Everyone had a touch of jet lag but around 9ish Dave and I grabbed our running shoes and walked the few blocks up to Prospect park, a large park in central Brooklyn.

It was a beautiful sunny Autumn day, with squirrels racing around doing last minute shopping before winter. The park is really a smaller version of Central Park (I think they had the same designer), including a nice wide running path all the way around the park, so we completed a nice gentle 5km or so lap. If they are looking for a NYC parkrun location this would be a great option! The road was marked with mile/km markers at regular intervals so clearly a popular spot for fun runs. A couple of quite decent hills kept us honest, but we were soon done and headed back for bagels and coffee.

E was still asleep when we returned, and the first thing he asked for when he woke was to go to the Lego shop, so we geared up and set off for the subway, which was about a ten minute walk away. Conveniently there was only one train to take direct to our destination, and we were soon at Bryant park. From our last trip we remembered a good coffee location – Bluestone Lane – and grabbed our caffeine requirements here. Founded by some Melbourne people, it has decent coffee, and even Vegemite on toast if that’s your thing. Also, interestingly enough, the day before this cafe had gone cashless – you could only pay electronically.

After coffee we headed up sixth avenue to Rockefeller plaza, notable for its ice skating rink, gorgeous Art Deco architecture, and its Lego shop.

E’s eyes were wide open when we walked in, he didn’t know where to look first! He quickly decided which Lego he wanted, surprisingly not the biggest one in the shop (I was hoping he’d want the enormous Death Star Lego but it would have necessitated us buying another suitcase!).

Gripping his new purchase tightly, E was satisfied so we looked for more grown up pursuits. Deb wanted to see the top of the rock observation deck, so she queued up and Dave and I took E and set off to look for running shoes. Dave was concerned that people might think we were a gay couple with our child, so I suggested he let go of my hand and all would be fine.

Unfortunately the search for shoes was a bit of a disappointment. The asics shop had closed and its new replacement was yet to open (surely a planning snafu in marathon week!), and the other sports shops we checked out were limited. No matter.

After a quick but delicious Mexican dinner, Dave and I took the subway into Madison Square Garden for the Standup for Heroes event, a comedy gala raising money for injured veterans.

The lineup was impressive, in order: Jon Stewart, Jim Gaffigan, Louis CK, Jerry Seinfeld and Bruce Springsteen. The comedians were introduced by veterans and their families, which was a moving counterpoint to the humourous tone of the evening. All were very funny, with Jerry Seinfeld probably the standout, although honourable mention to Jon Stewart’s Twitter battle with Donald Trump.

Even Springsteen got in on the act, between songs he told dirty jokes.

Following the comedy and music there was an auction to raise money. This was where things got a bit crazy – people donating 150,000 there and then. Springsteen’s guitar was auctioned off for nearly 300,000 – this included him driving to your house in his ’67 Cadillac and driving you and three friends to the baseball, then buying you all the hotdogs you could eat. Impressive prize, sadly I didn’t have a spare quarter of a million lying around so the chance slipped through my fingers.

All in all the event would have raised millions, and was a great night out.