I realized last week that I practically lived on the marathon route for the 2011 New York City ING Marathon. So I resolved myself to get up and go shoot it, regardless of the weather or how tired I was – if these people were running the thing, then how could I possibly have an excuse not to walk the 3 blocks to the park and watch them as they approached the 12 mile mark? This morning was a gorgeous, gloriously sun-soaked morning, the perfect amount of crisp Autumn bite in the air, and the first day of Standard Time so I even had an extra hour of sleep as a freebie. I got to the route about 5 minutes before the women’s elite group came through, and after the pack of leaders came by it was mostly singles and pairs for a while. Then the men’s elite came by in a very tightly grouped pack, followed by a slightly more steady stream. And then there was a slight lull just before the massive flood of runners came down the quiet, sunny, tree-lined streets of northern Brooklyn. I was blown away by how many people there were, and the varying degrees of seriousness with which they took both the race and themselves – much respect to all who ran, even more to those who finished with a smile on their face. All in all I was there for over an hour, and once the mass of runners that make up the bulk of the marathon’s participants had streamed by in front of me for a good 40 minutes and still no end in site, I was then confronted with the fact that I was on the opposite side of the route from my apartment. Turns out I ran in the NYC Marathon after all – about 15 steps to cross the street and then hurdle the tape so I could get home.  These are some of the shots that I brought home today – enjoy!