Olshan’s Metrocard Marathon hits some speed bumps

These marathoners don’t get to enjoy the use of a Metrocard during Sunday’s race. (Photo courtesy of Action Cancer)

In 2006, New York Post transit beat writer Jeremy Olshan ran the New York City marathon in four hours and fifty-five minutes. Last week, Olshan tackled a different kind of marathon: He rode the course of the upcoming marathon via MTA-only public transportation options. It was, in other words, a Marathon by Metrocard, and you’ll never guess whether Olshan finished his MTA marathon quicker than he did the ING Marathon.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Why didn’t I think of this? The thought flashed through my mind as I read this tale of urban transportation marathoning. If you want to recreate the marathon and see if you can beat Olshan, keep on reading.

Starting a few yards behind the Verrazano Bridge toll, Olshan used various buses and subways to wind his way through the five boroughs, ending just three blocks from the actual finish line to this Sunday’s race. His route, if you please:

1. Get on S53 bus on McClean Avenue just west of Lily Pond Avenue in Staten Island
2. Switch to R train at 86th Street and 4th Avenue in Brooklyn
3. Get off R at Pacific Street and walk to Fulton Street stop on G train
4. Take G train to Court Square in Long Island City
5. Walk to Queens Plaza to get Q101 bus
6. Take Q101 over Queensboro Bridge and get off on Second Avenue
7. Get on M15 bus at 57th Street, and take it to 125th Street
8. Switch to BX15 bus at 125th Street, and take it over Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx.
9. Take Harlem-bound BX33 bus to 135th Street and 5th Avenue.
10. Take downtown M1 bus to Central Park South.
11. Take cross-town M7 bus to Columbus Circle
12. Get on one of the rear cars of uptown C train and take one stop to 72nd Street.
13. Exit at 70th Street and run three blocks to finish near Tavern on the Green.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

As Olshan relates, he got off to a great start. He was just nine minutes into his marathon when he boarded the R train at 86th St. and 4th Ave. in Bay Ridge. For those keeping score at home, that’s a 3.3-minute mile. It would take less than an hour to run the marathon’s 26.2 miles at that pace.

But it was not meant to be. While he hit the halfway point at the hour-and-fifteen minute mark, surface traffic slowed this party down. The Q101 crawled over the Queensboro Bridge, and on the M15, disaster struck as one MTA employee decided to enforce her own interpretation of the Authority’s rules about photography. Olshan relates:

Then on the M15 bus on First Avenue, we were held up for 47 minutes by a bus driver who did not think marathoning and flash photography were permitted on the transit system.

She insisted on calling her supervisor and held the entire bus hostage while we waited for him to arrive to clear things up.

It’s rather fitting that this photography issue came up as just yesterday a few Subchat poster got into a heated discussion about photography in the subways and on buses. As one poster rightfully claimed, many MTA employees and NYPD transit cops have decided to enforce their own rules by banning photography. As we know, photography is allowed in the subways and on buses. But for some reason, employees refuse to internalize this rule.

This extensive hold-up led to a delayed finish for Olshan. In the end, he spent three hours and 15 minutes riding mass transit and another one hour and 42 minutes waiting for the trains and buses to show up.

So there you have it. Proof that you running a marathon faster is faster than riding a New York City bus. Now go try this at home (or on the road) and see if you can improve upon Olshan’s time or route.