The best photo opportunities...

...come when you don't have a camera. No, this one isn't mine. I had left my camera in my room thinking there would be no opportunity for good photos at today's event. I was wrong.

The story -- I spent this morning at the United States Marathon Olympic Time Trials in NYC's Central Park. It was awesome. I am mostly here because tomorrow is the day I get to push my way 26.2 miles through this great city. While I am feeling quite unprepared for the marathon I hope a relaxed pace combined with my effort to enjoy the course will get me through the day without too much pain and disappointment. I've already accomplished some great things in my 18 hours here...I've eaten two cheese slices at Ray's Pizza, a huge bowl of pasta at Rosie O'Grady's, and I've enjoyed the ING NYC marathon expo.

Back to the photo story. I missed the great photo opportunity today when the three qualifiers all had American flags draped over their back and were huddling 3 feet in front of me at the finish line. I have attached a photo of them (found online) that was on the NBC Sports website. This photo was taken right in front of me!

These young athletes are all amazing and finished in less than 2:15. I believe Ryan Hill finished in an amazing 2:09. He had a solid and growing lead for the last 6 miles or so. Sadly, well known marathoner Ryan Shay collapsed and died in the first few miles of the race. I did not find out about that until just now and the fans at the race obviously did not know despite the talk of an ambulance having to enter the course at one point. Everyone's thoughts are with his family and I hope tomorrow's ING NYC Marathon can be a tribute to him as well as the many, many other great causes people are running for.