,000-meter run at the time, he figured Waitz would make a good pace-setter for other runners in the contest. But Mr. Lebow and others were stunned when Waitz not only won that year's marathon, but managed to set a world record time by finishing the race in two hours, 32 minutes, 30 seconds—two minutes better than the previous best. While she was equally successful in scores of other events around the world, she fell short in her bid to win gold in the 1984 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles, taking the silver medal.

—Chris Herring

We were so sad to hear of the passing of such an amazing competitor.  Our thoughts go out to her friends and family.

Marathon Videos

I recently found some videos of this year’s New York City Marathon.  Enjoy!!

You can see our toilets at the 17 second mark.

At the 1 minute mark, you can see the long row of toilets on the right hand side of the bridge.  These were the toilets along the starting corrals.

This video is great because this person was standing right behind our toilets through the whole beginning of the movie!!!
Enjoy!!!

The Numbers Behind the Great Race!

From last Saturday’s New York Times:

Behind the Scenes, a Race of Logistics

With more than 43,000 participants, 2.5 million spectators and a course that stretches over 26.2 miles and 5 boroughs, the New York City Marathon is more than a sporting event, it is a vast international spectacle.

Peter Ciaccia, the senior vice president for event development at New York Road Runners, sometimes has trouble coming up with the right analogy for describing the size of the race.

But one parallel, he said, is imagining what it is like at Madison Square Garden when the Knicks and the Rangers play on the same day. After 20,000 fans file out after the basketball game, the court has to be removed, the arena cleaned and the rink prepared for a hockey game a few hours later, when another 20,000 fans will arrive.

Of course, that is all done indoors, does not involve the police department, an army of paramedics, thousands of volunteers and runners from around the world who do not speak English as a first language.

“We believe this is the greatest sporting event in the world for one day,” Ciaccia said a few weeks ago. “It’s on par with the Olympics. We’re putting New York City on a platform.”

To any doubters, Ciaccia provides statistics. To get to the starting line, runners will board 12 ferries leaving from Manhattan. About 500 buses will take runners to the start at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island from points in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond.

(For what it’s worth, 56 percent of the entrants last year were married and 36 percent were single. The rest were divorced, partners or widowed.)

At the start on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, there will be 1,694 portable toilets, 42,000 PowerBars, 90,000 bottles of water and 563 pounds of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee beans, enough to make 45,000 cups. About 500 volunteers will collect more than 10 tons of sweat suits, sleeping bags and Snuggies, much of which will be cleaned and given to charities. The bridge must be cleared within an hour of the last runner’s leaving. More than 70 United Parcel Service trucks will take the athletes’ belongings to the finish line.

Along the course, 62,370 gallons of water and 32,040 gallons of Gatorade will be served in 2.3 million paper cups that can now be recycled, thanks to new technology. Another 60,000 PowerBar Gel packets will be available at Mile 18.

About 11 tons of trash will be collected at the 24 fluid stations, much of it cardboard, plastic jugs and cups. The 24 station “captains” have more than 400 years of experience combined. Along the course, 137 bands (all vetted by New York Road Runners) will perform on dozens of stages. Runners can check their times on the 106 clocks on the course.

Among the more than 6,000 volunteers on race day are medical workers at the 38 aid stations. They will have on hand 11,410 pounds of ice, 13,475 bandages, 57,059 salt packages and 390 tubs of Vaseline. They will have 435 cots and 30 defibrillators that, hopefully, will not be needed.

In all, 1,200 vehicles will be used during the race, including many assembled into convoys that clean the course as runners push ahead. School buses will pick up stragglers. Runners who make it to the finish will be handed one of the 52,000 medals, and possibly one of the 60,000 heat sheets and 52,000 food bags.

Jim Heim, who works with Ciaccia, said the Road Runners operations staff was “a well-oiled machine,” in part, because it has hosted events throughout the year. But he acknowledged that “at every event, there’s something that is going to go wrong.”

New York City Marathon

Congratulations to everyone who ran and finished yesterday’s New York City Marathon.  You should be so proud of yourself for this accomplishment.

Sincerely,

Everyone at A Royal Flush, Inc.

Marine Corp Marathon Toilet Saga Continues

From TBD:

Two weeks ago, the big question surrounding Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" was where everyone was going to take a dump. Seriously. The Marine Corps Marathon, which takes place the following day (Oct. 31), was refusing to share its Porta Potties. Naturally, the story became national news. In a New York Times article, the marathon's race director revealed plans to padlock the toilets and National Park Service spokesman Bill Line blew his top about a potential potty shortage, which, in turn, prompted this City Paper post about Line's temper. Much fun was had on Twitter and the like. Finally, the marathon decided not to have the Porta Potties delivered to the National Mall until after Stewart and Stephen Colbert's rally.

Story over, right? WRONG. No one ever solved the central question: Where will rally-goers relieve themselves?

Marine Corp Marathon Toilets

This is an article from last week’s New York Times:

Runners and Rallies Will Not Share Toilets

By Juliet Macur

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps Marathon here bills itself as “the people’s marathon.” As the largest marathon in the world that does not offer prize money, it expects a field of 30,000 runners for this year’s race, on Oct. 31.

But apparently the inclusive spirit does not extend to the portable toilets.

Runners in the marathon and participants in rallies organized by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will share the Mall on the Halloween weekend. On back-to-back days, they will take to the same streets, walk on the same lawn and enjoy the same scenery, with the Capitol as the backdrop.

But Rick Nealis, race director for the marathon, said that on Oct. 30 he would put metal padlocks on about 100 portable toilets he was setting up around the Mall for the race day, when the marathoners will be joined by an additional 10,000 runners in a 10-kilometer race.

Organizers for the simultaneous rallies on Oct. 30, which will have Comedy Central personalities as hosts, asked Mr. Nealis to share the toilets, promising to contribute to the cost and have them cleaned before the marathon’s start at 8 a.m. the next day. (The rallies officially end at 3 p.m.)

But Mr. Nealis would not concede that precious territory.

“I understand that they were having problems ordering Porta Potties, that they might have to go as far as Baltimore to get them, but I just didn’t want to share,” he said.

Mr. Nealis ordered 800 portable toilets — a big portion of the available toilets in this area — which will be spaced along the marathon’s 26.2-mile course. He said he usually used plastic strip ties to keep interlopers out of the units on the eve of the race, but was tightening security this time with “real, live” padlocks.

“It will cost me a few extra pennies, but it’s worth it to know that my runners won’t run out of toilet paper,” he said.

Steve Albani, a spokesman for Comedy Central, declined to let the rallies’ organizers speak about the specifics of their event, like where participants may be able to seek relief.

“I have not heard of any Porta Potti padlock,” Mr. Albani said.

The organizers of Mr. Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” and Mr. Colbert’s “March to Keep Fear Alive” — parodies of Glenn Beck’s recent “Restoring Honor” rally — have submitted permit applications to the National Park Service, which has yet to approve them. The permits request use of the Mall for 65,000 people. Based on the Park Service’s suggestion of a 1-to-300 portable-toilet-to-people ratio, the rally would need to rent 217 toilets.

Bill Line, spokesman for the National Capital Region of the Park Service, said in a telephone interview: “It is common, typical, regular, ordinary for us to handle multiple events on the National Mall at any given time. Do you get that?”

When asked if the rallies and the marathon might create a problem regarding the availability of toilets on the Mall, Mr. Line sounded incredulous.

“I have every right to ask questions, and I am asking questions that I would like an answer to,” he shouted. “Who’s making these allegations? I want to know who is saying there will be a problem with portable restrooms.”

New York City Marathon Lottery

So how did Wednesday's lottery go?  Did anyone get in?  Be sure to let us know! 

If you were lucky enough to get picked in the lottery, not only will you get to run an amazing 26.2 miles through all five boroughs but you will also get to use our PORTABLE TOILETS!  Who is excited??

Congrats again to all the runners!

Today's the Big Day!

The New York City Marathon lottery drawing will be live at noon today!  You can watch it here.  Good luck to all the runners.  I have my fingers crossed for all of you!