Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Yes, this weekend is marathon weekend. On Sunday morning, people from all over the world will line up on the Staten Island side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and trek through a stunning course spanning all five boroughs, and maybe we'll hear from Larry Buchanan how many micro-neighborhoods. It is the return of the New York City Marathon, the largest in the world.

In our last few minutes today, we'll take some calls about all the things you're anticipating, either as a runner in this year's marathon or even as a spectator. We'll speak with the head of the New York Road Runners, the New York City-based nonprofit whose mission, as they put it, is to help and inspire people through running. The organization says that we're in the midst of a running renaissance as the popularity of the sport soars to even higher heights than it was before. He is Rob Simmelkjaer, CEO of New York Road Runners. Hi, Rob. Welcome to WNYC.

Rob Simmelkjaer: Brian, thank you very much. I'm a long-time fan of your show, so it's an honor to be with you.

Brian Lehrer: I'm so delighted to hear it. Let me stoke the phones here right away. We can open the phones, listeners, for your calls about this coming marathon. First-timers, how are you feeling ahead of Sunday? If you're returning to the New York City Marathon, what are you looking forward to? I'm also curious how you all get through the 26 miles. What do you got going? Do you listen to music? Are you like Peter Sagal, and you want to be Zen and take in the vibe of everything that's around you and you don't listen to anything? Give us a call, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or tweet @BrianLehrer. Rob, you're running yourself?

Rob Simmelkjaer: I am not. I have run the marathon twice. I actually ran it in 1997 a long time ago, a very rainy marathon, and then again in 2013, so twice, 16 years apart, but I'm not running this year. There's just too much to do for me on marathon day. I start at the starting line, do a lot of interviews, give a speech to the runners before they start, and then I hop in a car, a pace car driven by one of our great NYPD partners. That takes me to the finish line, where I'm giving out a lot of medals and high fives for the rest of the day. It's a great, great day, but I will not be among the runners. Have you run it?

Brian Lehrer: I have not run it. I've never trained for a marathon. Maybe you've heard me mention that I run, but really, I run almost every day but only a few miles. I've never trained for a marathon. Do you have favorite stretches [crosstalk]?

Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes, I do, absolutely. Of course, the first mile over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is just so spectacular. We were pumping the music, and the boats in the harbor are usually putting on some fun display, so there's just an incredible energy at the start. Then the route through Brooklyn, there's just so much energy, a lot of bands playing, things like that. The mile that I talk most about is Mile 16. When you come over the Queensboro, now Ed Koch Bridge, and you circle down onto First Avenue, the energy there is so great. The crowds are so deep.

The restaurants and the bars are open early that day, so people are fired up. It's an exhilarating mile, Brian, but it also can be kind of a dangerous mile for runners because the surge of energy you get, you end up running too fast for those miles. I always tell runners to be careful on First Avenue not to run too fast because you've got a long way to go. You still got 10 miles or so to run at that point, and if you go too fast, then you'll end up paying for it later on when you come back through Harlem and down Fifth Avenue into Central Park.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. You get on First Avenue, you have to run uptown and then run back downtown.

Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, anybody want to call up with your favorite stretch of the marathon in your experience? 212-433-WNYC. How about some experienced marathon runners with one tip for newbies who might be out there on Sunday for the first time? That would be really helpful in keeping with our community spirit here. We love to get some calls from experienced marathon runners like we just heard from Rob.

One tip for people who might be doing it for the first time and your one favorite stretch of the entire course for anyone who has run. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or you can text it to that number. Rob, your group, New York Road Runners, says there's a running renaissance right now. Are there stats or numbers that give us a sense of how much more people are running or racing?

Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, since I've been CEO of New York Road Runners, I started just after last year's marathon, we're just seeing unbelievable demand for all of our races. We don't just put on the marathon, we put on races nearly week in and week out in New York City, as you know if you happen to come through Central Park on maybe a Sunday morning, or a lot of our other races in the other boroughs. Almost every single race has sold out since I've been CEO in an average of under 100 days.

This year's marathon, we had 128,000 applications to our drawing for a 50,000-person field. All of the charities that we have that raise money for the marathon as well, all summer long, they were calling, begging us for more entries because they use those entries to raise money for their causes. It's been bananas all year long. I think what we've seen is that so many people, Brian, took up running during the pandemic because, let's face it, there was nothing else to do, right?

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

Rob Simmelkjaer: You couldn't go to gyms. They were all shut down. Running is outdoors, it's safe, and it's good for people's physical and also their mental health, which we all needed. So many people have just stuck with it, and we're seeing it everywhere.

Brian Lehrer: That is so cool. Jerome in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jerome.

Jerome: Hi. Your guest exactly described what happened to me when I ran my first and only marathon. I had never run more than 13 miles. I had been injured a few weeks before, so I really was out of training, and I intended to run only 15 miles. Just as your guest described, when I got across the Queensboro Bridge, the energy was incredible, and it goaded me on to continue running through lots and lots of pain. As I went through Harlem and Central Park, I finished the race, collapsed, kissed the ground, met my wife and son at the end. I have to say, running the last seven or so miles through pain, still, it was worth it.

Brian Lehrer: Jerome, thank you very much. All right, another cautionary tale about pushing yourself too fast on First Avenue. Steve in White Plains has a favorite water station. Right, Steve?

Steve: Yes, I do. It's Mile 21. The noise coming out of that water station is incredible. I have a favorite memory of running one of the New York City marathons. I was running next to one of a runner, a female runner who, from her shirt, I could tell she was from Ireland. We were running around Mile 6 or 7 in Brooklyn, and she asked if there were any [unintelligible 00:08:25] coming up. I said, "Well, there's one and a half miles ahead, but if you really have to go, I know there are some great bushes coming up." She said to me, "I have my dignity." I said to her, "Lady, in the marathon, there is no dignity."

Brian Lehrer: There you go. Mile 21, by the way, that water station, that's in Harlem. Do you know the corner?

Steve: Yes, it's just below 135th Street, I think. Yes, it's around [inaudible 00:08:54] left if you're coming over that bridge.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, thank you very much. Good luck out there if you're doing it again. Here's one, I wonder what you think of this tip, Rob. This listener writes, "Foot doctor told me this one before my first marathon, 'Change sides of the road every five miles. The slight slope on each side makes a small difference, plus it gives you something to think about besides your sore feet and tired legs.'" You ever hear that?

Rob Simmelkjaer: Here's one I've never heard before, actually. That's really interesting. I kind of get it, yes, because most roads, they'll crest right in the middle, so you don't want too much stress on one side of your foot or the other. I may have to go with that one. I may have to use that for some of my future races. That's a really good one.

Brian Lehrer: Pronators and underpronators of the world unite. Jay on the Upper West Side, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jay.

Jay: Good morning. I am a six-time marathoner. I ran with the Achilles Track Club, and two comments-- Actually three comments. One, about the street in the Bronx, it's Alexander Avenue which is the 21st mile, and two, coming off the 59th Street Bridge and making that left-hand turn.

The first time I did it, some woman came running up to me asking my name, and when I got off the bridge, I heard my name blasting over the loudspeaker, and I swear my feet weren't touching the ground. I was flying so high. Just a suggestion for first-timers, I would divide the marathon into tenths so that psychologically as I got to the second half, I knew I only had four-tenths to go, three-tenths, and it made it a lot easier for me as I came up [unintelligible 00:10:55].

Brian Lehrer: Tenths of the course. That's cool. You mentioned people shouting your name or that you heard your name. I think Aaron in East Williamsburg and Robbie in Queens have exactly the opposite advice about that. Aaron, we're going to run out of time soon, so get right to it. Put your name on your bib?

Aaron: Yes. Hey, Brian. I'm in East Williamsburg if that neighborhood actually exists, but yes, I put my name on the bib or a nickname because the kind of energy of people, strangers shouting for you, cheering for you just propels you forward. Even when you feel like you're ready to slow down, it picks you back up, I found.

Brian Lehrer: Aaron, I'm going to leave it there. I get it. Thank you. Good luck. Robbie in Queens, you said you don't put your name on your shirt. Right?

Robbie: Right. Because if somebody knows you, they'll call out your name. If everybody's calling out your name, you don't know who your friends are.

Brian Lehrer: Don't you want all those strangers cheering you on?

Robbie: Sure, but if you have Number 7 on your shirt, everybody goes, "Run Number 7, run Number 7." At least you know who your family and friends are when they call your name.

Brian Lehrer: Right. I see. Yes, that's interesting. Now, I've been a spectator at the marathon, Rob, and waited, and can I pick out the needle in the haystack that's my person running through? Maybe Robbie's onto something, but I don't know.

Rob Simmelkjaer: I put my name on my bib the times I ran and it definitely helps, so I'm in the 'write your name on your shirt' camp on that one. By the way, if folks out there are following runners, you can download the TCS New York City Marathon mobile app and put in that runner's name, and it'll tell you exactly where your runner is in the course, so you have a sense of when they're about to show up where you are.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, because they have a chip, so that's being monitored?

Rob Simmelkjaer: That's right. Exactly, yes. You can put in your runner's name and then you'll see where they are and you'll know when to look for them.

Brian Lehrer: That's the upside of the surveillance state. Speaking of the surveillance state, we had on our newscast this hour a mention that there's going to be security for the marathon this year, given the climate in the world right now, and of course, we all remember that horrible Boston Marathon from a number of years ago. Anything you want to say about that?

Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, I had a meeting yesterday down at NYPD. It was an all-hands meeting with pretty much every level of city, state, and federal law enforcement. They'll all be focused on what we do on Sunday. The joint operations center at One Police Plaza will be up and running. We have a tremendous partnership with all the law enforcement agencies here in the city.

They're focused as they are every year, Brian, on keeping the marathon safe. They've been very clear with us that there are no threats against the marathon this year. They are taking the same measures that we've taken consistently to make sure everyone has a safe day, so we're very, very confident in them, and I'm feeling really good about Sunday.

Brian Lehrer: All right, we have 30 seconds. A quick last question, Part A and Part B. Part A, the marathon used to be a previous Sunday, now it's the first Sunday in October. Is that because it was getting too warm on that last Sunday in October?

Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes, it moved back over the years. It actually started in September back in the day, Brian, and now it's the first Sunday in November, so yes, it's moved back over the years. in large part because of weather.

Brian Lehrer: It's a good thing I will throw in because you get on Saturday night to turn the clocks back an hour so you get an extra hour of sleep before you have to get up and go over to Staten Island.

Rob Simmelkjaer: It's a very good thing, especially for our staff, who have to get there at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning, a lot of them. Everybody appreciates that, and I wish everyone a very happy marathon day and weekend, whether you're running or spectating. It is the best day of the year in New York.

Brian Lehrer: And to you. Rob Simmelkjaer, CEO of New York Road Runners, thanks so much.

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