As I've mentioned before, without having a car, a lot of things you do here such as entering races depends on the race location and how easy it is to get there especially for an early weekend start.
NYC Runs is an alternative local event organiser to the NYRR's and they had a 5K & 10K on Saturday morning on Roosevelt Island, this narrow strip in the East River between Manhattan and Queens.
The only subway stop there is 'our' F train and with the 10K starting at 9.30am I thought it would be easy to get to. Of course, the MTA's year-round weekend subway work is always a surprise when you look it up a couple of days before to find the F train stops around that area are not in use over the weekend. The other pedestrian way to get to the island is by tram! But timing that right and thinking there might be a long line of runners put me off that option.
In the end, my new fairly regular weekday schedule of getting up at 6.30am helped as I comfortably left the house at 7am and following the MTA website intended to take the F a couple of stops past Roosevelt Island, switch platform and come back the way, where it stopped on the island heading into Manhattan.
This worked fine, despite it running on the M line and not the C line like the website suggested and so the conductor told everyone to switch at another station, completely different to the website instructions but it actually worked out better for me. But you can see how every New Yorker hates the MTA and their communcations.
I got there super early (read that as on time) around 8.40am and had plenty time to scope out the island.
I had briefly visited once before to a friend of a friends house but not walked around outside anywhere. It has a strange feel, like a community all of its own. Albeit a community with a scary abandoned smallpox hospital at one end of the island that is.
Walked over to the water and got a couple of photos while I waited.
There was a NYRR's 10K in Central Park at the same time, with 8000 runners and this combined with the location meant the field was going to be nice and small. I watched the 5K leave the start line at 9am and there was a little over 200 runners in that.
Then they informed us 10 minutes before the start of the 10K that because of the train situation the start was going to be delayed 15 minutes. So annoying, you could see it was going to be like that a few days before so I don't know why it was a surprise to people? You go somewhere here at the weekend, you check the trains!
In the end it was 20 minutes late in starting. Never a good thing because you've timed everything for a particular start time plus the cloudy start to the day was ending and turning into bright sunshine.
I looked around and there didn't look to be many runners lining up. When they called us forward to the line, I was reluctantly at the front, I've never done a race where nobody wanted to be right at the front. When the horn went, I was second only to a young guy in long shorts and wearing headphones. Something told me the fast pace he went off at wouldn't last. I felt really weird to be in second place for the first half mile although I could hear some guys behind me.
The course had a little stretch at the start near the bottom of the island where you rounded a cone before heading back for two laps of the island.
Despite following a race marshall wearing a fluorescent yellow tee riding a stand up elliptical bike and despite there being an additional marshall behind the turning cone the leader turned left, got shouted at and came back, then headed straight on to the dead end. As I rounded the cone and headed back people shouted at him and then he came sprinting past me. I could hear someone behind me say that's why you don't wear headphones in a race.
Around mile 1 I was joined by two other runners and I settled just behind them. A taller guy came past us and slowly pulled away from our mini group. The original leader was passed by us all never to be seen again.
I found it funny to be in a 10K race where it was just like watching a road race develop on tv. You have this little group of runners all feeling each other out. I'm used to either doing races where I'm maybe beside others or trying to catch others but amongst hundreds or thousands of runners. Or, like last week, just pretty much on my own.
One guy broke away for a few miles and me and the other guy paced each other side by side for 3-4 miles before we caught him just after mile 5. The path on the far side was quite narrow so I took to the grass and tried to go for a long sprint to the finish with around a mile to go. I thought I just have to beat one to be in the top 3, ha ha.
Once I hit the wider concrete path, you could see the finish up ahead so I kicked again if you can call it that, more of a strong finish rather than any actual sprinting. I was actually reeling in the leader but he was too far away. I came in second and immediately as I crossed the line and started walking I felt the urge to throw up. I did the throwing up motion twice, felt me mouth fill with saliva but then it stopped and I managed to feel normal again.
I think the heat, it was around 22 degrees for the last half of the race, the sprint for home (maximum heart rate of 209) and the accidental sip of gatorade instead of water with a mile to go contributed to that.
I chatted with the other three guys and the leader said he was totally waiting for us to breeze past at any moment. The guy I ran alongside for most of the race said it was good pacing and how he like the little events like this. Turned out to be only 136 finishers.
I was 13 secs behind the winner in 39:57, 3 secs ahead of 3rd place. It felt like it might be a little faster, but again my quads were a bit tight from the previous nights soccer. And the course was a little exposed to the wind down one side of the island. Although anything under 40mins is good enough for me though.
Then in a slightly tourist style I took the tram back over to Manhattan. You just use your regular Metrocard and it only takes 5 minutes, then a little walk to get the train home.
The NYRR 10K in Central Park had some elite runners due to the $25,000 cash prize on offer from the UAE sponsor and this produced an amazing winning time of 27:39, the top 10 all under 30 minutes! My time would've placed around 150th place, more ahead of me there than did the entire Roosevelt Island race, ha ha.
But choosing to run somewhere different had a nice day out feel to it and it gave me the experience of running a race right at the front AND I came home with a little glass plaque with a Mother's Day wonder woman on it!
NYC Runs is an alternative local event organiser to the NYRR's and they had a 5K & 10K on Saturday morning on Roosevelt Island, this narrow strip in the East River between Manhattan and Queens.
The only subway stop there is 'our' F train and with the 10K starting at 9.30am I thought it would be easy to get to. Of course, the MTA's year-round weekend subway work is always a surprise when you look it up a couple of days before to find the F train stops around that area are not in use over the weekend. The other pedestrian way to get to the island is by tram! But timing that right and thinking there might be a long line of runners put me off that option.
In the end, my new fairly regular weekday schedule of getting up at 6.30am helped as I comfortably left the house at 7am and following the MTA website intended to take the F a couple of stops past Roosevelt Island, switch platform and come back the way, where it stopped on the island heading into Manhattan.
This worked fine, despite it running on the M line and not the C line like the website suggested and so the conductor told everyone to switch at another station, completely different to the website instructions but it actually worked out better for me. But you can see how every New Yorker hates the MTA and their communcations.
I got there super early (read that as on time) around 8.40am and had plenty time to scope out the island.
 |
| Coolest portaloo view ever |
I had briefly visited once before to a friend of a friends house but not walked around outside anywhere. It has a strange feel, like a community all of its own. Albeit a community with a scary abandoned smallpox hospital at one end of the island that is.
Walked over to the water and got a couple of photos while I waited.
 |
| Tram! |
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| 59th St / Queensboro Brdge |
There was a NYRR's 10K in Central Park at the same time, with 8000 runners and this combined with the location meant the field was going to be nice and small. I watched the 5K leave the start line at 9am and there was a little over 200 runners in that.
Then they informed us 10 minutes before the start of the 10K that because of the train situation the start was going to be delayed 15 minutes. So annoying, you could see it was going to be like that a few days before so I don't know why it was a surprise to people? You go somewhere here at the weekend, you check the trains!
In the end it was 20 minutes late in starting. Never a good thing because you've timed everything for a particular start time plus the cloudy start to the day was ending and turning into bright sunshine.
I looked around and there didn't look to be many runners lining up. When they called us forward to the line, I was reluctantly at the front, I've never done a race where nobody wanted to be right at the front. When the horn went, I was second only to a young guy in long shorts and wearing headphones. Something told me the fast pace he went off at wouldn't last. I felt really weird to be in second place for the first half mile although I could hear some guys behind me.
The course had a little stretch at the start near the bottom of the island where you rounded a cone before heading back for two laps of the island.
Despite following a race marshall wearing a fluorescent yellow tee riding a stand up elliptical bike and despite there being an additional marshall behind the turning cone the leader turned left, got shouted at and came back, then headed straight on to the dead end. As I rounded the cone and headed back people shouted at him and then he came sprinting past me. I could hear someone behind me say that's why you don't wear headphones in a race.
Around mile 1 I was joined by two other runners and I settled just behind them. A taller guy came past us and slowly pulled away from our mini group. The original leader was passed by us all never to be seen again.
I found it funny to be in a 10K race where it was just like watching a road race develop on tv. You have this little group of runners all feeling each other out. I'm used to either doing races where I'm maybe beside others or trying to catch others but amongst hundreds or thousands of runners. Or, like last week, just pretty much on my own.
One guy broke away for a few miles and me and the other guy paced each other side by side for 3-4 miles before we caught him just after mile 5. The path on the far side was quite narrow so I took to the grass and tried to go for a long sprint to the finish with around a mile to go. I thought I just have to beat one to be in the top 3, ha ha.
Once I hit the wider concrete path, you could see the finish up ahead so I kicked again if you can call it that, more of a strong finish rather than any actual sprinting. I was actually reeling in the leader but he was too far away. I came in second and immediately as I crossed the line and started walking I felt the urge to throw up. I did the throwing up motion twice, felt me mouth fill with saliva but then it stopped and I managed to feel normal again.
I think the heat, it was around 22 degrees for the last half of the race, the sprint for home (maximum heart rate of 209) and the accidental sip of gatorade instead of water with a mile to go contributed to that.
I chatted with the other three guys and the leader said he was totally waiting for us to breeze past at any moment. The guy I ran alongside for most of the race said it was good pacing and how he like the little events like this. Turned out to be only 136 finishers.
I was 13 secs behind the winner in 39:57, 3 secs ahead of 3rd place. It felt like it might be a little faster, but again my quads were a bit tight from the previous nights soccer. And the course was a little exposed to the wind down one side of the island. Although anything under 40mins is good enough for me though.
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| Ta-da!! |
Then in a slightly tourist style I took the tram back over to Manhattan. You just use your regular Metrocard and it only takes 5 minutes, then a little walk to get the train home.
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| The Jason Bourne roof top jump on the back left ha ha |
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| Rear window view |
But choosing to run somewhere different had a nice day out feel to it and it gave me the experience of running a race right at the front AND I came home with a little glass plaque with a Mother's Day wonder woman on it!
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