The Fifth Avenue Mile is an annual NYRR event that has run since 1981 and 5182 runners were out to test themselves over the one-mile distance.
It was a cloudless, cool morning on the first day of autumn and we had a very mild wind at our backs.
The course is a straight run down Fifth Avenue from just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 80th Street to Grand Army Plaza at 60th Street.
A very unusual race distance.... unless you're a track athlete I guess.
As well as the elite races all the other runners go off in age groups. So when we got there we watched the males 30-39 running down and I noticed how many there were and especially how closely packed it was at the start. I only had time for a 10 minute jog with a few strides beforehand as I deemed it more important to be lined up further forward in the coral waiting to start rather than doing a longer warm-up. The other thing I thought when the 30-39 age group was running past was, are you sure that's not MY age group?!
There were 579 men in the 40-49 age coral but the results were split 40-44 and 45-49.
So I spent around 20 minutes standing in the sun waiting as the women up ahead ran then we were pulled forward to the line. The nearby DJ played age appropriate music as we waited, tailoring it to each age group as the ages ranged from around 12 to 94!!
Once we started it was difficult to know how hard to push. I didn't see the supposed 1/4 mile marks probably as the first half I spent picking a route among the runners that had gone off too hard. The other thing I remember is that my mouth and lips were so dry!
It was strange, I looked at my watch and seen 3 minutes-something so I picked the pace up thinking that's less than 3 minutes of running to go. Then I looked up and could see the finish banner but objects on the horizon can be further away than you think and I was trying to hold a little back for a good finish. Then all of a sudden it was within touching distance so I went all out and was passing runners, finishing strong, then it was over!!
I had no idea what time I'd do but having done a final mile 5.59 back in May's 5K I was thinking anything below that was the aim. As I approached the clock and seen 5.20 I pushed on and finished in 5.23 for 46th place in the age group (375th out of 5182).
Kind of immediately I wished I could do it again, part novelty factor but more that I thought I could pace it better. After walking round the corner to meet Heather it felt like you had barely done anything! It had all the trappings of a regular race, the early mornings, the travel, the nerves, etc without the feeling you had pushed yourself hard for a certain length of time... I burned about 99 calories.
It was a cloudless, cool morning on the first day of autumn and we had a very mild wind at our backs.
The course is a straight run down Fifth Avenue from just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 80th Street to Grand Army Plaza at 60th Street.
A very unusual race distance.... unless you're a track athlete I guess.
As well as the elite races all the other runners go off in age groups. So when we got there we watched the males 30-39 running down and I noticed how many there were and especially how closely packed it was at the start. I only had time for a 10 minute jog with a few strides beforehand as I deemed it more important to be lined up further forward in the coral waiting to start rather than doing a longer warm-up. The other thing I thought when the 30-39 age group was running past was, are you sure that's not MY age group?!
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| NYRR |
There were 579 men in the 40-49 age coral but the results were split 40-44 and 45-49.
So I spent around 20 minutes standing in the sun waiting as the women up ahead ran then we were pulled forward to the line. The nearby DJ played age appropriate music as we waited, tailoring it to each age group as the ages ranged from around 12 to 94!!
Once we started it was difficult to know how hard to push. I didn't see the supposed 1/4 mile marks probably as the first half I spent picking a route among the runners that had gone off too hard. The other thing I remember is that my mouth and lips were so dry!
It was strange, I looked at my watch and seen 3 minutes-something so I picked the pace up thinking that's less than 3 minutes of running to go. Then I looked up and could see the finish banner but objects on the horizon can be further away than you think and I was trying to hold a little back for a good finish. Then all of a sudden it was within touching distance so I went all out and was passing runners, finishing strong, then it was over!!
I had no idea what time I'd do but having done a final mile 5.59 back in May's 5K I was thinking anything below that was the aim. As I approached the clock and seen 5.20 I pushed on and finished in 5.23 for 46th place in the age group (375th out of 5182).
Kind of immediately I wished I could do it again, part novelty factor but more that I thought I could pace it better. After walking round the corner to meet Heather it felt like you had barely done anything! It had all the trappings of a regular race, the early mornings, the travel, the nerves, etc without the feeling you had pushed yourself hard for a certain length of time... I burned about 99 calories.
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