Birthday party in all 5 boroughs

For marathon #10, I had a birthday party in all five boroughs. I wasn’t racing, I was more partying, and literally thousands of people were telling me happy birthday. It was nuts.

The costume was the headdress and chest piece from a J’ouvert band I had been in. I kept the headpiece because it was comfortable enough that I could run in it. The finishing touch came while we were hanging out in the Start Village.

The TCS NYC Marathon Start Village is a whole vibe. Everybody’s out there camping out, lying down on blankets and stuff, prepping, putting on glitter. People from my team, Crown Heights Running Club, had sticker-on letters for putting their names on their bibs. So I got some and stickered ‘birthday boy’ onto the chest piece. And yeah, that was my costume.

Once I got out on the course, everybody was shouting, ‘Go birthday boy, go birthday boy, go birthday boy,’ or ‘Happy birthday.’ I did a couple of Instagram Lives along the way. Those Reels you see on Instagram were me live from the birthday party. It was totally nuts out there, and I loved it.

By the time I got to Central Park, those last couple of miles, I was just floating. I hadn’t been pushing the whole time, and I had this burst of energy at the end. While everybody else was dying, I was waving at the crowd and just laughing.

Then I saw the finish line and had a feeling I’d never had before in a marathon. ‘Oh shit, that’s the finish line. That means it’s gonna be over.’ This was the first time I got to a marathon finish line and felt sad.

You always feel relief at the finish line, joy and satisfaction. You’re glad it’s finished and you want to celebrate. But this time I was sad that it was all coming to an end. Best birthday party ever!

I still feel like a child in all the best ways, and at 48 I’m wiser, stronger and happier than I was at 24. Glad I got to share some of those years with you. I am beyond thankful.