New York City Marathon 2004
- By Doug Kurtis
Free Press Columnist

From the moment you arrive in Manhattan, the air is filled with electricity. The closer you get to Central Park, the more runners you see. Street banners are affixed to poles announcing one of the world's most prestigious races, the New York City Marathon.

Festivities kick off today with the blue-line painting ceremony. There's no getting lost on this course. Twenty-six continuous miles of blue paint point the way from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Central Park's Tavern on the Green.

Since the first marathon in 1970 with 55 finishers, the race has grown to a weeklong celebration with 35,000 runners, 12,000 volunteers and thousands of city employees.

Only Boston can compare to the way New Yorkers embrace the event. It's estimated that 2-million spectators line the course. It reaches five deep in some spots along First Avenue in the neighborhood of Yorkville, known for its many ethnic churches. The course is also home to two blocks of simulated Maine forest now known as the Poland Spring Hydration Zone.

The marathon expo lines run long, but there are numerous diversions. At the start of the International Friendship Run, the Abebe Bikila award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to distance running.

Runners from around the world converge at the United Nations building before jogging to Central Park and sharing a continental breakfast.

On Saturday, a daylong food festival with delights from around the world is a prelude to the evening fireworks at the finish line.

Busloads of runners begin arriving at Ft. Wadsworth by 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Entertainment continues at the Best Buy stage while they await the starting cannon.

For runners with the money, Continental Airlines is auctioning off VIP packages. Runners can sleep in and arrive at the start in a chauffeured limousine with access to the VIP tents at the start and finish. The tents include breakfast, private bathrooms and a place to stay warm.

At the starting line, two levels of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge are used to set runners on their course. Disabled athletes with guides are sent off at 8 a.m., followed an hour later by the wheelchair and handcycle divisions. For the third straight year, professional women runners begin a half-hour ahead of the men. It puts them in the spotlight rather than mixed among the throng.

The race is televised in New York for five hours. NBC rebroadcasts a one-hour highlight show that can be seen in Detroit at 2 p.m. The show is also televised in nearly 125 countries and territories worldwide. Internet users can follow the leaders mile by mile and track friends with e-mail updates from the New York City Roadrunners Club tracker. Just go to www.nycmarathon.org to sign up.

It isn't hard to get lost in Central Park after the race because organizers provide a family reunion area, which is organized into alphabetical zones by last name and bib color. It usually takes runners a half-hour to reach their support crews because they have to get past all the UPS trucks that contain runners' sweat bags.

The party isn't over until Sunday night's Copacabana celebration. Overall marathon winners ring the opening bell Monday morning at the New York Stock Exchange.

Contact Doug Kurtis at Detroit Free Press, 600 W. Fort St. Detroit, 48226