Travel Tuesdays

Last night over dinner at goodburger, our new favorite place in midtown, Brooke & I were talking about the Giants vs. Cowboys game next weekend. Both of us agreed that once you have been spoiled watching football in the comfort of a warm press box or corporate suite, the thought of spending a Sunday out in the cold at Giants Stadium in December, just isn't so appealing. We know, we're such brats! But it is definitely not the same experience as watching a big game out in the stands with a pumped-up crowd. So while we are enjoying the game this weekend from the regular seats, here's a look at what Forbes Traveler is calling some of the most luxurious suites in the world. I wouldn't mind watching a game from that spa at Chase Field. And for just $5,900, you even get sandals!

The Rogers Centre

home to the Toronto Blue Jays

The suites at this stunning park have all the standard amenities: comfy stuffed chairs, retractable glass panels, outside seating, indoor dining, a bar, bathroom, flat-screen TVs and walls decorated with sports memorabilia. "The big revolution when that ballpark opened," says sports author Josh Leventhal, "was the sheer number of luxury boxes." There are 150 available and they go for about $32,000 a game. Luxury box guests also have access to the new, exclusive members-only Club 200 VIP, which features a lavish lounge area and dining tables at the edge of the action.

Chase Field

home of the Arizona Diamondbacks

In Phoenix there's one enemy to overcome in the summer: the heat. Chase's retractable roof captures the ballpark's massive air conditioning outflow, but the luxury suite area known as "the Pool Zone" does one better for its guests. The pool and spa give an unobstructed view of the game while you recline on plush patio furniture or float around, refreshing yourself with cocktails. The Pool Zone rents for $5,900 per game and accommodates up to 35 people, all of whom receive a Diamondbacks beach towel, cap and pair of Sensi Sandals. Chase Field has also opened up three other unique suites--the Batter's Box (behind home plate) and two Dug Out suites, all of which are right on the field and include in-seat food and beverage service.

FedExField

home to the Washington Redskins

One of the most unique luxury box experiences is found here, according to HOK Sports' Lori Peterson. "Dan Snyder came to us when he bought the field and said he wanted to move the press out and turn the broadcast booths into suites." The result is a common grand entryway, decked with fireplaces, bars, dining tables and a gorgeous wood paneling interior. "It looks like the best country club in the country but better," says Peterson. After making their entrance, suite holders walk down to small private suites, huddled close to the field. The suites are only available per season -- prices range from $75,000 to $200,000.

Gillette Stadium
home of the New England Patriots

For the last two years the team topped the charts for the highest priced tickets in the league, but luxury box holders who pay as much as $325,000 a season will tell you that the experience is worth every Benjamin. Each of their 86 suites were designed to resemble a "very elegant home," Peterson says, and feature big theater chairs, granite tables, full-height subzero refrigerators and residential-style lighting to make you feel right at home.

Bank of America Stadium

home of the Carolina Panthers

The Charlotte stadium made it onto Jayson Wolfe's list after he watched the Continental Tire Bowl from a luxury suite and was seduced by the beauty of the boxes and the accommodating wait staff. But you don't have to sacrifice excitement for luxury, Wolfe says. "Even from the suite the crowd noise was deafening." The stadium's 158 suites are done up in Panthers colors and combine a lounge area with two rows of upholstered chairs behind sliding glass windows. Suite membership comes with private parking spaces, an exclusive VIP stadium entrance and pre-game field access. Season prices range from $59,000 to over $100,000, with individual game boxes ranging from $8,500 to $30,000.

Busch Stadium

home of the Saint Louis Cardinals

Opening in 2006 to high praise, the new stadium offers 64 luxury boxes, each with padded balcony seats, plasma screen televisions, and a private bar. The suites have been booked for the next decade, at season prices ranging from $105,000 to $185,000. Members of the Cardinals Club, a separate venture, get special reserve seating (between home plate and the dugouts), a pre-game five-star meal, VIP parking and complimentary food and drink during the game. Decked out luxury box, or the best seats in the park: it's a fielder's choice.

'Tis the Season

After a very relaxing Thanksgiving at the Connecticut shore, it is back to work on Park Avenue where a barrage of red, green, pine, ribbons, bells, and a million white lights seem to have exploded in our lobby over the weekend. I suppose it is quite festive, but if you prefer your holiday decorations to be more of the "virtual" kind, then here is a fun web site. It's the 2006 Holiday Flake-A-Thon! The more snowflakes you create, the more the company Popular Front will donate to the Salvation Army. Check it out. You can even view my cool snowflake here.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Is there such a thing as Thanksgiving without football? Actually, I'm sure there are plenty of families who could care less. But watching football on Thanksgiving is a tradition at many family gatherings. Will you be watching? This year for the first time, the NFL will be showing three Thanksgiving Day games. The Denver at Kansas City night game will be the first live regular season game broadcast only on the NFL Network.

Does your cable company carry the NFL Network? If you are a Time Warner, Cablevision or Charter customer in the tri-state area, you will not be watching the evening game. Please call your cable company directly and let them know that you want the NFL Network added to your channel lineup. Cable companies decide what networks to add based on customers demands. You can contact your cable provider at the numbers provided below:

Cablevision (NY): 516.364.8400

Charter Communications (CT): 800.827.8288

Time Warner (New York State): 888.683.1000

Time Warner (NY City): 212.358.0900

You can also fill out this form or visit www.iwantmynflnetwork.com for more information.

May you and your families have a very Happy Thanksgiving, enjoying family, good friends, good food & some good football!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Travel Tuesdays

Now that the weather outside is officially cold, dark, and just not very fun, I thought it would be a perfect week to dream of some incredible tropical destinations. Unfortunately, there is a high price tag that comes with such private and secluded paradise. Here are four of the world's most expensive luxury resorts. Wow.

Necker Island
British Virgin Islands
$30,000 per night

Billionaire Richard Branson purchased this private island in 1982 and transformed it into a vacation destination for his family, building four Balinese-style private villas and cultivating lush gardens. When the Bransons aren't there, they rent it out: The rate starts at $30,000 per night for up to 26 people, and it includes all meals and drinks, wireless Internet access, laundry and activities like windsurfing, kite-surfing, sailing and speed-boating.

The Rania Experience
The Maldives
$9,500 per night

The Rania Experience, an exclusive-use resort in the Maldives, is located on a seven-acre island in the Indian Ocean. The island's entertainment pavilion features a home theater and programmed Apple iPods. Use of an 86-foot yacht is included in the room rate, as are a private chef, unlimited spa treatments, diving courses, big game fishing and local island cruises. Rania accommodates nine; room rates start at $9,500 per night for the first couple and $500 per night for each additional guest.

The Villa at Sandy Lane
Barbados
$8,000 per night

Built in 1961 on the site of an old sugar plantation, Sandy Lane is one of the Caribbean's poshest resorts. Highlights include the Romanesque spa and the 18-hole golf course. Room rates at the 7,300-square-foot villa, which is adjacent to the hotel and has five spacious bedrooms and marble floors, start at $8,000 per night and rocket up to $25,000 during high season.

Altamer
Anguilla
$4,714 per night

The African Sapphire villa at Altamer resort goes for $80,000 per week during high season, with a two-week minimum. The villa is 14,000 square feet, with 21-foot windows, a home theater, private pool, several hot tubs and eight bedrooms. For bargain prices, visit during the summer, when rates start at $33,000 per week.

Tournament of Champions

On Friday morning I went down to Orlando to help with the NFL's Flag Football National Tournament. It was a busy weekend, but an awesome time, and the kids had a lot of fun. If there is one thing that the NFL knows how to do, it is how to put on a great event.

We stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, which offers resort accomodations with a rustic feel and is a pretty neat place. I couldn't see any animals from my room, but we didn't really spend much time at the hotel. We arrived on Friday, spent the day checking in teams at one of the other Disney hotels, and then organized the kids on buses for a welcome reception at Pleasure Island.

Saturday was the big day. Over 200 kids participated in the flag football national Tournament of Champions held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. Boomer Esiason, the official spokesman for NFL Flag, presided over the day's events. The tournament was a great success and will be airing soon on the NFL Network.

We even managed to catch the end of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, then headed over to the Grand Floridian for an excellent dinner at Citricos.

I spent most of Sunday delayed in the Orlando airport, charging my phone at Outback Steakhouse and watching some of the early afternoon games.

However, I was on the plane flying back to New York and missed seeing Donovan McNabb injure his knee, bringing his season, and probably my best fantasy season in history, to an end.

The weather was a little bit cold for Florida, but the sun was out the whole time. Unfortunately, I did not see much of the Animal Kingdom's pool!

Dance Anyway

www.brianawalker.com

While checking out the web site of my favorite kickboxing program, www.turbokick.com, I happened to notice an upcoming Turbo Kick event featuring a special book signing with Briana Walker. I clicked on the link and came across this very special and inspiring young woman.

On a bright Sunday afternoon in California, Briana Walker was driving on the 55 Freeway when she fainted at the wheel of her black Honda Accord, hitting the cement median at seventy-five miles per hour. A young, aspiring dancer, just 23 years old at the time of the accident, Briana was determined to create an amazing life in spite of her new circumstances.

Despite being in a wheelchair, Briana enjoys skydiving, surfing, wakeboarding, competing in marathons and triathlons, bungee jumping, and most of all, dancing. Briana learned to transform her wheelchair into a dance prop, and helped create one of the first ever wheelchair hip hop dance teams.

With the love and support of family, friends, and a deep faith in God, Briana faced her new circumstances with courage, healthy rebellion, and an unstoppable love for adventure. Speaking to groups all over the country, Briana Walker shares her contagious energy and inspiring courage, teaching that that no matter what life throws at you, you must choose to dance anyway.

There is also a great article in the OC Register about Briana and an organization called Wheels2Water which helps people with spinal cord injuries out of their wheelchairs and into the ocean riding waves. Pretty incredible stuff.

Travel Tuesdays

New York City in November is not the most pleasant place to be right now. The weather lately has been wet, rainy, windy, and pretty much just miserable. So I am introducing my new weekly Travel Tuesday feature to help get us through the winter! Forbes Traveler is one of my favorite luxury travel sites, and I love looking at their "Inspirations" section for trip ideas. From a listing of the most luxurious spas in the world to some of the world's most expensive private islands, I'm not quite sure who can afford to visit all of these destinations, but there is certainly something for everyone.

A few weeks ago, Forbes came out with their Forbes Traveler 400, a list of the world's top 400 hotels and resorts. There are way too many to choose from, but I picked ten that caught my eye. Happy Travels! (Or at least some good daydreams!)

The World's Very Best Hotels & Resorts

Auberge du Soleil
Napa Valley
California

When it opened more than two decades ago, Auberge du Soleil helped launch the wine country's luxury revolution with its Mediterranean-style rooms, suites and private maisons spread over 33 acres of Tuscan-like hillside 90 minutes north of San Francisco. The Auberge began as a Provençal-style restaurant with prime vineyard views and an equally eye-catching menu. Eventually, terra-cotta-colored rooms and annexes were added, as was the grand tiled pool shrouded in olive trees, and more recently a sculpture gallery with 110 earthen pieces -- all positioned to maximize the surrounding vineyards and redwoods. Auberge du Soleil means "Inn of the Sun" in French, and this now trailblazing retreat continues to shine bright despite a plethora of ambitious upstarts.

Curtain Bluff
Antigua

One of the pioneers of Caribbean pampering, Curtain Bluff has been around since the days when Kennedy was president, Elvis was king and The Beverly Hillbillies ruled the airwaves. Yet this upscale all-inclusive seems as fresh today as in 1962, when it was the only thing on Antigua's southwest coast. There still aren't very many neighbors, the seclusion assured by Curtain Bluff's location on a private peninsula. True to its name, the resort sprawls like a great muslin cloth along a golden beach and the adjoining rocky heights. Longtime owner Howard Hulford works hard to cultivate a chummy atmosphere for guests, partly by inviting them to his bluff-top home for a weekly cocktail fling. Hulford is also proud of the resort's copious cigar selection and a wine reserve that runs 25,000 bottles strong -- best cellar in the entire region.

Hotel Cipriani
Venice
Italy

To walk a few steps from Piazza San Marco, pick up a telephone and summon a gleaming teak boat to ferry you across the lagoon, away from the crowds, and back to your hotel standing on its own island is an exquisite experience. In a city that is awash with luxury, the Cipriani sets itself apart thanks to its location, its commitment to old-school indulgence and its illustrious history. Since it opened in 1958, when la dolce vita was at its most dolce, it has been one of the world's great hotels, and it's lost none of its luster over the years, imbuing the summer months (it's open only April to October) with opulence and luxury.

Caneel Bay
St. John
U.S. Virgin Islands

Caneel Bay has the manners of a well-bred country club, yet with a rustic soul and, of course, Caribbean breezes. Spread over some 170 acres folded into the protected grounds of the 5,000-acre Virgin Islands National Park, this Laurance Rockefeller legacy began its life offering luxury camping. That green mentality continues today, its buildings blending into the park landscape, with no phones or TVs in the rooms; the underlying philosophy is a complete disconnect from the jangle of urban life. Assisting in that effort are the resort’s seven separate beaches.

Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi
Italy

Set on the coastal road just ten minutes from the center of Amalfi, the Hotel Santa Caterina's location and sensibility feel happily removed from the tourist fray of the charming but often overcrowded resort town. Endowed with sweeping views of the Mediterranean Sea and perfumed by lemons and oranges from its terraced citrus groves, the hotel exudes an airy, classic chic and the dignity that comes of being family-run since it opened a century ago. Livery-wearing attendants have welcomed the likes of Meryl Streep and Brad Pitt in the bougainvillea-filled circular driveway.

Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort
County Limerick
Ireland

On the banks of the River Maigue, this American-owned imposing Tudor Gothic mansion was home for the earls of Dunraven; the atmosphere still feels familial, albeit a family long on history and wealth. The iconic property maintains the 19th century's fascination with the medieval, with stone arches, heavy wood and decorated ceilings; the centerpiece is the "Minstrels Gallery," a 132-feet-long room (Ireland's second largest). Outside, the 840 acres provide plenty of distraction, especially in the beautiful huge gardens and the little namesake village nearby, one of Ireland's most picturesque. Sights like the Ring of Kerry and the Cliffs of Moher are close enough for day trips.

one&only Palmilla
San Jose del Cabo
Mexico

Since its opening in 1956, when it was reachable only by private plane, Palmilla has been the grandam of Los Cabos. In recent years, newer five-star resorts like Las Ventanas and Esperanza began luring away its exclusive clientele, but then One & Only bought the property and spent $90 million on renovations and additions, reopening in 2004 with a big splash hosting John Travolta's 50th birthday party. People who feared the resort had been destroyed were pleased to find that its bones remained intact. However, the atmosphere is considerably glitzier than the understated elegance of the Palmilla of old, with a new celebrity-chef restaurant, flashy uniforms, butlers and suites that would pass muster in Dubai.

Sooke Harbour House
Vancouver Island
British Columbia

Serving sublime organic Pacific Northwest cuisine and holding numerous wine awards, Sinclair and Frederique Philips' Sooke Harbour House, a 45-minute drive southwest of Victoria on Vancouver Island, is better known for its food than its accommodation. But the charming white clapboard inn, on a quiet residential street with windswept gardens facing the beach and ocean, has a cult following among discerning weekenders who come for the fresh sea air, rural peace and quiet and beautiful seaview rooms.

Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest
Budapest
Hungary

Palace, indeed: This Art Nouveau jewel is located so centrally that you could imagine the famous Chain Bridge over the Danube was installed just to lead up to its door. Originally built in 1904, the building was fully refurbished and reopened as a Four Seasons in 2003, bringing life back to a decrepit building caked with soot. Today, the facade is a gleaming white, and the lobby is adorned with decorative tiling, gorgeous stained glass and wrought-iron gates bearing images of peacocks. By preserving and emphasizing historical details (Art Nouveau corridor carpets, for instance), the hotel retained its essential Hungarian character without making the place feel like a museum piece.

Four Seasons Resort Lana'i, Manele Bay
Lanai
Hawaii

Set on high lava bluffs along Lanai’s dry and hot southern coast, this Four Seasons overlooks dolphin-popular Hulopoe Beach (a five-minute walk away) and feels a million miles from everything. That’s not surprising, of course, since Lanai is practically a private island to itself, with only 30 miles of paved road and no traffic signals. There is another Four Seasons here (taken over from Castle & Cooke Resorts), but as the other is the English-style Lodge at Koele, in the island’s interior, this is your best waterfront option. With a large beach and a Jack Nicklaus oceanfront golf course (and since tiny Lanai is not built for extensive sightseeing), the emphasis is on totally unplugging.

Glorious Weekend for Borat

'Borat' Banks $29M, Keeps Top Movie Spot
Sunday, November 12

A make-believe son of the glorious nation of Kazakhstan continues to rule the American box office. Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" took in $29 million to remain the No. 1 movie for a second straight weekend, distributor 20th Century Fox said Sunday. "Borat" raised its 10-day total to $67.8 million.

Crudely funny and raucously satiric, "Borat" was a surprise winner at the box office with a $26.5 million opening weekend, even though it played in only 837 theaters, fewer than one-fourth the number of cinemas for "The Santa Clause 3" and "Flushed Away."

Some box-office analysts had questioned whether 20th Century Fox missed the boat by launching "Borat" in so few theaters, saying the movie could have rung up millions more on opening weekend if it had gone wider.

But Snyder said the buzz from the movie's huge debut proved a great prelude to wider release in its second weekend, when it expanded to 2,566 theaters.

"When a picture takes off like this, you can do it any way you want and you can't screw it up, quite honestly, when a picture becomes a part of the culture like this," Snyder said.

Cardinals Honor Tillman

The Arizona Cardinals will induct the late Pat Tillman into their Ring of Honor this Sunday. As most Americans know, Pat Tillman gave up a multimillion dollar NFL contract with the Cardinals to join the Army shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation. Tillman, who would have turned 30 last Monday, was tragically killed by friendly fire more than two years ago while serving in Afghanistan. The incident remains under investigation by the Army.

Tillman was drafted in the seventh round in 1998 out of Arizona State University where he was voted Pac-10 defensive player of the year. He started for three years as strong safety for the Cardinals.

Tillman will become the 11th individual inducted into the team's "Ring of Honor" during a halftime ceremony at Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys at University of Phoenix Stadium.

"We honor a lot of individuals for what they accomplished on the field," Cardinals spokesman Mark Dalton said. "But what he did away from the field, displaying his conviction and principles and what he stood for, is what you'd hope every member of the organization would stand for."

Prior to Sunday’s kickoff, a private ceremony will be held to dedicate the outdoor pedestrian walkway surrounding the stadium, which is known as the Pat Tillman Freedom Plaza. The memorial includes a large white bronze sculpture of Tillman on the eastern side and a circular reflection pond on its western side.

The sculpture is approximately eight-feet tall, weighs over 500 pounds, and took nearly nine months to complete. After an extensive search, the Cardinals selected artists Omri Amrany and Gary Tillery to create the sculpture. Serving as a backdrop to the sculpture is a nine-foot tall curved wall made of black concrete that measures 42 feet across, symbolic of Tillman’s jersey number at Arizona State.

The brimming pool of water on the western side consists of a large 60-foot circular pond made of black concrete and stainless steel. Intended to create a pool of tranquility, it has a surface area of 2,300 square feet. To the west of the memorial is a grove of 40 Oak trees that symbolizes the jersey number Tillman wore as an Arizona Cardinal and the entire area is surrounded by a grove of Ash and Oak trees.

The Cardinals have already retired Tillman's #40 jersey.

You can watch the Cardinal's video tribute to Pat Tillman here.

Picture of the Day

Beth & Daniel recently shared the beautiful photographs from their wedding in August. I had to post this gorgeous one of Beth & her too cute nephew Nolan, soon to be a big brother!

Marathon Sunday

One of the best parts of fall in Manhattan comes every year on the first Sunday of November. I always look forward to the New York City Marathon. This year, my friend Laura was hosting a rooftop party right on the marathon route. It was a great setup with a perfect view of the pack of runners making their way up First Avenue, a stretch of the race considered by many to be the "emotional high" of the marathon. A band was playing on the street below and the sun was shining. The energy of the city and electrifying crowds is what makes the NYC Marathon such an incredible experience.

It is hard not to get inspired as you see every type of runner, from the highly conditioned, graceful and lean elite athletes with their toned physiques and almost elegant strides, to those with heartbreaking physical limitations using every ounce of strength and willpower they have to make it to the finish line, to people of every age and build, running for every type of cause, fight, and tribute, their names or motivations printed on their t-shirts, with all of New York City cheering them on.

The festivities started early. Of course, the big moment we were all waiting for was Lance Armstrong to make his appearance on First Avenue. As more and more runners passed by, I was starting to wonder if maybe we had missed him. But then, there he was, surrounded by a mini entourage, running at a good pace behind a slowly moving "LanceCam" filming his every stride. Our clear, unobstructed, direct view of the world's most famous cyclist and cancer survivor taking on his latest personal challenge will rank among my coolest moments in New York City.

Armstrong's build presented a stark contrast to the elite men's runners who preceded him on the course. The cycling champion's heavily muscled legs and powerful chest set him apart from the slender Kenyans who traditionally dominate the race. "You see those pencils and pens on the desk there," Armstrong said in a press conference, pointing to a table. "Their legs are about that size. That's when I got nervous."

For the first 10 miles, Armstrong was paced by the former marathon champions Alberto Salazar and Germán Silva. He appeared relaxed and cheerful, smiling at fans and talking with the small group of runners that surrounded him for much of the marathon.

Salazar said Armstrong, known for his exceptional physical endurance, "could talk much better than I could talk during the race. For him, cardiovascularly, it was very easy, but I knew the hard thing for him was going to be the pounding on his legs.'"

"I thought the marathon would be easier," Armstrong said afterward. "My shins started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. That's when I started to feel helpless. I thought, Uh-oh, maybe I should have trained a little harder for this. I think I'm in trouble. I never felt a point where I hit the wall, it was really a gradual progression of fatigue and soreness.

Despite the fact the muscles in his legs were cramping near the end of the race, Armstrong kept pushing along. "That LanceCam is humbling," he said. "At one point I wanted to stop and stretch but with the LanceCam on me, I thought that would be really embarrassing." His body seemed to tighten and showed signs of pain and fatigue in the final few miles. He started to fall off the pace required to break 3 hours before a final push allowed him to meet his personal goal.

His face twisted in pain, Armstrong slowed to an unsteady walk the last couple of steps, then bent to the ground immediately after crossing the finish line, his hands on his knees and his green shirt soaked with sweat.

Armstrong finished his first marathon just under his goal of 3 hours, with a time of 2:59:36, and placed 869th, with a pace of 6:51 a mile. "That was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I've ever done," said the 35-year-old Texan. "I didn't train sufficiently enough for this. I can tell you, 20 years of pro sports, endurance sports, from triathlons to cycling, all the Tours, even the worst days in the Tours, nothing was as hard as that, and nothing left me feeling the way I feel now in terms of just sheer fatigue and soreness."

After his news conference at the New York Athletic Club, he limped out of the room. "I'm a cripple," he said, needing a boost into a waiting van. "I wasn't kidding when I said that. I've never felt this bad, ever," he said. "My legs are killing me. My back doesn’t feel that great, either. I'm really suffering."

To be honest, I was shocked. If Lance Armstrong, world's most famous cyclist, seven time Tour de France champion, former triathlete, and cancer survivor, is calling the New York City Marathon the hardest thing he has ever done, I'm not sure what that does to my marathon ambitions. I think my legs are sore enough today just from running up & down the stairs to Laura's roofdeck!

New York, New York

Whether you are running your first one or your fifth, cheering the runners as they go by on First Avenue or telling yourself that next year you ARE going to be out there with them, if you are in New York City this Sunday, it is pretty much impossible to avoid the ING NYC Marathon.

The 26.2-mile course covers five bridges and five boroughs. More than 90,000 runners applied. On Sunday, some 37,000 runners fortunate enough to gain entry spots in one of the world's greatest races, will gather in Staten Island for the start of the New York City Marathon.

This is one of the best events in the city and First Avenue is the place to be. As runners have told me and the 2006 Spectator Guide describes, the most electric moment of the marathon prior to the finish comes on the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge, when the competitors come off the ramp and are welcomed by the boisterous, cheering throngs that line First Avenue. Race veterans describe hearing the roar of the crowd from the bridge before even actually seeing the fans, then riding an adrenaline boost all the way up First Avenue, which is packed with energetic crowds estimated at nearly one million people.

This year promises to be as exciting as ever, with participants including cyclist and seven straight Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, supermodel and Buffalo native Kim Alexis, famed chef Bobby Flay, and Olympic gold medal gymnast Shannon Miller.

The NYC Marathon is directed by Mary Wittenberg, the first female race director of a major international marathon, the president and CEO of the New York Road Runners, and a fellow Mount Mercy alumni.

About 3,000 runners will also be racing to raise $10 million for charity. Last year, almost 1,000 runners raised $4 million for the marathon's two official philanthropic organizations, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Fred's Team and the NYRRC's Team for Kids, whose goal is to get all New York City children running as part of their school day. The money generated this year is expected to be almost triple the amount in 2005.

Best of luck to all the participants, and if you can't join us for the festivities on First Avenue, you can apparently still track Lance Armstrong or your favorite runner on your computer!

Quote of the Day

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do." -- Helen Keller