At 5:45 a.m. on marathon Sunday, Mandy Rubin embarked on the journey to completing her first marathon, the ING New York City Marathon. After being shuttled via Staten Island Ferry and official marathon bus to Fort Wadsworth, Mandy waited. And waited. And waited. Waiting for her 10:20 a.m. wave start “seems almost harder than running the actual marathon,” Mandy said.

The long line leading up to where runners must display their bib credentials moved quickly and Mandy made her way to her designated color zone. (In order to most efficiently usher runners across the start on time, New York Road Runners (NYRR) divides runners into three color zones and wave starts.)

She found a dry spot near a set of Port-O-Potty’s (which, believe it or not, is the best place to be marathon morning) and camped out until her wave start was called to the corrals. Bundled up in multiple layers, including a rain poncho, Mandy said, “I feel prepared. I have trained hard and well. I can just relax now.”

With the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (VN Bridge) at her back, she posed for some pictures, standing tall with her hands on her hips. She was the epitome of a confident runner. On the way to the corrals, Mandy noticed a man inside of a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower and others dressed up in Halloween costumes. They ran the 26.2 miles in their respective states. Mandy just laughed and said, “Wow, good for them!”

The race began and Mandy pumped out a consistent and conservative pace over the VN Bridge, smiling as she looked to her left to see Manhattan, her final destination. “This is such a beautiful view,” she declared, not even daunted by the fact that she could see how incredibly far-off her finish line was.

Her muscles warmed up and she cruised right into Brooklyn, taking in the loud cheers from the spectators. In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Mandy sailed past “Eiffel Tower Man” and exclaimed, “One of my goals was to beat that building and I did. Now I just need to keep him behind me!”

Mandy’s goals changed throughout the past four-plus months of training for the big race. At first, she just wanted to survive the marathon. After she successfully finished the half-marathon, she began to set other goals. Close to race day, Mandy decided that finishing in under six hours was definitely doable. Upon passing the 13.1 mile mark, it became apparent that Mandy had broken her previous half-marathon time by almost thirty minutes, a huge accomplishment, which helped her press on into Queens.

The fifth layer of her clothing came off and as she tied the long-sleeved shirt around her waist she said, “Queens is hard.” Queens is hard. The Queensboro/59th Street Bridge (QB Bridge) is not only the highest elevation on the course but also comes at Mile 14. It was right around this point of the marathon when Mandy’s left knee took a huge hit from the bridge’s incline. Luckily, her husband, Scott and children, William (9) and Jaime (6) were waiting for her arrival at the end of the bridge. Mandy made it to her family with enough energy to give out hugs and kisses as well as pose for a quick picture. Seeing her family gave Mandy a high that carried her up First Avenue through Miles 17, 18 and 19.

Upon entering the Bronx at Mile 20, the damage done to her left knee from crossing the QB Bridge slowed her down. Mandy realized that if she changed her stride, some of the discomfort was relieved. She powered on using this new strategy but found that the best thing to ease the pain was to stretch out the muscles around her knee joint. Once she did this, Mandy felt, “a Bengay-like sensation on my leg. It is a very weird feeling. Whatever is happening, it is working.”

The mysterious feeling healed her just in time for viewing by her mother, her identical twin sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephew at Mile 24 in Central Park. They screamed Mandy’s name and helped give her the push she needed to get to Mile 25 where she would see Scott, William and Jaime one last time. William jumped the fence with his #1 MOM sign in hand and asked if he could run with her to Mile 25 a few steps away. This request put a smile on her face and made 1.2 miles to the finish line seem easy.

Mandy powered her way to Columbus Circle and, as if the .2 miles uphill to the finish line did not phase her, Mandy had a huge surge in pace. “This is something I have wanted to do for over 20 years. It has been my dream. I am so happy I did this,” Mandy declared. Volunteers placed a finisher’s medal around her neck and a foil blanket around her shoulders. She made her way to the family reunion area, tired but incredibly content. The goal that started out as a dot in the distance from the VN Bridge hours ago was now a reality—Mandy is a Marathoner.

Kenley Ferrara is a certified personal trainer and running coach for Professional Personal Training Systems (PPTS) as well as a Pacer for Nike. Her website is www.pptswellness.com.