One Hundred and Thirty Four men will enter Centrals Park’s 5 loops of autumn colored pain, 3 will emerge victorious in the most highly anticipated trials race ever! I can’t believe the time is already upon us. More so I can’t believe I am going to wake up at 4:30 AM (West Coast) to catch the start and watch it live in its entirety. I remember trying to do that for the world cup a few years back, and when the alarm went off, I made the decision in bed (always a bad idea) that the first half wasn’t so important. When the second half started I decided that soccer should be watched in person or in highlights. Come to think of it, I don’t remember who was playing. This is not to be repeated. Every part of this race is going to be worth seeing so that’s why I‘m not going to wake up early; I’m just not going to bed. I officially have a legitimate reason to play Halo all night! The way I see it, take a little siesta around midnight, 4th meal at 2 AM, run 5 miles to honor the racers around 3 AM. Then I’ll hydrate or splash a little water on my face throughout the race each time I see a water station, in hopes of staying alert to any sudden surges or lead changes and to pretend I’m there, because this is as close as I’ll ever get. Here’s where it will be aired online in case you forget. mediazone.com/channel/nbcsports/2007/ingnycmarathon/index.jsp Or you can just go to nbcsports.com and follow the links. In honor of Halloween and this weekends’ “marathon dance”, I have assembled a few videos to hold the theme. When you think about it, when was the last known time this many talented men in uniforms all lined up together in the same place at the same time? First thing that comes to mind is a prison somewhere in the Philippines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o Sure you may have seen that already, but that was just a warm up, I guarantee you haven’t seen this next one. Imagine how great it would be if we could assemble all 134 of the declared marathon qualifiers, teach them the choreography of Thriller, then have them perform at the starting line just before the race? Realizing I don’t have the resources or the experience that would come from say…dancing with the Fly Girls on In Living Color, I give you this little gem I whipped up in my spare time. It stars Abdi, Alan, Brian, Meb, and Ryan and it can be a bit disturbing to young viewers. Not really. http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/2305983 Now, if that’s not funny, I don’t know what is. So in the mangled words of Edgar Allen Poe, here is a Halloween poem/tale. It helps if you can get James Earl Jones to read it to you. If not, read it like you would read “The Raven”. Once upon this Saturday early, I’ll sit in bed my vision blurried, over many an angry and lost hours of poor halo scores -- While in Rockefeller Center in the dawn of first November, suddenly I hear the streaming, the streaming of a muffled roar. “’T is the start,“ I mutter, “Broadcasting through my wireless door –- It has finally arrived, I need more.” Ah, as the competitors list was growing thanks to miles logged and flowing, each day off was lost and gone upon the mud tracked floor –- Eagerly I wished the 3rd, vainly I had spread the word, for the greatest race in years – years since Kempainen or the Salazar. For the rare young speedy fighters or the veteran sport igniters -- Marathoners for evermore. Consistently as the race grows quicker, certainly some will become the sicker, and fill us with fantastic surges from changing leaders. But the fact is all the training all the hurting in the raining with wisdom passed down through coaching lore. A mans heart and his desire will whisper in your minds chamber of its deciding factor -- could be this and nothing more? Back to the last loop turning, all you have your lungs are burning. Soon 3 men stand on the Tavern taller than before. “Surely” say I “Surely one none expected will earn a pass east?” With all the world peering no more doubts and lack of fearing sadly this will end like all before, but grinning now its over many will return the greater cause quote the runner “I want more” Everyone in this race has already scored a major achievement for making it here. I thank every one of you for making this sport great and exciting. Thanks to years such as this one, thousands of fans look forward to a dominant American distance program in the not too distant future. May the best 3 men win! -Nate