My throat is a little ripped up today after I spent a solid two to three hours in Harlem motivating the marathon runners as they reached the last few final miles of the race. It was a great way to spend a Sunday. It is a great feeling to be rooting for the runners at that spot, because from my memories of running this race two years ago, that is where you need people to cheer you on to get that second wind—or third—to finish up the race.

The gawkers like myself were spread out enough that the runners could actually hear us individually cheering them on. It was an ideal spot to be cheering. I saw a good number of runners kick in into gear after hearing a little bit of shouted motivation. That is a what it's all about. To top it off, my teacher friend's high school band played Eye of the Tiger and other cheesy motivating songs in that classic way only high school bands can do.

Marathon day is certainly one of the best days of the year. It is almost inspirational enough to schedule six months of training to do it again.

Almost.