I started running marathons, and longer, over 9 years ago. One of my desires the entire time was to run in the NY Marathon at some point. I longed for the excitement of running with 40,000 others in the streets of NY. So, over the past 9 years I've attempted to get into the NY Marathon through the lottery. Yeah, in this regard I have not been very lucky.
Some may know, there used to be a "register 3 years in a row and you're in" deal. So I continued to register for the lottery each year in hopes of being selected, but knowing that after 3 years I'd get my shot. However, as luck would have it, I missed one year (year #3) and was forced to start all over again. This was 2013, the year following hurricane Sandy hitting NY. Since Sandy prevented the 2012 marathon from happening the New York Road Runners didn't sent out reminders to register because many of the would be 2012 runners were carried over. Thus, I missed year 3 and had to restart from the beginning.
True to my NY bad luck, when I hit 3 years again they had discontinued the "3 registrations loophole" before I got to 3 again. But in my determination, I continued to try.
Well, this year I made it! I was picked in the lottery to run the 2018 NY Marathon in November.
I'm super excited, to say the least.
So, check back to see how things continue. I typically run around 25 to 30 miles per week, but toward June I will need to start in earnest to be ready for November.
Update prior to releasing this post: I will follow this with a post about a health issue that may prevent me from running NY in 2018 after all. :( Hint: It is eye related.