It claims to be the largest marathon in the world, and yet it cannot satisfy all interests. About 4 percent of people who entered a drawing for the 2024 New York City Marathon will get a chance to run through five boroughs and over five bridges to Central Park on Sunday. The rejection email sent to tens of thousands of marathon aspirants in March included a photo at the top of a runner in an orange singlet labeled “Nick” cheerfully flashing finger guns at the camera – finger guns, with which he “shot down ours”. Hopes and dreams,” as one woman put it. “I'm the most hated person in running,” Nick Parisi, the clueless man in the photo, told NBC New York. Ironically, Parisi himself didn't initially come to the marathon either. The CEO of the New York Road Runners, which runs the marathon every year, had to do damage control for the situation and give Parisi a guaranteed start and a personalized bib number.

So places at the NYC Marathon are in demand. But let me tell you what it's really like to run this race, as someone who enjoys marathons so much that he's completed three, plus a “virtual marathon” in fall 2020 and a 32-mile ultramarathon . Running the New York City Marathon means having your friends and loved ones (and maybe your enemies too?) track you through an app while being yelled at for three to six hours straight. As is well known, there are practically no breaks on the route due to the crowds of spectators – the bridges are the only sections where it is quiet. And wow, in the end I wished everyone watching would just shut up.

I don't hate spectators per se. In fact, one of the greatest joys in this life is getting the chance to literally cheer someone on or be cheered on yourself. When I ran this “virtual marathon” – a marathon where you pay money for a medal but simply run the distance on your own – I was so worried about how I would cope without encouragement and general camaraderie that I wrote mantras on note cards beforehand wrote the race. Every time I completed a mile, I pulled a card from the deck, which I kept in a pocket of my hydration pack. I was inspired by the signs I had seen in previous marathons I had run in Toronto and Miami: You got that, You are greatthis kind of energy. Unadulterated praise and trust – it’s powerful.

Sometimes spectators give you fun snacks: I'll never forget the mini pretzels someone offered the runners somewhere around mile 22 of my first marathon. I was so sick of the sugary gel packets that are a staple at these events, and yet needed food so badly, that I didn't think twice about sticking my hand straight into a tub that was probably 3 percent by volume at this point consisted of sweat. When I ran the NYC Marathon a few years ago, a stranger in Queens gave me a small can of Coke, a boost I desperately needed. The fact that someone came to watch with a six-pack of soda to offer it to the runners: That's race magic.

In this city, however, watching a marathon seems to be even more of a sport than running it. Many people have annual plans to meet up with friends and post at a specific location. I've lived right on the route for six years and have even enjoyed watching runners run past with my neighbors. In advance My On the day of the marathon race, they were excited when loose acquaintances identified me as someone who was running the marathon. “I'll chase you!” said one, pulling out the app on her phone where you can enter each runner's name and watch their little dot move across the course in real time. At first I felt like a celebrity and it was fun. Then I felt like a celebrity and it was bad. After I finished the race, I learned that family members had also been chasing me. Yes, it was very sweet to get a text from someone I love right after I crossed the finish line. But knowledgeable people – everyone, actually! – could they have been watching me the whole time? No thanks. After the race, my boss reported that she saw me walking by on the Upper East Side at the annual marathon party she was attending. I was traveling at this point! I don't want people I know to see me running!

As I ran through Central Park for almost the final portion of the race, I felt the crowds that were on both sides of the path getting closer and closer. I wasn't having a good run that day, and The Cheers felt like they were mocking me more than anything. For over 20 miles, I had seen the same jokes on signs over and over again – about crazy runners, about bodily functions, and “Run like Brad Pitt is at the finish line!” Some people were holding giant, enlarged faces of their running loved ones , which is cute at first glance, and then the faces are, well, Huge faces stare at you in your delirium. I run to escape everyday life. This experience was the opposite of that.

You might rightly point out that hardly anyone was really paying attention Meand those who were did so only fleetingly. But the feeling of being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and all the attention and feeling the pressure to do well was still there for me. Here too, the attention focused on the runners never wanes. There is no cheering break from any other state of being. It is everyone cheers. I am a person who generally believes that I like attention. But taking part in this race was like being caught with one cigarette and then being told I had to smoke the whole pack.

There are many races where this is not the case. In fact, I suspect almost everyone isn't like that. One of my favorite races is the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, which takes place every March. It draws fun crowds few This includes walking through Times Square towards the end of the route, but there is also a lovely, quiet stretch of FDR Drive that is car-free in the morning. And then there are the races like the next race I did after the NYC Marathon. This was outside of Tampa, Florida, in the woods. It had fewer than 100 participants. We started before dawn with headlamps. I brought my headphones, but I didn't end up playing any music. I chatted a bit with other runners, heard snippets of conversation from volunteers, and stopped a few times to take photos of plants. I ate gummy bears and peanut butter sandwiches from my backpack and listened to my breathing. I spent almost seven hours completing this course just existing. This means that if you were barred from participating in the NYC Marathon, you may have found another race to participate in I like it better.

The New York City Marathon is a tour de force. I'm in awe of the people who are closing the roads, building the infrastructure and generally coordinating this huge, massive sporting event. It has been around for over 50 years and many runners have taken part more than a dozen times. May everyone who really wants to experience it get the opportunity. And if you're running this year, I'll be on the sidelines cheering you on – and Shouting.