The Running Thread - 2026

[IamTrike]

NYC marathon: NYC and Chicago are on my bucket list; I was going to enter NYC in order to start the lottery wheel turning. I thought that after so many rejections, that you would be entered. Is that still true?

So things may have changed but I've done lotteries for both Chicago and NY. We had a group of 4 or 5. With multiple tries to get into NY through the lottery none of my friends ever got in that way. The odds for that are like 3% and our experience was consistent with that. Lots of people entering over multiple years and 0 success. A friend runs a travel company so I've been able to run it 2x as a guest of the airline partner.

Chicago we had 5 people enter and all but one got in through the lottery in 2018. I know odds have gone down since then.

I personally loved NY and thought taking the Ferry to the start was a really cool way to start a race, but it is a long time from leaving your hotel in the morning till the race start. If your considering doing NY I would definitely register for the lottery every year, because every year the odds get worse. I think dropping from 12%-3% over the last 5 years or so.

 

[Jillfo]

I just back from a checkup, and the doctor was telling me to just be aware of and taking care of my joints as I get older. He then told me about a 70-something year old female patient at a prior practice. Seems she had osteoporosis and the bouncing while running was causing small stress cracking in her vertebra. She was cautioned to be doing only walking, and wound up with at least three surgeries to fuse vertebra, yet refused to quit with the running. That is a bit too hard core for me. (Somewhat related: friend telling me about her ex who is big into power lifting and has had multiple knee surgeries due to squats and other lifts, and continues with those exercises even though he is ruining the results of the prior surgeries.)
I am dreading the day if/when I have to give up running, but I will drop down to walking when that day comes, and especially if it keeps me from undergoing multiple surgeries.

NYC marathon: NYC and Chicago are on my bucket list; I was going to enter NYC in order to start the lottery wheel turning. I thought that after so many rejections, that you would be entered. Is that still true?

I am already there. I have been on osteoporosis drugs for seven+ years - five years of generic Fosamax followed by Prolia. Since 2011, I have had four stress fractures (left femur, both fibulas, a metatarsal) and a stress reaction (right femur). The metatarsal fracture and the stress reaction happened after I was put on medication. I was told I should stop running a couple of years ago at age 59. After being a serial racer for more than a decade (including 75 marathons), I am now a walker with very occasional bouts of "sinning" (brief trots) thrown in. I'm not happy about it (those brief, occasional trots are glorious!), but am glad to be moving in some manner.

 

[Novatrix]

As low as the lottery odds are and as much as I want to run NYC again it would be a really bad idea for me to run Chicago, W&D and NYC in 3 weeks. Now watch me still do something crazy. The odds are really low right?

But I have this stupid calculus that goes like: it's almost impossible to get in, so why not enter the lottery?

NYC marathon: NYC and Chicago are on my bucket list; I was going to enter NYC in order to start the lottery wheel turning. I thought that after so many rejections, that you would be entered. Is that still true?

Am I reading correctly that if I get in this year and choose not to run, that I'm guaranteed entry next year? It would just cost this year's registration fees?

I am 0/9 on NYC marathon applications, and fully expect to be 0/10 after this year's drawing, hence why I'm registering for Wine and Dine! Last year, the odds were 2% to be selected in the drawing.

As already noted, they got rid of the guaranteed entry after a certain number of rejections a long time ago. If you don't live in the city and can't do the 9+1 program, your best odds are buying a charity bib. (Min $3,500 fundraising, but most places are more like $4,500+) If you're a foreign national, my understanding is that travel packages with guaranteed entry are actually pretty reasonable.

Yes, you can defer entry if selected, you just lose out on this year's entrance fee, plus need to pay it again next year. Which, as noted, is pretty cheap compared to the alternatives.

 

[sandam1]

I got sucked into considering purchasing Shokz (again) and still have questions:

- I've always run with cheapie, over the ear headphones and just use one at races (or other times when I need to hear around me for safety). However, I wind up replacing them at least once a year and have had issues with them cutting in and out at large races and on windy days. Has anyone experienced this with their Shokz?

- My goal race for this year is the Chicago marathon (side note: just typing this still freaks me out). One of the things that I've heard about the majors is how loud the crowd is. Is the open ear feature a good idea in this type of environment? I use my phone for my run/walk intervals so it being able to hear it is important.

If it makes any difference, I'm looking at the Open AirFit 2+ because I want the over the ear design with a physical button control (I hate "tap once for this, tap twice for this.")

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I got sucked into considering purchasing Shokz (again) and still have questions:

- I've always run with cheapie, over the ear headphones and just use one at races (or other times when I need to hear around me for safety). However, I wind up replacing them at least once a year and have had issues with them cutting in and out at large races and on windy days. Has anyone experienced this with their Shokz?

- My goal race for this year is the Chicago marathon (side note: just typing this still freaks me out). One of the things that I've heard about the majors is how loud the crowd is. Is the open ear feature a good idea in this type of environment? I use my phone for my run/walk intervals so it being able to hear it is important.

If it makes any difference, I'm looking at the Open AirFit 2+ because I want the over the ear design with a physical button control (I hate "tap once for this, tap twice for this.")

1. After trying and using different earphones and ear pods in the past, I'm happy with Shokz and won't go back. Cheap ear buds, and even Airpod$ fall out. (I love the sound quality of Airpods, but they are expensive and I don't want them falling out).
2. I have never had any issues with my OpenRuns cutting out.
3. I stream a playlist from the phone, and right before race start, I start the playlist and then put my phone in the side pocket in my tights. If the surrounding noise is loud, I don't hear the tunes. Or on my training runs, if someone goes by with a loud exhaust, I don't hear the tunes for a minute.
4. As far as being able to hear runners/activity around me, IMHO this is super important. I think I've missed hearing a run/walk interval a few times, but not enough to worry about. I'd rather not hear that than to not hear the runner or bicycle overtaking me.
5. For crowded races like the Peachtree Road Race and its 6 miles of entertainment, I've quit taking any sort of audio devices. The race is over quickly enough and I won't hear much anyway.
6. I say that because I had my OpenRuns on for this past MW and honestly had about 15 to 20 minutes per race of actually hearing music. The rest of the time I was hearing the on-course entertainment, stopping for photos, or talking to people around me. For the (ever shrinking) parts of the course in the parks, I pull the OpenRuns off my ears and put it around my neck just because of all the people around me, the park music, the rD-ers and other spectators cheering for us, etc. Even for the MCM, I think I heard my tunes for most of the first half of the race, and then less and less in the second 13 miles, mostly because of the time on the Mall and then just one less input in the later part of the race when heat and fatigue were hitting.
7. I just replaced my OpenRuns with a pair of the OpenFits. So far I've liked them on several long walks, and wanted to get in an actual run while wearing them before posting a review. FWIW, I also like physical buttons.

I get that Chicago won't have all the character stops that WDW does, but IMHO, you can't go wrong with the Shokz and the situational awareness that they allow.
And just for typing this, the ad space to the side has all switched to Shokz ads....

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Thank you for the great info and sugggestions @GollyGadget @avondale and @IamTrike.

 

[Naomeri]

I don't even really want to run NYC: I hear the start logistics are crazy for all those people to get to an island, and I'm trying to take a break from marathons. But I have this stupid calculus that goes like: it's almost impossible to get in, so why not enter the lottery? You won't get picked and you won't have to run it. But I can also not run it by... just not entering the lottery. I guess I feel like it's a bucket list race so you should just enter every year just in case, whether you actually want to run it or not.
I like to think of it like, I'm not making the decision whether to run it, the Lottery Gods are.
I put the closing date for the lottery in my calendar. So far (at 8am on the first day) I'm doing a good job not entering.

Back in November, after seeing all the stories of how awesome NYC is, I was vaguely considering entering the lottery when it opened, but in between then and now, I decided to do Dopey again, and doing both is out of the question for me, so I'm not even tempting the lottery gods by entering and assuming I won't get in.

 

[sandam1]

3. I stream a playlist from the phone, and right before race start, I start the playlist and then put my phone in the side pocket in my tights. If the surrounding noise is loud, I don't hear the tunes. Or on my training runs, if someone goes by with a loud exhaust, I don't hear the tunes for a minute.
4. As far as being able to hear runners/activity around me, IMHO this is super important. I think I've missed hearing a run/walk interval a few times, but not enough to worry about. I'd rather not hear that than to not hear the runner or bicycle overtaking me.
5. For crowded races like the Peachtree Road Race and its 6 miles of entertainment, I've quit taking any sort of audio devices. The race is over quickly enough and I won't hear much anyway.

Thank you for the insight. While it seems like, for you, it is personal preference to skip the music in favor of the race experience, I'm very much the opposite. I need to be able to hear my interval timer and highly prefer to be able to hear my music in the background. It seems like Shokz might not be what I'm looking for, particularly for what I've heard is a very loud race.

As far as situational awareness, I've always felt like I could hear around me by using just one in-the-ear headphone, but that's just what works for me.

 

[Naomeri]

I got sucked into considering purchasing Shokz (again) and still have questions:

- I've always run with cheapie, over the ear headphones and just use one at races (or other times when I need to hear around me for safety). However, I wind up replacing them at least once a year and have had issues with them cutting in and out at large races and on windy days. Has anyone experienced this with their Shokz?

- My goal race for this year is the Chicago marathon (side note: just typing this still freaks me out). One of the things that I've heard about the majors is how loud the crowd is. Is the open ear feature a good idea in this type of environment? I use my phone for my run/walk intervals so it being able to hear it is important.

If it makes any difference, I'm looking at the Open AirFit 2+ because I want the over the ear design with a physical button control (I hate "tap once for this, tap twice for this.")

Love my Shokz!

I occasionally have issues with cutting out, but I think had more to do with my sparkle skirt or potentially, but less likely, my Apple Watch doing something weird to the Bluetooth signal, because I keep my phone in my left leggings pocket, which is the same side as my watch is worn, and when I switched my phone in my last couple races to a pouch at the small of my back and outside my skirt, I stopped having problems. Never had a problem with wind though, and I've run on days that it was so windy that my watch gave me "the environment is too noisy" warnings

I do sometimes have the ambient noise overtake my headphone sound, but I either turn them up a little, or pause my music and hope I don't get too out of sync with my r/w intervals, depending on the situation.

I will say that I almost killed a pair of Open Fit running in the winter. I got them because my Open Runs didn't fit well while wearing a hat/ear band and I wanted to keep my ears warm. But my head sweats a lot and on a 2 hour run, too much sweat got in the Open Fit and started causing audio distortion that would go away briefly when I tipped my head one way or the other. As long as I keep them dry, they're fine, so they've been relegated to non-exercise use and I stick with my Open Runs for running all year round (if I ever get to run outside in the winter again, lately, if it's not icy, it's dangerously cold)

 

[marty3d]

If you're a foreign national, my understanding is that travel packages with guaranteed entry are actually pretty reasonable.

Yes, you can defer entry if selected, you just lose out on this year's entrance fee, plus need to pay it again next year. Which, as noted, is pretty cheap compared to the alternatives.

I can confirm the international tour packages (at least the Canadian ones) are relatively comparable to booking hotel and entry fee yourself. My real cost was that i usually book NYC on Marriott points.

And I should know better than to even joke about registering for a race I shouldn’t do on here. Now I’m seriously considering entering the lottery because of the deferral option. Sigh.

But I am definitely NOT running it this year regardless of what the lottery gods decide. Really.