The NYC marathon is today. Practice is over, the carbs have been loaded, and it looks like an uncommonly nice November day is on tap for the runners: Yahoo! Weather says, "Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High 71F. Winds light and variable."
Though most of the news reports during and after the race will focus on the winners of the race, for many of the spectators, both here in NYC and watching on TV, it's all about tracking your marathoning wife, son, next-door neighbor, or coworker.
Here at kottke.org, I'm tracking my favorite weblog census taker & blogger, Maciej Ceglowski. To benchmark Maciej along his journey, I'm pitting him against runner #30972, one Sean "Puffy" "Puff Daddy" "P. Diddy" Combs, producer, lover, runner. Good luck to both runners, but we're hoping Maciej wins one for all the webloggers out there!
Race updates:
2:54 pm - Sad news, my friends. P. Diddy beat Maciej by about 28 minutes, 3:58:22 to 4:26:31. But really, both men are winners for finishing before I have even put on a shirt today (the pants made an appearance a couple of hours ago). Meg and I are looking forward to dinner with Maciej and his girlfriend tonight where I'm sure we'll get a full account of the exciting duel. We aren't sure whether P. Diddy will be able to make it out with us tonight, but we made a reservation for 5 just in case.
1:55 pm - The race is well and truly joined. Maciej crossed the 20 mile mark @ 3:16:34, putting him just 13 minutes off of Diddy's pace at that point. He's slated to finish 17 minutes after Diddy, but with Diddy fading so fast, it's anyone's race at this point.
1:40 pm - P. Diddy just crossed the 20 mile mark @ 3:03:17 with a projected finish of just over 4 hours. I don't know if Maciej is still on his former pace, but Diddy has fallen off dramatically.
1:36 pm - Let's check the inbox to see if there's any news about Maciej. Ok, we've got Viagra, Xanax, Russian wives, online casino, and increase your size. Nope, nothing about Maciej. And no Diddy at the 20 mile mark yet...I think he's in trouble.
1:21 pm - Diddy was just on the TV again. Security is a problem. He's being mobbed on the course and when he stops. He just shoved some kid out of the way.
1:12 pm - Diddy's in trouble...his legs are cramping up and he's been stopping to massage them.
1:09 pm - Alright, I'm getting fed up with NBC's lack of Maciej coverage and the 3 in-race updates on the web site just aren't enough. So, I'm enlisting your help. If by some chance you're reading this site, watching the race right now in person or on TV, and you happen to see Maciej (#18307, blue shirt, blue shorts, pasty-white complexion, possibly carrying Krispy Kreme donuts), let me know where and when you saw him.
12:42 pm - They're interviewing Diddy on the TV right now. Hopefully this will expend precious energy and give Maciej, who still has not been interviewed, a bit of an edge.
12:39 pm - Maciej has closed the gap on Diddy. He's at 2:06:05 at the halfway point, 9:37 minutes/mile with a projected finish at 4:12:10, only 22 minutes behind Diddy (as opposed to 34 minutes at the 10K mark). The TV is speculating that Diddy will continue to fade and finish at around the 4:15 mark. Come on, Maciej!
12:16 pm - P. Diddy is working hard at taking away from James Brown the title of The Hardest Working Man in Showbiz. Piddy's time at the halfway point is 1:55:27. He's running 8:48 minute miles with a projected finish of 3:50:54. I've got to hand it to P. Diddy...he's kicking ass.
12:04 pm - It's just after noon and I'm sitting here on the couch in my boxer shorts watching the marathon on TV and waiting for some cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven. How lazy do I feel right now?
11:32 am - If you'd like to track Diddy vs. Maciej yourself, here's the page to do it.
11:27 am - Here's what the race tracker looks like after 10K for our runners:
11:15 am - We have a fix on Maciej! He passed the 10K marker with a time of 01:00:58. He's doing 9:50 minute miles with a projected finish of 4:17:38. That puts him more than 30 minutes behind Diddy at the finish. Come on M. Ceggy, you can do it!
11:07 am - Oh no! P. Diddy has reached the 10K mark with no sign of Maciej. Diddy's time is 00:52:43 with 8:30 minute miles and a projected finish of 3:42:46.
10:55 am - TV says that Diddy is running 9 minute miles, projected to finish in 3:50. Whither Maciej?
10:46 am - The Marathon Tracker on the official site is only giving results at 10K, the halfway point, at the 20 mile mark, and at the end of the race. So unless NBC changes their unfair broadcast policy, we'll continue to receive P. Diddy updates throughout the race on TV, but will only have 3 updates on Maciej.
10:25 am - P. Diddy is through 1 mile. No TV update on Maciej yet.
10:08 am - And they're off!
10:06 am - Someone's singing the national anthem. It looks as though NBC has decided not to give equal interview airtime to Maciej. Disappointing.
10:04 am - NBC just interviewed P. Diddy on TV, minutes before the race is to start. I have high hopes for Maciej after seeing the huge diamond earring that will be weighing Diddy down during the race.
