Go To on NYC Marathon

Kelly Corrigan (0:05)

Hi, everybody. This short segment is what we call For the Good of the Order. It's something we used to do at the end of my sorority meetings, if you can believe that, where someone would share something that they came across in the course of the week, a poem, a song lyric, a short story that they found enormously helpful as they went about daily life. And I wanted to pick up the thread because I am so often wowed by something I see in the world that I want to bring back and hand off to you. So, every Friday, we produce a short segment called For the Good of the Order. Think of it like an audio greeting card, a thing to share with the people that you love around the country who you don't get to see or talk to enough, a thing to discuss with the people you do see and talk to on a more regular basis. This is Kelly Corrigan Wonders for the Good of the Order.

This is the greatest day in America.

This is a hectic time in American life, no doubt.

I wanted to pause and share some reflections from watching my daughter, Georgia, do the New York City Marathon. If you have seen it before, I mean, if you've seen any marathon before, you probably know that it is a day where people behave in the most beautiful, supportive, collaborative, intimate way. But here are my thoughts on the 2024 New York City Marathon. So first, some stats. 30,000 men run it, 25,000 women run it. The average time is 4 hours and 31 minutes of running. They go through all five boroughs in New York. The winning time this year for the men was 2.07, and for the women, it was 2.24. George's time, not that we're counting, was 4.03. She had never done a marathon before. No one in our family had ever done a marathon before. And she just kind of set her mind to it. When I asked her why, here's what she said. What got into you? Why did you even want to do a marathon?

Georgia (2:27)

I think the real thing is that I really loved the whole vibe around it. I liked the feeling of achievement. I liked working towards something.

I was always prescribed as a non-runner in sports, and that made me wish I was a runner. I was like, oh, there's this other girl. Ellie Cole is so fast, and Ellie Cole gets all this praise for being a runner, and there I was like, George is so slow. And I was like, whatever. So I never really liked that thought, and so I was like, I could never do that. That would be so amazing. I'd be so happy if I completed that. So that was one thing. I feel like New York is a very good marathon. It's very fun, and everyone thinks it's the best day ever.

Kelly Corrigan (3:15)

Yeah. So in the days and weeks leading up to this thing, it's pretty much all we talked about. It's so fun to be in cahoots with your kid on some project that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and preferably a project that ends well, which this did.

And it was such a joy to have her burst into our apartment with some new factor figure about some goo that she was going to bring with her, and then some new belt that she could wear around her waist because it was particularly good for marathons, and her need to have lots of salt beforehand, and watching TikTok on the best running bra to wear so that you don't have chafing, and whether she should bring shammy butter with her, and then of course what our role was.

Georgia (4:01)

I don't want any of you being like, oh my god, you know how you hold the phone like this and you just turn it sideways? Think about like, use your photo brain instead of like zoom.

Kelly Corrigan (4:10)

Okay. The angle thing is...

Georgia (4:13)

Wait, so you want... This is it.

Kelly Corrigan (4:14)

I'm on like photo.

Georgia (4:15)

You know the hand, it's the hand.

Kelly Corrigan (4:17)

Okay.

Georgia (4:17)

She comes in and...

Kelly Corrigan (4:21)

Have you gotten your throwaway clothes yet?

Georgia (4:23)

No, I used to do that on Saturday. Did you get some of the sweatpants or no?

Kelly Corrigan (4:27)

No, I didn't. Are you going to wear any of your new...

No, that no one would do. It's so dirty. Hold on a second, you got iron on letters?

Georgia (4:35)

I did.

Kelly Corrigan (4:36)