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Brian: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and we're going to give our last 15 minutes of the show today to any of you who ran the marathon yesterday. 212-433-WNYC. How was your marathon? 212-433-9692. Couple of particular questions we thought we might throw out there, what is your favorite and least favorite stretch of the course if you ran the marathon, and why? 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692. Another one, what does running the marathon mean to you? Is it just physical fitness? Are you running for somebody or something? What does running the marathon mean to you?

Marathon runners, out of the 50,000 people around yesterday, we know some of you are out there. 212-433-WNYC. Why do you run the marathon? What did it mean to you? What's your most favorite and least favorite stretch of the course? 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692. Also curious this year to know how the heat affected you. There was, for those of you who've followed the marathon leaders coverage, the guy named Nascimento from Brazil, who was leading the men's division for the first 21 miles collapsed, and couldn't even finish the race.

A lot of other people had trouble with the 70-plus degree temperature that they're not supposed to be having to run in in November. How did the heat affect you, favorite and least favorite stretches of the course, and as deep as you want to go, what does running the marathon mean to you? 212-433-WNYC. Runners, you get to shout out a few words after completing, or even entering, even if you didn't finish the marathon yesterday. 212-433-9692, or tweet @BrianLehrer, will take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Those of you who ran in the New York City Marathon, the lines are yours for the last minutes of the show. Ralph in Washington Heights, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ralph.

Ralph: Hey, Brian. I appreciate you for taking my call. Yes, I ran the marathon with my father. He's 73 years old. It was his first marathon.

Brian: Wow.

Ralph: We're all super proud of him. Big shout out to José Alfaro out here doing it big and lots of love to everybody who ran the marathon.

Brian: Did your dad finish?

Ralph: Oh yes, my dad finished. His BQ is 4 hours 20 minutes but he got 4 hours 49 minutes, which it's right there. He's ready for his next one, but just finishing is an amazing feat and it's inspiring. We really just appreciate everything he tried to do. Shout out to everybody who ran. It was a hard day. It was hot. It was a hard marathon. Shout out to everybody who did it for real. You did that.

Brian: And to you, Ralph. Thank you very much. Yes, we'll chalk up that extra half hour on your father's time to the heat. Alex in Williamsburg, you're on WNYC. Hi, Alex.

Alex: Hi. I'm actually online to get my medal engraved right now. Yesterday was my first marathon. It was one of the best days of my life. I want to say a huge thank you to my friends and family who are along the course. My fiancé set up a table. All my family came out. I have to thank my friend, Abigail, who spent six years convincing me I could run a marathon. If she didn't believe in me, I wouldn't have done it yesterday.

Brian: It's such hard work to train. What made you decide to finally do it?

Alex: I cheer every year. It's the greatest day of the year in New York City. Being out there made me want to do it myself. Anyone who's thinking about it, I say, "Go for it." It's just so beautiful.

Brian: Did you have a favorite or least favorite stretch of the course running it for the first time?

Alex: No. Honestly, I had so much fun along the way. Seeing my mom and stepdad the last 200 meters, seeing my family, it made me know I could keep going. It was just a beautiful day out there. I couldn't be happier.

Brian: Alex, congratulations. Glad you're getting that medal engraved. Jeanette in West New York, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jeanette.

Jeanette: Good morning, Brian. Longtime listener. First-time caller. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the service that you do for our community. Yesterday was my first marathon ever, and it was amazing. [chuckles]. I finished full of energy. I'm 50 years old. I wanted to break my own personal barriers because you always say, "Oh, I cannot do it. You need special training. You need to be a superwoman to do this." I recommend it to anybody, you just have to run your own race at your own pace, which I did, and it was amazing. Today, I'm full of blisters, but I feel completely no human being. [laughs].

Brian: I hear the joy in your voice. Did you have a favorite or a least favorite stretch of the course?

Jeanette: My favorite, for sure, was Brooklyn. Oh my goodness, the energy, the sense of community, the support was amazing. Harlem, it was the last part, but everybody was so open, and cherish, and really nice. My least favorite was the last three miles when you get into the park and you think that you're there but the party last forever.

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That was my least favorite. In terms of weather, because I'm Caribbean, I'm from the Dominican Republic originally, so it was perfect for me. I feel blessed that it was not cold or rainy. I think it was amazing.

Brian: Jeanette, your call was amazing.

Jeanette: I don't know if I'm going to do it again. [laughs]

Brian: Thank you very much.

Jeanette: I don't know if I'm going to do it again, but we'll see. [laughs]

Brian: You will always have yesterday, even if you don't. Please call us again. Mamadou in Harlem, you're on WNYC. Hello, Mamadou.

Mamadou: Hey, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. Yes, this was number three for me and quite honestly, the hardest because of the weather. I remember the first one, everybody was shivering. It was really cold. It was just a lot of hydration and drinking lot of liquid and stuff. The weather had a lot of impact on my race. The favorite-- Go ahead.

Brian: Go ahead. No, go ahead. Your favorite stretch--

Mamadou: No, I was saying that my favorite part was when you say, "You have 400 meters to go," I'm like, "Wow, finally." The least favorite was the Queensboro Bridge. Oh man, it's like you're going up this elevation. It's like it never ends. It's like you are going up, up, up to the sky. It was really the toughest part.

Brian: I've walked the Queensboro Bridge, I've never run it, but I know what you're talking about. All right, Mamadou, one more question for you. What was the first thing you ate when you were all done?

Mamadou: Oh man, I had some soup. It was the best soup I ever had. I had cramps really at the end, and I barely could walk, so they pulled me out on the side and they gave me some-

Brian: Fluids?

Mamadou: -salted soup. That's like fluid, yes. Like, "This is good for you." Just wanted to give a shout-out to my all Senegalese community that came out and supported us.

Brian: Awesome, Mamadou. Thank you so much. Call us again. Rafael in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Rafael.

Rafael: Hi, can you hear me?

Brian: I can hear you.

Rafael: Perfect. It was a hard race for everyone, but I was upset at myself because I was on track, even with the weather, to run a personal record marathon, but then on mile seven I stepped in a giant pile of Mushy water cup, completely rolled my ankle the wrong direction and then had to run-walk the rest of the race.

Brian: Oh, but you did finish even-

Rafael: I did, yes.

Brian: -with that bit of an injury happening so early, mile seven.

Rafael: Yes. I see my ankle right now. Just hoping the swelling goes down.

Brian: Oh, a pile of Mushy water cups. Is that a hazard on the race?

Rafael: Yes, could watch out for that out there.

Brian: I know they're handing the water cups to the runners at various points. Is that a known hazard?

Rafael: Yes. You have something to watch out for, especially-- it's like a pinch point during the marathon, where everyone just throws their water cups on the floor and I just happened to step in a giant pile of them and just completely flipped.

Brian: Well, I'm glad you finished. Thanks for checking in. Robert in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, you're on WNYC. Hi Robert.

Robert: Hi there. I didn't run yesterday, but I called because I just wanted to say that I ran it three times back in the eighties, and those are some of the best memories of my entire life. New York Marathon, particularly when I ran at 249 one year, that was quite satisfying.

Brian: 249 is awesome. The winners run in the twos, so Robert, that's great. Thank you for that memory. Megan in the East Village, you're on WNYC. Hi there.

Megan: Hi. Did you say, Megan?

Brian: Yes, you.

Megan: Oh my gosh. Hi. I'm such a huge fan. Thank you for taking my call.

Brian: Thank you, and you will get our last 30 seconds. How was your marathon?

Megan: Marathon, it was great. Brutal but great. It was my third time in New York, fifth time overall, and the conditions were pretty rough, just like everyone's saying, but it was still a great day.

Brian: Did you have a favorite stretch, or a least?

Megan: Favorite stretch, I think actually coming over the Queensboro Bridge where it's just the runners and you're like totally in the zone and then you come off the bridge and you just hear that wall of sound on 1st Avenue. That's unlike anything else. I would say least favorite is the 23rd mile. It's all uphill on 5th Avenue just before the park. Brutal every year but this year, luckily I had a friend jump in the race and run that mile with me so that got me through it.

Brian: Wow. What a great way to support, even if they're not going to run a whole marathon. Megan, thank you. Thanks to everybody who called. Congratulations everybody listening around the New York Marathon.

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