The email began with “NYCM.” I did not know what that meant.
A Prospect Park Track Club captain wrote that the club was adding me to the race. If I wanted the local competitive corral, he needed the qualifying information I had posted to the club forum.
I replied with the obvious question: “What's the nycm?!”
One minute later, I figured it out.
New York City Marathon.
“Does that mean y'all have a bib for me?!”
The answer was yes.
I had run 1:20:44 at the Brooklyn Half in May. That was under the local competitive time standard and fast enough to qualify for the New York City Marathon. I thought the time would only help me get into the 2019 race. I did not have a place for 2018 and had mostly stopped thinking about it.
The club changed the year.
The captain asked for my exact Brooklyn Half time and said an invitation should arrive soon. I sent the time over. Then I wrote my coach and admitted that running another marathon was not necessarily my best idea. I was still pretty interested.
The invitation arrived the next day.
I registered immediately. The club also put my Brooklyn result forward for the local competitive corral, which meant I would start with runners who had met a faster qualifying standard.
My reply was not measured.
“Got the invite and registered!! Whahoo!!!!”
Four months earlier, the goal was to break 1:21 and earn a way into New York. The half-marathon time had done that. It just opened the door a year earlier than I expected.
By Friday afternoon, November had stopped being an idea. I had a bib.