CBS2's Kristine Johnson Prepares For Marathon Do-Over After Harrowing Experience Last Year
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Months of grueling training has come down to the TCS New York City Marathon coming up Sunday.
It is a test of endurance and determination, and CBS2's Kristine Johnson also learned personally last year that it does not always go as planned – no matter how much your prepare.
On Sunday, 50,000 runners will begin the race on Staten Island, and run 26.2 miles – through Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan.
When CBS2's Johnson finished the race last year, she talked about it, saying the winds had been "blowing us… backwards and forwards."
Doing the interview was frankly the last thing Johnson wanted to do. She was furious the race did not go her way, and severely dehydrated, disoriented, and unstable.
"When I saw Kristine coming through Harlem, I could tell something was wrong immediately," said Johnson's husband, Steve Poulin. "She was multiple shades paler than she typically is, and her eyes really weren't there. They were sort of rolling in her head."
A kind race volunteer ran next to Johnson for a bit. It was an all-out mental and physical struggle, as Johnson fought to stay alert and found herself ashamed she couldn't do better.
"I can't explain the emotional tug of war…. feeling the support of unconditional love from those closest to me but yet the sheer disappointment in myself," Johnson wrote on Instagram the day after the race.
Johnson wrote the post, along a photo of her medal acknowledging that she had finished, the day after the race.
"I wrote it sitting in my bed -- still very emotional; tears rolling down my face," Johnson said. "I still can't think of it today without getting emotional, but the response I received from people that know me, and mostly from people I've never met was just truly overwhelming. So I'm doing it again this year, hopefully with a better result."
The 2015 marathon will be Johnson's do-over. She has been doing endless laps in a local park, logging hundreds of miles, and sharing her journey on social media.
"I've learned there are no guarantees - but that's not what this is all about," Johnson said. "It's the amount of training. It's the amount of dedication. It's the purpose of seeing something through, and really, I think it's a metaphor for life."
Johnson said she was trying to relax this year, and take it all in without getting caught up in the race. But CBS2's Maurice DuBois said he saw a focus in Johnson like never before this year.
And CBS2's Lonnie Quinn expressed his pride in Johnson's achievements. He was at the finish line with Johnson, along with CBS2's Dana Tyler and Chris Wragge.
"Let me just tell you something – I have never been more proud of a colleague. I mean, she was gutting it out. She was gutting it out and she never quit," Quinn said.
Johnson added, "It was quite a feat, and friends, family, they get you through it."
