Yankee Stadium

Today was the day. I woke up early, and with Jonathan and Lauren, headed to Yankee Stadium. As soon as we stepped off the train it was evident something special was going on here. People all around, jogging, stretching, and laughing along the walkways. Music was blaring from the stadium. To top it all off, it was a beautiful, sun-filled day in the Bronx.

My excitement grew as I walked up to the stadium and found the registration line. It faded in about 10 minutes after that same registration line had not moved one bit. I started to worry that I was going to miss my start time. Luckily, a take charge kind of lady, working as a security guard, allowed the early start times to skip over part of the line! I made it in just in time.

Donning my Mets shirt inside Yankee Stadium was interesting. Some people gave me dirty looks, a lot of people pointed, and several people laughed. One man in particular asked me how I could do it. How could I wear a Mets t-shirt to Yankee Stadium? He said he had seen me and another lady wearing a Red Sox shirt. At least I wasn't her!

Once the run started, it flew by! The concrete concourses made for a quick run. I was being careful to watch my step and not run into the mass crowd of people, but at the same time, I had a hard time taking my eyes off of the field.

The race went through Monument Park, passing the memories of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and the likes. Even for a non-Yankee fan like myself, that was pretty amazing! Striaght from there, onto the field! Two laps around the entire field. People were stopping to take photos, but not this girl. I am more of a get a good time type of person.

A cool addition to this was that they had camera men lining the field, putting us runners onto the jumbotron. Jon and Lauren said that everytime I neared the camera, they switched to another one. They must have saw the shirt and decided it wasn't in their best interest to put me on the screen. I only got on once. The last time I was on the jumbotron was at a Syracuse University basketball game, when Jeff and I miraculously won the "move of the game." We were escorted by Otto the Orange from the upper deck to court side seats.

Back to the run. From the field, we had to run up some 250 stairs and run laps around each level of the field. I flew up those stairs, but not as fast as I blazed down the ramps on my way to the finish line.

The run was an overall success. I can now think of no better way to see a baseball stadium. The inside, the outside, stepping foot on the field. There aren't very many opportunities to do that kind of thing. The only thing I found odd, the stadium, with no vendors or anything, had an overpowering smell of hotdogs and ketchup.