Thanks But No Thanks

Maybe third time will be a charm. 

Maybe. 

I did not get into the NYC Marathon for 2025. Again. 

This year I did the lottery, which was submitted last month. And last year, I applied for the 2024 Virtual NYC marathon that gives you admission to the actual one in 2025 - and I got dinged from that as well. 

Actually, if you look at the image I got dinged twice: once for lottery or for the NY Road Runners club - of which I'm not even a member. But they threw that salt into the wounds just for fun, I suspect. 

I don't really have other options. 

I do, but they are pricey. Raise like $3500 for charity - which I'm not willing to do. I won't ask others for $$$, and I cannot see me paying $3500 to enter a race. Hell, I don't even want to pay the $330 it would have cost me (not including travel, lodging, food, swag).

I really avoided my phone and email most of yesterday as I knew it was decision day. I was afraid I wouldn't get in and equally worried that I would. It's all very confusing.

Oddly. as my hopes had been dashed in the past, I wasn't wildly optimistic about my chances. Something like 4% of the NYC runners get in via the lottery. Or maybe it is out of state runners. Either or, the number is low. And the applicant pool keeps getting larger.  Yet somewhere there was this slight thread of 'maybe', which now just seems silly. 

There are seven major marathons, and honestly, I'd be delighted to get to any one of them - though Tokyo seems low on my list.  

If I could only do one major, it would want it to be New York. I have a history and love for the city, so it is the one I care about most. The only other major for which I have applied has been Chicago. Twice.  Dinged: twice.

This leaves my Fall half or full marathon schedule wide open. Right now Philly is leading the pack, but I will hold off signing up for anything until my Spring runs are completed. 

Ok. I'm gonna go sulk now. 

Song by: Sparks