テーマ：
2011.11.09
A record 47,438 people from around the world participated in the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 6th, and the HIS New York staff was among the 2 million spectators out there cheering on the runners through their tour of the 5 boroughs.
It was a clear, crisp autumn day and the temperature was perfect. After last Saturday's freak snowstorm, I wondered if it wasn't going to be too cold or too wet, but we lucked out. The course begins on the approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island. Images of the Verrazano completely filled with anxious marathoners are among some of the most famous produced from New York's most famous annual athletic event.
From Staten Island, the marathon goes up through Brooklyn and Queens and across into Manhattan via the 59th Street Bridge. Continuing uptown the course makes a quick turn-around in the Bronx, and heads back downtown parallel to Central Park on 5th Avenue. The race finishes in Central Park proper. Just looking at the course map and writing all of that makes me feel exhausted.
Every year HIS heads out to cheer on the participants in our marathon tour group. Hundreds of Japanese come to New York and we set up on the sidelines with HIS banners and vests to shout がんばれ's of encouragement. This year we were around the 14 mile marker in Queens. There was plenty of space for us to set up our banners on opposite sides of the street, making an HIS finish line of sorts.
Since we were placed on a straight-away, we had a direct view of Manhattan to the east. With the clear blue skies and the Chrysler and Met Life Buildings visible in the background, it was really quite picturesque.
