New York City Marathon Notebook - Day 4
Monday November 08 2021
A view of Central Park. ELIAS MAKORI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Tight security, friendly cops around Central Park on race day
*****
Many of the streets around Central Park remained closed yesterday as agents from private security firms and a crack team from the New York Police Department (NYPD) secured all public areas and utilities as the 50th New York City Marathon got underway.
The police officers are quite friendly and helpful, guiding accredited personnel through numerous barriers with the smile. There’s even more courtesy once they learn you are from Kenya.
“You guys are gonna win this one again!” is the popular line from the officers who are in awe of Kenya’s dominance in this great race with Kenyan men having won 15 times since Ibrahim Hussein’s ground-breaking 1987 victory. Kenyan women have won 12 times since Tecla Lorupe broke ground in 1994.
End of Daylight Savings, clocks turn an hour back
*******
On Saturday night, my Manhattan hotel’s reception reminded me to turn my clock an hour back to mark the end of daylight savings.
“This is to remind you that Daylight Savings Time will end on Sunday, November 7, 2021, as 02.00am. This means you will need to turn your clock backward an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night, November 6,” a note from the reception said.
This means that now, New York is eight hours behind East African time. Gladly, I slept an hour longer before hitting Central Park for the start of the 50th New York City Marathon. The main purpose of summer time daylight savings is basically to make better use of daylight.
Why vaccination is extremely important here
*******
With most restaurants and eateries in most areas of New York City closed due to the 50th running of the New York City Marathon, the few that opened insisted on diners showing proof of vaccination.
The vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration are Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson along with Moderna.
However, authorities here are also allowing World Health Organisation-approved AstraZeneca (Oxford, Bioscience, COVISHIELD and Vaxzevria), Sinopharm and Sinovac.
Vaccination certificates issued by the Kenyan Ministry of Health are, therefore, accepted and have kept me going in the “Big Apple.” So go out and get vaccinated!
Huge beer selection to pick from at New York pubs
*******
As I bar-hopped the other night to mingle and feel the city’s pulse, I was impressed by the huge variety of beers on offer in New York City pubs.
And they have interesting names too! Like Madonna, Peace $ Lover Porter, WonderLIC, Monopolio Negra, Double Dry Hopped Baby Diamonds, Stranger Than Fiction, Super Nice, Bluebird Bitter, Ritual Colours, Lager No. 3, American Brown Ale, Unreliable Narrator, King Sue, Ghost Beer, Dream Fauna, Kickin’ Knowledge, Delirium Tremens, Terra Kill, etc.
I settled for Delirium Tremens, a deceivingly smooth Belgian beer. Most sell at about $10 for a 0.4-litre glass serving. There’s no curfew in New York, a city that never sleeps.