Marathon 1 of 50 in the #50in50

Marathon 1 of 50 complete: New York City!

We are now on the road to 50 marathons in 50 states in 1 year.

This race was all for my love Gweneviere and to honor her memory through the Gweneviere Mann Foundation (gwenmann.org).

This year's run was a deeply emotional and meaningful experience. If you don't know the story, back in 2008 Gweneviere survived a brain tumor/had a craniotomy. The procedure caused her to have anterograde amnesia, but she was a fighter and continued to thrive through her music, writing, and running. After her surgery, we set a goal to run the 2010 NYC Marathon, and had run it every year (except for 2012 when it was canceled; we ran Harrisburg that year instead). She went onto graduate with honors from New York University writing program, attended The Juilliard School, and was due to start her MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia University this Fall. With every amazing accomplishment, Gweneviere inspired me to set new goals for myself whether it was serious (like learning how to swim so that I can complete 4 Ironmans) or not so serious (like winning championships in the Tour de Donut bicycle races).

I am humbled that the Gweneviere Mann Foundation received incredible press coverage on ESPN, CBS New York, ABC7NY, StoryCorps, Committed Podcast.

I met and was inspired by fellow NYC Marathon runners Nev Schulman, Tiki Barber, Teri Hatcher who were all running for great causes themselves.

Next marathons on the schedule:

• NV (Las Vegas) 11/11

• PA (Philadelphia) 11/18

• WA (Seattle) 11/25

• TN (Memphis) 12/1

• AL (Huntsville) 12/8

Join me on the #50in50 for the Gweneviere Mann Foundation, with many ways to get involved: http://gwenmann.org/50in50

***Please download Gweneviere’s song***

She was excited about releasing an album she had just finished, but she passed before she could realize that dream, so we just recently released a single "What I Can Be" off of her album for her so that we could fulfill that dream for her. Download it here: https://www.gwenmann.org/music/

Together we will save lives through early detection programs for lung cancer and brain tumors.

Monthly marathon report: NYC marathon

Just a couple of weeks ago, I ran my 7th NYC marathon. This race holds a very special place for my wife and me. NYC Marathon 2010 was the first marathon we both ever ran. To learn a bit more about we ran ran that race, watch this great StoryCorps video about my wife's story—my inspiration for doing all these marathons, triathlons, as well as wacky races and competitions. 

One of my favorite parts of the NYC marathon is actually volunteering at the Expo the day before race—handing out bibs to runners. Speaking off bibs, I had a special bib this year with my name on it!

Follow me tomorrow as I run my 26th marathon overall, 12th marathon this year, & 7th #nycmarathon. I'll be looking to run my best #tcsnycmarathon yet!

221 Likes, 12 Comments - Yasir Salem (@yasir_salem) on Instagram: "Follow me tomorrow as I run my 26th marathon overall, 12th marathon this year, & 7th #nycmarathon...."

There was a bit of hype this year with some of the runners and I was lucky and honored to be included in a Runner's World piece and TV promotions for the race.

And this this fun piece on AM New York: 

The race went really well. The temperature was just right and the rain held up. The crowds and bands in every borough were great as always. I ran my fastest NYC marathon yet (4:41) and came in just 2 minutes behind Prince Royce and 3 minutes behind Tiki Barber

1/2 Honored to be on this! Final #s:
1 Daniel Humm 3:12
2 @KevinHart4real 4:05
3 @TikiBarber 4:38
4 @PrinceRoyce 4:39
5 @yasirsalem 4:41:33 https://t.co/OWaoZc5PhA

— Yasir Salem (@yasirsalem) November 6, 2017

Runner's World did this great follow up on their pre-marathon article:

And there were a few other great articles on the NYC Marathon that I was also honored to be featured in: 

• Competitor Running
• Hollywood Life
• Food & Wine

The medals were nice, as always.

And my wife and I celebrated another successful NYC marathon together. We plan to run this marathon as long as we're able to!

There is no run quite like the NYC marathon. If you ever have the chance to run it, do it! It is my favorite run and is a special race for my wife and me. And if you every have a chance to hear the stories of any of the other 50,000+ runners that finish it every year, you'll see that it's a special race for them, too.

Monthly marathon race report: Rockaway Marathon

October's run was the Rockaway Marathon in Far Rockaway, NYC on October 7.

I ran my 2nd fastest ever. The run was on the boardwalk. The course was 4 loops of 6.55 miles.

There was also a half marathon race (2 loops). There were about 50 runners total.

It took me about 1.5 hours to take the subway from lower Manhattan to the start (at the end of the A line).

​Each loop began on the boardwalk at 102nd street, headed toward 57th street (where there was a water station, the other water station was at 102nd st), then down to 30th street, where we turns around and headed back up to 102nd street.

Overall the course was very fast and the course was easy to follow.

On my last loop, the water stations ran out of water, so I drank out the water fountains.

The beach scenery was really great. I sometimes forget how NYC has some amazing beaches out there.

There were also lots of surfers out.

I took the new super fast NYC ferry back to Manhattan (only 1 hr!) and and was back home in time for a big lunch.

Consider this marathon if you live close to NYC and you're looking for an easy, scenic beach marathon in October.​

Monthly marathon race report: Chasing the Unicorn marathon

On September 10th, I ran the Chasing the Unicorn marathon in Washington Crossing, PA.

I just the day before, I ran the Charles River marathon in Boston, MA. I wasn't planning to do 2 marathons in September (or 1 weekend!), but my October plans were up in the air, so I had to fit in another one in September just in case, to make sure I fulfill my goal of running 12 marathons this year.

​Chasing the Unicorn is a fast course. The race takes place in Washington Crossing Historic Park, and consists of two loops of a path along the Delaware River.

There were about 150 or so runners.

It was a nice day, mostly clear with some clouds, and about 65 degrees.

There were a good amount of aid stations with sports drinks and water.

On one side of the path there was the Delaware River.

On the other side, there was typically either farm fields or quiet neighborhoods.

The path conditions were perfect, I like running on firm dirt paths.

I liked these walking/bike path bridges that crossed the river.

Although I was taking it easy since I ran a marathon just the day before, my time was actually faster for the second marathon of the weekend. The finisher medals are bold, colorful and heavy.

Overall, I loved this course and I recommend it if you are in the Northeast and looking for a fast, scenic September race. See http://www.runbucks.com/runbucks-races for more information on the race.