Marathon Effort

[Bundy Bear]

During 2019 I ran a half marathon and during the 2nd half of 2019 a movie titled “Brittany Runs a Marathon” was released and I thought wouldn’t it be nice to run a marathon in a place like New York.

During 2020 COVID came along and lots of events were cancelled and well my interest in running waned and all those Rockfords and Qantas wine bottles were taking up space in the wine fridge and cupboards so they needed to be drunk.

Fast forward to 2022 the running takes a renewed interest, maybe the good bottles were drunk the really good ones were left to appreciate and the cough ones well they are still on the shelf, some were taken to gatherings and I was back to a manageable level. There is quiet a bit of research saying wine is bad for you and can really affect the health of some of us more than others.

I had my sights set on running New York but was always in my plans to run a local marathon before attempting to run an event overseas. I ran a marathon in Perth in October 2022 and as the first marathon didn’t kill me I set about getting an entry into New York.

In February 2023 I first tried an entry to the New York marathon via a lottery, email about a month later saying I was unsuccessful, all was not lost as like any good forum there are many ways to get into something, In April I secured and entry and then purchased from flights on Qantas Premium economy, I actually found them via google as the Qantas website I find is practically useless when you need to include another airline for your journey.

The New York Marathon is scheduled for the first Sunday in November, and in 2023 the Sunday was the 5 November.

I purchased BNE-SYD-LAX-EWR and then LAX-SYD-BNE; my plan was to head to Florida and maybe somewhere else but I booked that about a month from departure once a few travel plans came together.

2-NOV BNE-SYD QF505 737-800 VH-VXS Seat 9F

Standard economy with an over cooked roll, I was looking forward to a better breakfast in the lounge in Sydney anyway.

2-NOV SYD-LAX QF11 A380-841 VH-OQD Seat 33J

After a generous AFFer had a spare first lounge invitation that I somehow became lucky to use it was to the first class lounge for a bit of breakfast. Note you need to attach the lounge pass to your booking, it was easy getting through the first person but then I wasn’t sure how I was meant to show the booking until they scanned the boarding pass and the machine accepted I was then able to enter the lounge.

I still get a buzz when I visit the Sydney First lounge, and that is after 15 years and a 10s of visits, not 100s like the Brisbane Qantas domestic lounges.



The lounge was busy for the morning bunch of flights so if you haven’t been there before or its your first time the staff kind of leave you to fend for yourself. During breakfast I got a text saying my flight had been delayed by 45 minutes, pity they didn’t send it before I had placed my breakfast order as I likely would have ordered something different instead of simple bacon and eggs., it is nice that Qantas text you about the delay but I am not sure why Qantas needs to add the information about options to change your flight, this might be handy when your flight is like 2-3 hours late but a simple 1 hour delay leave it out.

A seat in premium economy with a spare seat beside me means I could switch between the aisle and the window for watching or taking photos. My current phone screen is a wing shot from this flight.



For such a long flight Qantas IFE isn’t really that great, yes a few movies and short TV programs but the 8 channels of Audio that used to be on Qantas domestic for years are completely gone which kind of sucks that is one thing that I had always enjoyed about flying Qantas.

I watched a good movie about John Farnham worth a watch, I had considered going to the cinema to watch this but with some long haul flights later in the year(November) I decided to save the money and wait. I watched another Australian made film which was not too bad but won’t be to everyones taste.

Both lunch and the breakfast was decent, unremarkable as I can’t remember it, PE food options almost remind me of what Qantas longhaul economy was about 15-20 years ago, although you can get the drink top ups quicker from the PE FA than when flying in economy. Qantas longhaul economy is cough, I need to finish that other trip report as well.

Flight landed into LA just after 7am an hour later than scheduled, my 4.5 hour connection was now 3.5 hours. The line for passport control was long but I think I got through in under an hour, you need to keep watching as lines gets split so you can move up and save a few minutes,

2-NOV LAX-EWR AS286 737-990 N467AS Seat 18C

After clearing customs I rechecked the bag at the TBIT international terminal at LAX and walked through the underground walkway to terminal 6 to find the Alaska lounge. I don’t expect much for US domestic lounges but usually it means a place away from the crowds.

I went to the gate about 45 minutes before departure to check when boarding would begin, it was interesting that active military got to board first along with those in business class. Then group 1 got to board which was me and a few others, I was after the overhead bin space. After all the bins were full and the front door closed I found the middle seat free.

I found the legroom on the Alaska 737-900 to be good and its always great to get a spare middle seat. Although like all flights in the US don’t expect anything to eat unless you preorder something.

I did go looking for a sandwich but nothing is the same as what you are used to back home, I really should have tried harder to find something to eat as by the end of the flight I was starving, a couple of biscuits and 2 rounds of drinks just doesn’t cut it. Lucky I had packed a muesli bar. Alaska supposed offer buy on board but its only available if you prebook, don’t ever rely to get a meal onboard.

It was a pretty good flight across the US on Alaska reminds me of Virgin Australia,

During the flight I did have access to wifi which was handy to check that my bag had made the flight and that I was going to find it at EWR. After collecting the bag I made the way to the interterminal train then waited for the shuttle to the DoubleTree Newark Penn station, I had stayed here previously when it was a Hilton.



Next up New York and the marathon.

 

[love_the_life]

I have a colleague who is off to the final big 5 in a couple of months - Boston from memory. She said she wants to do NY once more as someone who has done them all.

 

[drron]

Our son has done 3 but he is after the slightly bigger 7.

 

[tgh]

All of mine have done at least one (including New York)..
It must be a boy thing these days as all three have promptly retired to raise kids…..

addendum…aaand to be clear.. GOODONYA Bundy Bear , a marathon, any marathon is a tough test..

 

[Bundy Bear]

I spent Thursday night at the Hilton Doubletree Newark Penn on points, I might have woken up around 3:00am for 2 hours but was able to get back to sleep until just after 7:00am, no status with Hilton so breakfast was from a local takeaway along with 1 Doubletree cookie. The Double Tree is next to Newark Penn station so it was a 30 minute trip to New York Penn via NewJerseyTransit,(NJT) trains are usually run every 15 minutes. There are no fare gates with NJT as some stations just don’t have the space, so you need to pay at the ticket machine or you will pay double from the fare conductor.

I was staying at a Holiday Inn Express which was only a few blocks away from Penn station in New York. Friday afternoon was collecting the race bib and then attending the New York Road Runners welcome ceremony.

Saturday was an early start to catch another NJT train to New Brunswick to go for a little run and then back on the train which was an hour each way. A Holiday Inn Express has breakfast included which is good and Saturday morning I collected some fruit.
After my trip to New Jersey and back I went and to see A Beautiful Noise, the story of the singer Neil Diamond. If you are going to New York is always worth checking out what is available and I only had a certain time in New York and booked a Saturday afternoon showing, I booked one of the better seats and found myself in the first row so that was pretty good. After the show caught up with a friend from DC for dinner and a walk on Times Square, the place was packed so we didn’t stay long.


Sunday 5 November

Marathon day, another early start, I woke up just after 6:00am with the best nights sleep. The New York marathon starts on Staten Island, you can catch a bus at 5:30am or you can join the lottery for a space on the ferry. The ferry requires a subway trip to South Ferry then a trip on the ferry then a trip on a bus to the race area, the finish line is in central park.


On the ferry you can get a view of the Statue of Liberty and this was a good chance to eat breakfast that the hotel had available in the morning, I had planned to grab another piece of fruit for breakfast but the hotel had prepared a bag of food which was awesome, I found out the next day that some people weren't aware of the food offerings as the kitchen area wasn't usually open that early.


The race has 5 waves 35 minutes apart and a separate early wave for the Elites, the Elites actually had finished even before I had started.

I finished in 4:28:08 placing 24073rd out of 51,348 runners and 381th out of 823 Australians all the Australians didn’t necessarily fly from Australia for the event as few would have represented Australia even though they may have been living in the US.


After the finish I caught the subway back to the hotel, and then went out to dinner with a group that I found on the internet, I walked about a mile each way as walking downstairs to the subway level isn’t so easily after running a marathon and it was easier to just walk on the flat.

Monday I woke up early again as I wanted to go and purchase an official marathon finishing T-Shirt, there were some available at the expo but more were going to be available, also I wanted to get my finishing medal officially engraved. The line had started before 6:00am and I ended up getting the engraving done along with clothing purchases around 7:30am. I also picked up a copy of the New York Times. They usually only include results to the first 25,000 runners or based on a time, the time to finish to get your name in the paper this year was 4:36:09, so I also have a copy of the New York times.


I caught up with a group of friends for lunch and then caught the LIRR(LongIslandRailroad) to JFK and then to the TWA hotel for the night.

A few friends suggest that taking the LIRR is quickest and easiest with luggage with only a few stops to Jamaica station from either New York Penn or Grand Central station, note you then need to buy a separate ticket to access the Airtrain $8.25 that connects the different terminals at JFK. Another option is the subway to Howard Beach station but its only a few dollar saving and takes almost 2 hours.

A stay at the TWA hotel needs a post by itself.

I have a colleague who is off to the final big 5 in a couple of months - Boston from memory. She said she wants to do NY once more as someone who has done them all.

Our son has done 3 but he is after the slightly bigger 7.

There are 6 marathons that make up the world majors, Sydney is trying to be the 7th.
New York, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, London and Berlin.
I did put in a ballot for London a few months back, wasn't that lucky but I won a ballot spot for Chicago, dam more early morning starts.

 

[drron]

He is betting by the time he will be able to run that Sydney will be official. he does 2 marathons in 3 years so Sydney has 6 years to get there.
He has done New York, Chicago and Berlin. London or Tokyo next.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Well done BB.

I'm trying my first marathon this year. But as a walker I'll be much slower.

 

[RooFlyer]

Excellent @Bundy Bear

 

[straitman]

Great job Bundy.

 

[Pushka]

Fantastic work.

 

[Ade]

Awesome @Bundy Bear - congratulations. Great work

 

[love_the_life]

Great effort BB - Well on the way to the Big 6 - my colleague only has Boston to go - she did Berlin and London in the same trip last year. Rather than the ballot she goes through a company that handles the arrangements though she books her own travel and accommodation.

 

[love_the_life]

And they are stunning medals!

 

[straitman]

My sister entered and ran the Boston Marathon as her first marathon just after her 60th birthday.

 

[Bundy Bear]

When the TWA Hotel opened in 2019 I thought I should add that to a hotel to stay at when I was in New York, so when I was planning my marathon trip I was looking at flights to Florida from New York, it seemed like staying at the TWA hotel seemed like a good idea and location was great.

There doesn’t seem much point booking in advance as most rates start from $270 USD + tax or $299 flexible + tax and the flexible rate they still charge your credit card anyway so I booked the accommodation about 3 weeks from travel just when the credit card rolled over, the total $601.24.

To get to the hotel after catching the LIRR you then need to buy a ticket to access the Airtrain $8.25 + $1.00 for the metro card, then you catch the airtrain to terminal 5, there aresigns to the hotel via the road way but with works going on I decided to head to Terminal 5 and then down to arrivals to look for this lift, well after going around in circles and asking someone there was a lift to take that then leads you a corridor to the main hotel.
Lift airport side arrivals level JFK T5


Corridor to main building and check in area.


next part hotel check is on the road side so it’s a bit of mucking around to find the check in area was. The check in area once I found it was set up as an airline check in area which was really nice.

Room was just ok, no tea and coffee making facilities, minibar was empty, bed was good though. After dropping off the bags I went in search of accessing the Lockheed Constellation where was set up as a bar area.

To access the Constellation plane you had to find a door from the other side of the building and then walk under the ramp that connected the hotel to the terminal.

The seating was nice but the drink prices were expensive. A regular drink was $21.00 USD which hit the credit card at $33.76.

Inside photo.


Outside photo



After 1 drink in the plane I went in search of the pool deck, surprising it was a little easier, on this chilly night there were more staff than guests, as you can tell the steam coming off the pool temperatures were in the single figures.


This is where I was able to order a drink and flat bread with cheese and tomato pizza type thing, which wasn’t too bad. After the light meal and drink I went back to the main hotel bar area for another standard beer it was cheaper at $16.56.





The hotel has an area which has information about TWA and JFK airport which was worth a read.



In the morning I got up and checked out and was at JFK terminal 5, 15 minutes after getting out of bed which was important for the 7:15am departure.

From a review from Onemileatatime
TWA Hotel JFK: My Second & Last Stay Should you stay at the hotel.
yes,
after reading Bens review I started with low expectations and they were exceeded, if you have a few hours at JFK then its worth a look.

 

[RooFlyer]

Should you stay at the hotel.
yes,
after reading Bens review I started with low expectations and they were exceeded, if you have a few hours at JFK then its worth a look.

I stayed there for a night in about 2019 and it was an expensive but okay stay and I wouldn’t bother doing it again.

 

[Bundy Bear]

7-NOV JFK-FLL B6601 A321-27N N203J Seat 9D

After leaving the TWA hotel I walked to terminal 5 only about 5 minutes when you know the way and then printed out a boarding pass on the machine and then headed to security. So many passengers at 6:00am, getting through security took at least 30 minutes, I guess I wasn’t expecting it to take so long at that hour. After getting through security I purchased a drink and a piece of fruit I wasn’t sure what was going to be served and after the Alaska flight I didn’t want to go hungry, and a bottle of water would be handy for later if I didn’t drink it all on the flight.

The gate set up was pretty good scan the boarding pass and then the gate opens and you go through, I am surprised that Virgin or even Qantas haven’t tried this, I thought it was pretty cool, also in US boarding is via groups similar to how the Alaska flight was boarded.



This Jetblue A321 has good legroom and a good size TV screen at each seat, service on board was a softdrink(pepsi) and I was able to ask for a cup of tea. The snack was a choice of chips and I think a biscuit of some sort which was also good on the 3 hour flight to Fort Lauderdale. Like all US domestic flights window shade down is the default, I was lucky to have the window shade up for landing. Wifi is free on Jetblue and along with 100 channels of DIRECTV I settled on a few episodes of Young Sheldon.



I was sitting next to a couple who were flying south for the winter as when we landed in Fort Lauderdale was a balmy 81F around 27C it was under 10C when I left New York earlier in the day.

I spent 2 nights in Florida, the first night was in Key West with a drive along the Overseas Highway.



On the morning of my flight to LAX via Charlotte one of my requests was to visit the Nautica outlet mall in Sawgrass Mills I had previously been there 18 years ago, I ended up buying 5 Tshirts/shirts and I would have bought a whole lot more if my bag wasn’t already full of the marathon stuff I had purchased.

 

[Bundy Bear]

9-NOV FLL-CLT AA2945 A321-231 N519UW Seat 14C

Time to head home, got to the terminal about 2 hours from the flight so I found a sit down restaurant to get a proper meal as I knew I wasn’t going to get anything to eat on the flight next 2 flights. One thing that another US traveller friend of mine reminded me was to look for the drink water fountains to refill your empty bottles of water after security.

I had been searching for a paid first class flight from FLL to LAX via any point to help in my Qantas status credit earning but after lots of searching I didn’t find anything worth buying some were First to the hub airport, CLT/DFW and then Y for the long part to LAX, I ended up burning 20,300 points for a economy award for something like $20.00 a bargain, after using BA.com website to find the AA booking reference I then selected my seats and chose a middle seat in the forward cabin which ended up costing $87.00 at least I had decent legroom for the 5 hour flight.

While waiting to board the gate agents were asking for people to gate check bags.

I absolutely hate that most passengers have the shades down. There was a small drink on offer and nothing in the way of food that I could remember. Pretty standard flight and it arrived on time just after 5:00pm into Charlotte,



9-NOV CLT-LAX AA1036 A321-231N573UW Seat 8B

Downloading the AA app really came into use during the connection in Charlotte the app tells you the gate you are arriving at the location and distance of the next gate. It also gave me idea where the main AA lounge was. I was also reminded there was a 2nd smaller lounge that I should check out as well.

I had planned a 1hr25minute connection so enough to visit a lounge or maybe 2. I got to the first lounge, usual beers and other snack items, lucky I found a wrap of some type which was good. After finishing the wrap I knew I would need something else for the long flight. I went and found the gate for the next flight and saw a 2nd lounge closer to the gate so I went and visited that lounge as well.

I did find a place to purchase a meal for the flight to LAX which was scheduled for over 5hrs.

Service on board was pretty bad for a 5hour flight, 1 drink service and nothing else. I didn’t see the FAs make a 2nd run.

The flight landed using a gate in the TBIT terminal.


My hotel for the night was the Hilton Garden Inn and I likely won't stay there again, waiting for a airport shuttle even after a phone call took over an hour, and the room I ended up staying in was set to freezing cold and I think I may have ended up with a cold from the cold room, I should have set the room to warm and gone for a walk but it was after 1am East coast and I was really after a sleep.

Hyatt LAX seems to have the most regular shuttles and will be interesting to see when the new LAX people mover is in place as they may help ease traffic congestion around the LAX traffic circle.

Friday 10th November.

My plan for the day was to check out late and then head over to the Santa Monica Pier then head to In&Out for lunch. I checked out of the hotel around 12:00pm and took Uber to the Santa Monica pier.



After a 90 minute visit it was another Uber back to the hotel to collect the bags and then I was then dropped off at In&Out Burger for a late lunch and watch some planes fly by, sadly the 24R was out of action so planes weren't directly flying over In&Out, view was still pretty good though. The place is always packed so its a long wait. After an hour it was time to head over to the airport.

 

[Bundy Bear]

10-NOV LAX-SYD QF12 A380-841 VH-OQL Seat 19F

Time to go home my upgrade came through to business class.

Allow about 30 minutes to walk from In& Out to TBIT terminal, take the road to the lower level where you can cross at the lights, you do need to cross one road but its more of an exit ramp. LA was never set up to walk, it was always to drive.

After checking in including the bag I went to the Qantas oneworld business lounge. Size was pretty impressive a massive improvement since I was last in the old lounge which I think was 2010, and friends think I fly lots. Took a shower good water pressure and size.

Flight was originally scheduled for 10:30pm and was moved to 8:30pm which I think is a lot more civilized time, you don’t have to wait until like 10:00pm before getting onboard.

Lounge had decent selection of food and drinks, the earlier flight time meant that you didn’t keep drinking or eating you could actually go to the plane that much earlier.

The earlier time is so much better you aren’t having to force yourself to stay awake and then when the meal service is eventually finished you are over tired and can’t really sleep.

One thing that sized me was the smart gate set up to board the aircraft, no checking of passport of old just walk up to the gate and then you are let through to board.

After the meal I asked the FA to set up the bed, when I tried it was making some strange noises and I thought better they do it instead of me trying to do it. When it eventually was made this is when I realized that this plane was one of the older versions of skybed. Any seat in business class was better than sitting in premium economy or economy.

Flight was smooth, I think the seat belt sign only came on once during the flight, overall good flight.



The crew hand out a breakfast form which I ticked all the boxes for the breakfast and it came at a good time but for some reason it wasn’t that impressive. I guess I was expecting more and it really wasn’t there.

Picked up some duty free alcohol, collected the bag and got through passport control reasonably quickly.

12-NOV SYD-BNE QF512 737-838 VH-XZK Seat 8A

Back to economy for the final flight home. Transferred to the domestic airport in Sydney is tedious but you do you get a good view of the airport, I also requested an upgrade for the domestic flight home but was unlucky, I got the upgrade for the flight I wanted. Flight was pretty routine with a snack and a drink. The worst part of this flight is the seat pitch, Qantas like to pack us in on the 737s, that’s why I find going to Perth on the Virgin 737s a much better option especially with the better upgrade chances.

Well done BB.

I'm trying my first marathon this year. But as a walker I'll be much slower.

Good luck Kiwi Flyer, best to do a lot of practice, running and walking and maybe some gym work.

Trip overall great, running a marathon in New York was everything I expected and the crowd support for everyone was incredible.

After I returned I wondered what was next and a friend said “another marathon”, during my week after my return another of the world major marathons had just opened their ballot to run Chicago 2024, and 3 weeks later I was offered a place.

Great more early morning starts and watching what I eat and drink, although one friend suggested “Just an excuse for another flight in a plane” they are probably right.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Congrats on getting thru another marathon ballot.