Kristyn R. Smith is a New York-based running coach, masters athlete, and proud Six Star Finisher. The TCS New York City Marathon is her home race.
A passionate runner with a wealth of marathon experience, Kristyn shares her insights, tips, and personal experiences to help guide runners preparing for New York.
What makes the NYC Marathon special compared to other races you've been part of?
The NYC Marathon is my hometown race. Not the place I was born, but the place I’ve elected to live for the entirety of my adult life.
Due to where my apartment is located, my first experiences with the marathon came some years before I became a runner. I happened to buy a co-op steps from the marathon course. This was long before the running boom would materialise, and before I even knew any runners. In those early days, I would celebrate in the streets with my neighbours, spending hours cheering the thousands of strangers who went by as the city came alive.
Above all, I admired the celebration of bold ambition. The impact of this yearly experience was a huge part of why I became a runner. To spectate the NYC Marathon is to be swept up in it.
More than a decade later, it continues to define me, but that definition evolves. From a sideline spectator who never ran beyond the required elementary school PE class, to multiple marathon finisher and coach. I’m not exactly sure where I’ll be a decade from now, but I’m confident the NYC Marathon will have a part in it.
What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone preparing for the NYC Marathon for the first time?
Simple, quick and easy are not NYC adjectives. The marathon, like the city in which it resides, is complicated.
Navigating to the start, checking a bag, the course itself, even exiting after the finish. Every one of these takes time, patience and planning. You can make race day as smooth as possible by reading and researching in advance.
Once you’ve prepared yourself thoroughly, set your mind to expect the unexpected. To embrace and enjoy NYC, you need adaptability. From one block to another, one bus or one ferry, one wave or one start line, your experience will be uniquely yours.
The good news is that the payoff is worth every bit of effort. You are guaranteed a day you won’t forget.
What should runners know about race week in New York?
For first-time visitors to NYC, I hope you’ll take time to appreciate our many unique sights, museums, shows and restaurants. The marathon course winds its way through every one of the city’s five boroughs, giving you a sense of its diverse neighbourhoods. But to experience those marquee spots you’ve seen in guidebooks or movies, you’ll need to explore beyond race day. NYRR offers a programme for this called Beyond the Finish Line, so check it out.
Once you’ve had your fill of exploring the city, you can exhaust your shopping needs with a plethora of pop-ups and brand activations. Race week offers a huge amount in this regard, both in sheer quantity and the breadth of options.
You’ll have the big four or five shoe brands, that’s standard. But you’ll also find independent brands and plenty beyond racewear, with everything from recovery and accessories to hydration and nutrition.
What moment from your NYC Marathon experience stands out most?
One of the best aspects of any marathon day is seeing your supporters along the way. In NYC, this is my privilege for nearly every one of the 26 miles.
Because it is my long-time home, the folks in my corner encompass more than those I call friends. It’s colleagues and acquaintances from past and present, such as the barista at my local coffee shop, the person who cuts my hair or a classmate from college. I get to hear from them all! There’s something incredibly special about having your whole world come together on race day.
The other distinct aspect of the NYC Marathon is club running. NYC is home to hundreds of run clubs. You can train with a club in lots of places, but in NYC we do more than train, we compete.
Every month, sometimes multiple times a month, our run clubs come together to run NYRR races. That means I know the people in my club and get to know my competitors too! Throughout the year, we race everything from the mile to 5K, 10K and half marathons, but the marathon is a step above.
Marathon day is the pinnacle of the club racing calendar. On race morning, we gather in a special start NYRR assigns to the top club runners. Then those of us in the local elite corral line up to face off.
I run NYC surrounded by my clubmates and competitors. When you are struggling, they are there. When you are coasting, you get to use that opportunity to lift up others. There is nothing more motivating or inspiring.
What is the one thing you hope every NYC Marathon participant takes away from the race?
The NYC Marathon is a microcosm of the city it calls home. People come together from different backgrounds, with different lived experiences and different goals, all part of one shared journey creating something much bigger.
Go to the Parade of Nations on Friday evening before race day. You’ll see people from a hundred countries represented, each waving their flag proudly. The finishing 800 metres of the course is similarly lined with flags from around the world.
The race begins by crossing New York Harbor over the Verrazzano Bridge, with the Statue of Liberty standing as a beacon to the world. From the race start to the finish, the symbols and diversity of the city are inherent to the NYC Marathon.
Then, late into marathon Sunday, there’s the Final Finishers Celebration. It has become more formalised in recent years, but the meaning at its core is not new. It celebrates the people who will spend all day completing the race just as enthusiastically as those who finished hours earlier.
You can be a marathoner, whoever you are. All you need is the drive and ambition to finish.
That is the NYC Marathon.
Need some more course tips? Two Six Star Finishers guide you through the race...
Other news
Episode 96: What Went Down Down Under
