Trans America Footrace "LANY11" from Los Angeles (CA) to New York City (NJ) at 70 days 3200 miles, USA

70. stage at 08/27/2011 from West Orange, NJ to New York - Novotel/Timesquare, NY, (day: 35.2miles / overall.: 3193.7miles)

It was the last morning. Instead of going to the meeting at 5:15am I went for breakfast. At 5am the first group started. When I had breakfast I saw still some runners form the 6am group having also breakfast. After the second start it was empty. Some supporters, the people from the organization and our team (better to say, what was left from it) were there. Because yesterday June had so bad manners (in my opinion) I decided to run today without her support again. At the breakfast Laure explained the course to us. Up till now there were no limitations for the Washington Bridge.

At 7am we finally started. Peter, Italo and I went towards New York. Today Italo had some friends to support him. He knows that it was still possible to fight for the second place. But therefore he had to be 3 hours and 19 minutes faster than Patrick. Patrick was starting at 5am. After 18 kilometers I caught the first runners from the 6am group. After 22 kilometers I saw Patrick. When Italo still was as close behind me as he was at the beginning he had very good chances. The last runner I passed was Serge. He was far in front of the other runners. I saw Peter again at the Washington Bridge. It was a surprise, but anyway. The river was also the boarder between New Jersey and New York State. So we entered also at the last state of our route. Laure broadcasted that we will see the first time the skyline of Manhattan when we are on the bridge. But today there was not much to see. Most was covered by the fog. Since the morning it was very fogy and humid, but warm. Just before the bridge it started to rain slightly, but it also stopped soon. After the bridge we went down to the Hudson River. There were almost no traffic lights at the way through the park. Still Peter was faster on the street and passed me again. Just before I arrived at the Broadway it started to rain again. First there was light rain then very heavy rain. The weather displayed very well the mute of our team. I almost missed the finish line, but some people waited for the runners and called me. With them two people from my hometown Dettelbach. Daniela and Matthias had spent already one week at the USA and visited me for the final finish. Peter got lost just before the finish line. He went down a parallel street and arrived a few seconds before me from the other side. After we had taken some photos already Italo and Serge arrived.

Then we went very wet into the lobby. We changed our cloth at the restrooms, because the rooms were not ready before 3pm. And that was more than three hours later. Then everybody had a drink at the lobby bar. Now we had plenty of time till the evening. We were sitting together and fixed everything. At one point Laure arrived and told us that Patrick saved his place with only two minutes in advance. At 6pm there was the award ceremony and the dinner.

Normally it was placed on the roof terrace. Because of the hurricane it was replaced to the lobby. Actually it was the breakfast and restaurant area over there. Not a very nice place to have an award ceremony, because of the side noise. First all dropped out runners were honored for the kilometers they had done. Each got a certificate, a trophy, a jacket and a personal present. This was for each of them different and depending on himself. Then it was time for all the supporters. They were honored for the work they did. After them Peter and Anneke got their honoring. They had done the whole course out of placement. Peter did it with his kick bike and Anneke with her bike. Last but not least all finishers from last to first place were honored. As well as stage runners they received a certificate, a trophy, a jacket and a personal present. For example Tanaka received a pink running trouser, because he always worn very strange colored running cloth. The present for Philippe and Bavato was a book to learn English, because both did not speak it. Jenni received a coupon for a foot massage. Anneke got a plate which promoted Coca Cola, because she drank the most coke from all of us (besides me). The present for James was a coupon for Mc Donald and a sign showing the healthiness of Mc Donald. Italo received a suit case for all his items he collected on the road. Bando got some CD`s, because he liked music. In addition the finisher also received a finisher t-shirt. A lot of them could not hold their tears of happiness. It was a very emotional moment for them. When Italo was there Laure had to correct herself again. She told that the difference between him and Patrick is only two minutes. That was wrong. Instead they had 22 minutes of time difference. Still it is a very short time on more than 5000 kilometers. We had done more than 120 marathons during 70 days. On a marathon the difference would be just eleven seconds. On a 100m sprint it would be less than 300us. So nobody can tell a race like that would never be exiting. It showed again, that nobody finished the race and saved his place before he arrived at the last day. After Italo it was Patrick’s turn to get his trophy. Every runner can say some words before he received his trophy and his present. After I had finished my personal speech, I used the moment to take my role as speaker for the runner and thanked Laure and her team again. Also I gave her our little present which we got to thank her. It was a wooden board with a graving and signatures of all runners. Laure got two presents for me. I collected a lot of coins and bills on the street during the race. So I was presented with a book about American coins. Also James told her, that I talked with him about the multi day race in England. He would like to forward the information for it. Instead I got a free entry for next year. It would be a big challenge, because the drop out quote was almost 100%. Then we took some group photos before we finally went to the buffet. A lot of the runners left quiet early. It was a long and exhausting time and they had to catch up some sleep.

Results:

Fotos of the day: