So I just got my start wave for the NYC Marathon and I am on the lower level of the Verrazano Bridge. What does this mean for my Garmin 310xt? I plan on relying on the GPS to help me run a constant pace (especially for the start to get set on a pace). I imagine I will have trouble with a signal on the lower level. I will turn on the Garmin prior to going on the bridge to acquire a satelite but I will be standing on the bridge for a while and will be sure to lose a signal.
-Will it be able to acquire a signal once in the open while I am moving?
-Can I press start without a signal? How will it know how far I went?
Any insight on what will happen and how to handle would be great!
No problems getting a signal. Just make sure you get a signal before you stage under the bridge and don’t look up. Your biggest problem will be the yellow rain.
Considering there’s no way you would (or should!), even-split the 1st 2-miles of the NYC, it doesn’t really matter if your GPS is working or not, until you come off the bridge.
Also, just a bit of advice having run NYC 5x myself & coached a countless # of other to do so…don’t try to run an even pace mile-to-mile as the course is much too undulating. You’d be much better served trying to run even 5ks vs even miles. FWIW, these are my 5k splits from the last time I ran NYC in '08 & I don’t think I ran a single mile at the same pace…
I started on the lower level many years ago (pre-GPS), and on the upper level in 2011. However, you most likely may have an issue early on while running on the lower level. Since the second half of the bridge is severely downhill, your pace should be “goal pace + :30” for the first mile and “goal pace - :30” for the second mile.
Also, don’t get fooled on the 59th St. bridge heading back to Manhattan. You will most likely lose your GPS signal there too. Try to keep a solid pace (using feel) going over that bridge.
You should get a foot pod. It will give you much better speed/distance results than the gps and when/if you lose satellite connection, you will still get speed/distance from the foot pod. I’ve done a few races where I just turned off the gps as the foot pod is more accurate. However, then you don’t get a nice picture of the course so most of the times I leave the gps on.
When I did the NYC marathon, I started on the top deck, but had a quite erratic signal on the Queensboro Bridge. I have a foot pod, but as long as you have some GPS signal, it’s not used. There is a setting what to use as the speed source, GPS or the foot pod - but this didn’t work for me; I tried it on a cruise ship, and no matter what source I selected, always the GPS speed was displayed. Going for even 5K splits is good advice, I’d say.
I am not so much concerned at losing a signal as much as hitting ‘start’ without a signal. Not sure what will happen. Do I lose the first 2 miles of the run? Does it somehow fill in the blanks and I still capture 26.2? Or am I going to have the worst case scenario of it saying it is trying to acquire a signal but never does because i am constantly on the move?
I ran on the bottom level with my Garmin 305. The Garmin never lost satellites completely, but the data was unreliable while I was under the bridge (same with the 59th street bridge). I agree with some of the other folks here… prepare to go by feel for the first two miles. Not only because of the elevation changes, but also because you’ll likely be elbow to elbow with tons of runners for the first few miles… you’ll waste a lot of energy trying dance around other people and hit your splits. If you’re really concerned with keeping an accurate signal, you can try to hug the side of the bridge.
The start of the race is out in the open, so you won’t have any issues getting signal before you head in there.
And in my experience if you do lose signal completely, the signal will eventually come back when you’re out in the open. But I find it takes longer since you’re a moving target.
I am not so much concerned at losing a signal as much as hitting ‘start’ without a signal. Not sure what will happen. Do I lose the first 2 miles of the run? Does it somehow fill in the blanks and I still capture 26.2? Or am I going to have the worst case scenario of it saying it is trying to acquire a signal but never does because i am constantly on the move?
Try it and find out what happens pre race.
It may acquire one you are in the open…but will start mapping from that point forward. No it does not know where you started…if this happens hit lap as soon as it acquires then again when you hit a mike marker if you have it set to beep at each mile.
It may never aquire the signal. Use the timer function and your brain to know your pace. The course will be marked. For distance.
Here’s my Strava file from 2011. I started up top, but you can see that the GPS signal got a little funky going over the bridge on my way into Manhattan (and in the buildings around Central Park South).
You will also see how I struggled during the final 10k. I’m still working on that part.
This will be my 7th NYCM. I’ve been on the top and bottom of the Verrazano. I lost a signal one year (with a really old Garmin, and they’re better now), but just run as far to the side as you can and you’ll likely keep it.
The golden shower, as much as some weird people might want one, is an urban legend. You won’t get peed on.
Also, you don’t start on the lower level, you start at the base of the bridge in the open, so you’ll run a bit before going under, so there won’t be a time period of standing around with no signal (unless you plan to stop mid-bridge for some reason, maybe to pee lol).
Regardless, you CAN press start with no signal (you won’t need to though). I’ve done this on many an overcast day and sometimes the watch will figure it out, sometimes the first mile will be off a bit.
And as everyone has said, take the initial uphill nice and easy. It’s good in that it forces you to start your race slower. Take the immediate down the bridge easy too, don’t try to make up for lost time. This way you have a good easy two initial warm up miles. You can catch up that time on the long flat stretch of 4th ave as you move along through Brooklyn.
Good luck! I’ll be out there this year afterall. I’m leading the 4:30 pace group so it’s gonna be a slow race for me (but a free race lol!).
OK… Silly question. You mentioned you know that you are on the Lower Deck of the Verrazano based on your start wave - how exactly do you know that? (That secret decoder ring doesn’t seem to have been provided in my packet…)
Considering there’s no way you would (or should!), even-split the 1st 2-miles of the NYC, it doesn’t really matter if your GPS is working or not, until you come off the bridge.
Also, just a bit of advice having run NYC 5x myself & coached a countless # of other to do so…don’t try to run an even pace mile-to-mile as the course is much too undulating. You’d be much better served trying to run even 5ks vs even miles. FWIW, these are my 5k splits from the last time I ran NYC in '08 & I don’t think I ran a single mile at the same pace…
You can’t post split like that on ST without posting the last 2.2K…the mystery is killing us (well, I guess we can go look online…) In any case it looks like the porta potty break killed the sub 2:50 dreams? Of did you run 3:30 K pace for the last two and then sprint the last 200m in sub 39 seconds?
you’ll likely be elbow to elbow with tons of runners for the first few miles…
This. When I ran NY it didn’t matter what pace I preferred. I had no choice but to run group pace while on the start bridge. It was packed. I could touch at least 8 people at any time. Knowing you pace in the first miles is of minimal value. You can’t really alter it anyway. It is just too crowded.
Brian - do you still have your NY Marathon pace guide. Super helpful.
as others noted, for me, the bigger challenge was erratic GPS on the Queensboro Bridge because at that point I was pretty locked into pace and it was a little unnerving to see the numbers jump all over the place since I was already trying to adjust effort for the long incline and then decline of the bridge.
You can’t post split like that on ST without posting the last 2.2K…the mystery is killing us (well, I guess we can go look online…) In any case it looks like the porta potty break killed the sub 2:50 dreams? Of did you run 3:30 K pace for the last two and then sprint the last 200m in sub 39 seconds?
HA! The thing was this Dev…I vividly remember that day & really didn’t *think *my fitness was near my usual 2:50ish range, so my intention was to go out on 6:30s…see how long I could hold it, but fully expecting to fall off at some point. Shockingly, it didn’t happen.
I just looked it up & my last 2-miles were 6:17 / 6:29 & finished in 2:51:08. Could I have pushed harder & shaved off 68sec over that final 8km & gone <2:50? In hindsight, probably…but I was still expecting the wheels to come off & was happy to be anywhere near 2:5x. All the juicy details are in my race report if you’re having a slow day…
