You're walking up the steps toward the street from the subway station when you hear the sound of cheering.

It's faint at first, but as you move up the stairs it gets louder.

At the top there are people lining the subway exit, standing behind metal barricades on either of the stairs and screaming their lungs out as you approach.

It takes you a minute to realize they're cheering for you.

As you step onto the sidewalk, you see a banner stretching across the two barricades. It's orange and blue with white lettering that reads, "The ING New York City Marathon: ING Runner's Nation Finish."

A finish-line tape is stretched out beneath the banner, waiting for the next person to break through.

Just beyond the banner is an arch made of orange balloons.

You wave at the cheering spectators as you pass under the banner and through the balloons. Someone drapes a medal around your neck.

You didn't really finish a marathon, of course. It's entirely a staged event. Yet you can't help feeling what marathon runners must feel as they cross a finish line.

The entire thing was a fun alternative media stunt sponsored by ING Runner's Nation, the running-focused arm of ING, the financial company, which sponsors the annual ING New York City Marathon.

ING Runner's Nation wanted to raise awareness about its interactive online community, which includes a Facebook page and a Twitter feed where runners can share their training tips, triumphs and frustrations.

Working with michael alan group, a New York marketing and production company, ING Runner's Nation decided to recreate the end of the marathon at subway stops around Manhattan.

On the morning of Nov. 3, three days before the real New York Marathon, a team of 30 actors gathered outside the Columbus Circle subway stop to cheer on the commuters coming up the stairs.

Each commuter received a special medal and other ING Runner's Nation branded handouts.

The next morning, smaller "finish lines" with about 10 people apiece popped up at 42nd and Broadway, 23rd and Park, and 23rd and 6th.

The stunt worked because it staged a very recognizable scene, the marathon finish line, at a time when excitement over the marathon was at its peak.

And of course it commanded people's attention. You couldn't be on the same block and not be aware of the stunt, with its crowds, balloons and noise.

Hundreds of people crossed the finish lines. And of course many of them got into the spirit of things once they caught on to the stunt, pumping their fists and thumping their chests.

"The response from the subway riders was overwhelmingly positive," says Adam Ragsdale, sponsorship manager at ING U.S.

"Here are a few examples of actual comments:    

"'Only in New York ,baby! Only in New York!'"

"'I think it's fun! I have run a lot of marathons and would be stoked to come out of the subway to a finish line with cheering fans!'"

And ING Runner's Nation improved its social media following. As of yesterday, ING Runner's Nation's Facebook had 7,770 fans and the Twitter feed had 6,682 followers.