This weekend, I ran the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon.
I applied through the lottery for this race last year, and I didn’t get in. I did get into Brooklyn, and I had a blast there. I had lofty goals of hitting the 1:25 time qualifier for the NYC Marathon, but it wasn’t in the cards last year and I faded hard to a 1:27:54 finish.
With another year of solid running under my belt, I wanted to take another crack at running 1:25 at one of the NYRR half marathons. I ran Fred Lebow this January, but with the hills I didn’t really think that was going to work out – and it didn’t. It was a fun run through the park, though.
But when I got into this race through the lottery, I thought this would be my chance. Yes, the course is a little hillier than Brooklyn. But it’s not that bad, right?
Anyway, goals of notching a time qualifier for the NYC Marathon aside, I was excited to run this race. It’s a premier event right across the river from where I am in northern New Jersey. This year, over 28,000 people finished. And running over the bridge, through Midtown, and into Central Park sounded amazing.
My goals were to a) run 1:25 if possible, b) PR if not, and c) have fun.
Race Morning and Logistics
Originally, I planned on staying in the city for the weekend, but life had other plans. I had a work event Saturday morning, and I had to go with my wife to another event Sunday afternoon. So I canceled the hotel in midtown and decided to commute in on the morning of the race.
I mulled over a few different options, and I eventually decided to just drive in and park near a subway stop in downtown. It worked out better than I could have hoped.
I woke up about 4:45, used the bathroom, got dressed, and hit the road. I stopped at Dunkin’ around the corner from my house for coffee and a bagel. The girl at the drive through asked if I could wait five minutes, because the bagels weren’t out of the oven yet.
Sorry, no time! Took a coffee cake muffin instead, and I was off. Early on a Sunday, it was an easy 25 minutes from West Orange, through Jersey City, and into downtown via the Holland Tunnel. I drove a couple blocks to an Edison ParkFast lot near the Franklin Street station. I pulled in, and the attendant was asleep. He seemed surprised anyone was pulling into a lot so early on a Sunday …
In retrospect, I could easily have snagged some street parking. But I didn’t want to risk it. Now I know.
I walked around the corner to the subway stop, and I think I just missed a train. When I got in, the place was a ghost town and the next train was scheduled to be there in 15 minutes. I finished my coffee and patiently waited. Eventually, two other runners wandered in. When the train pulled up, it was packed with runners. It was such a weird juxtaposition – how empty and quiet the platform was and how full the the train was.
We crammed in, and it was a little over twenty minutes down to the start. There were a few other stops where people tried to cram in, and every time we all looked around thinking, “Are they going to fit?” Everybody did, but it got really tight at the end.
I had no bag to check, so I got off at the Brooklyn Museum. The mass of runners slowly filed up the stairs and out of the station. When I first stepped outside, the air felt cold compared to the heat of the subway. But I adjusted pretty quick, and it was quite comfortable. Just dark, foggy, and eerie.
I jogged a little bit to the security area, trying to get loosened up. It was around 6:15 or 6:20 – an hour before the start of my wave – when we got to security, and things moved quickly. I jumped on the bathroom line right away. That took a good 15 or 20 minutes, but I knew I had plenty of time. The lines were quickly growing behind me, so showing up when I did was probably the sweet spot between too early and too late.
Usually, I like to run a mile or two to warm up, but I didn’t have the chance this morning. There were a lot of folks slowly jogging up and down Classon Ave, and I jumped into the stream. I did an easy half mile or so before I hopped on the back of the pack of people waiting to get into the corrals when they opened.
Just after 6:50, they announced the corrals were open. We funneled through a choke point, and then everybody swarmed down Washington Ave. I was in Corral A – a good distance – so I jogged down to the corral. There were a lot of bathrooms in the corrals, so I picked the shortest line and waited there for one last pit stop.
Race Strategy and Goal
I came into this race thinking that 1:25 was possible – but a stretch. It took me a couple weeks to bounce back from Fred Lebow and get through some travel, but the last couple of weeks things have been looking up.
Last weekend, I had a great long run -16 miles, progressing down to 6:30 for the final mile. And Thursday, I did a short run with a few segments at marathon and half marathon pace, and everything felt pretty good.
The course has some hills early on in Brooklyn, followed by a straight segment along the FDR, and it ends with some small hills going into Central Park. Basically, my strategy was to get over the bridge roughly on pace – and then assess how likely the outcome was.
Leading up the race, the weather report was a bit worrisome, but it didn’t turn out too bad. It was definitely warmer than I’d prefer – in the 50’s – but not too hot. The humidity was worse, and it felt sticky with the fog. There was supposed to be a mild tailwind for most of the race. It could have been a better day, but it also could have been much worse.
I figured if I was on pace, or close to it, I could run 6:20-6:25/mi on the straight parts, make up a little time, and push on through the final hills. Easy peasy, right?
The Race
While I was in the corral waiting to use the bathroom one last time, they set off the wheelchair racers. A few minutes later, they announced the women’s professional field to some mild applause and sent them off.
I was done with the bathroom by 7:10, and I inched up towards the front of the corral. I could see the 1:25 pacer a few rows ahead. Maybe I could keep him in sight when the race started.
As we got closer to 7:20, they announced the men’s field. Conner Mantz got a serious roar of applause – at least up in Corral A. And then … we were off.
It was packed in the front of the corral, and we walked towards the start. Eventually, we were able to jog. I started my watch as I crossed the timing mat and picked up the pace.
Start to 5k: Over the Hills and Through the Woods
Right out the gate, it was a little crowded. But once we turned onto Flatbush Ave, things got a little better. I eased into what felt like a comfortable pace up the hill, and I gauged my effort off of the people around me. The 1:25 pacer was already gone – I lost him in the shuffle to the start – so I was on my own.
Shortly before the turnaround, I saw the lead car go by on the other side of the road. I was all the way to the right, so I couldn’t really see the elite men as they went by, but I could hear some cheers for them. At the top of the hill, I took a wide, slow turn – the road was wet – and started to push down the hill. The first mile was 6:41, a little slow, but I made up a little time on the rest of that decline.
Then, we turned to go up the longer hill through Prospect Park. It starts out pretty gentle, and I thought, “This isn’t so bad.” By the top, it was bad. On the way up, a guy ran by a woman on the side of the road who was holding a dog. I can only guess it was his partner and their dog. Because the dog tried to run with him … and he looked back at the woman, as if to say, “Where’s he going?!?”
Once things leveled out at Grand Army Plaza, I passed the second mile marker (6:45), and I knew we had a long downhill stretch coming. We all picked up the pace, flying down Flatbush Ave towards the bridge. It was a bit tight, with people dodging around looking for a lane. A young woman with a brightly colored top and two tight braids pulled in front of me. Her braids flicking up caught my eye, and she became an easily identifiable visual marker for the next few miles of whether I was gaining or losing ground on the field.
I picked up a good amount of speed on the downhill, splitting 6:18 for the third mile and 20:37 for the first 5k. A little off pace (~6:30/mi or 20:15/5k), but not bad.
5k to 10k: Up and Over the Brooklyn Bridge
After the 5k mark, the course flattened out a bit and I eased up on the pace. There were some decent crowds here in this part of Brooklyn, and we passed by some recognizable landmarks – like the Barclay Center and Junior’s.
I kept looking ahead, expecting to see a bridge looming ahead. But there was just fog. It was also a little disorienting when we turned towards the Brooklyn Bridge. I knew it was coming up, but I couldn’t mentally map exactly where we were. And then all of a sudden, it was there.
The entrance to the bridge was a bit narrow, and things got bottlenecked briefly. But once we were on the bridge, it was wide enough everyone could spread out. You couldn’t see a thing off the side of the bridge because of the fog. The incline was long, but gentle. At first, I was churning along at a good clip, and I passed a couple people. But I started to peter out towards the top.
Thankfully, we eventually crested the apex – and it was time to fly down the decline. We got off the bridge and looped around towards the FDR drive. It was a long, steep decline – and it really helped me catch my breath and get my legs underneath me. Around here, I noticed a young man in black shorts and a black top – another visual marker. The young woman with the bright top was in a group just ahead.
I made up some good time on that long decline. Mile 4 was 6:33, just slightly behind pace. Mile 5 – over the bridge – was slow (6:54). Mile 6 – coming off the bridge – was 6:21. The 5k split from 5k to 10k was 20:23. Closer to on pace, but not quite.
10k to 15k: Out Along FDR Drive
When I passed the 6 mile mark, I took note of my total time – 39:44. 39:00 would have been on pace, so I knew I had 45 seconds to make up.
Likely? No. But possible, if this flat stretch went well and I finished strong. So I set about grinding out the next few miles.
People complain about FDR Drive, but I kind of liked it. There are still crowds along the side and on the overpasses. The bridge itself is really the quietest part of the course. It’s nice and straight, no more turns. The water is right there, although today it was just a wall of fog.
I lost a little momentum transitioning from the downhill to the flats. Mile 7 was 6:41. Not good. Pick it up!
There was a large pack of runners up ahead, and I slowly started to reel them in. I passed the girl in the bright top, along with some other runners. The guy in black passed by some of his friends and ran over to give them a high five. My legs were really pumping now, and I felt great. 6:27.
This success was a little short lived, though. I wasn’t dead … but I was feeling a little worn down. My legs weren’t quite pumping the way they had been. Mile 9 clicked off in 6:38. At this point, I more or less threw in the towel on 1:25, and I shifted to aiming for a 1:25:XX PR.
The split for the 5k was 20:31. Better than the first 5k, but trending in the wrong direction.
15k to 20k: Up the Hills to Central Park
After the 15k mark, there was still a little bit of flat. But pretty soon, the road started to climb before we turned left into midtown. We passed by a DJ playing some music, and it gave me a boost of energy.
But things started to slowly crumble, here. I lost some ground on the incline, and then evened out the pace. There was a long-ish segment along 42nd street with a little bump of elevation, and I was feeling the hills more than I thought I would. Over and over, I’d fall off pace a little bit, people would start to pass me, and then I’d push the pace again.
I missed the 10 mile marker, but I pushed the lap button at mile 11. That two mile stretch was 13:29 – so roughly 6:45 per mile. Off target, but not terrible. Just need to keep pushing along. Did some more mental math and bargaining, and at this point I figured I 1:26:XX was still possible but 1:25:XX was out the window.
Passing through Times Square was cool, and crowds were bigger here, but the stretch from there to the park seemed to take forever. How is this only a mile?!? When we turned right along the bottom of the park, I could tell that I was really fading.
We finally made the left into the park and passed the 12 mile mark. 6:53. Getting worse.
Going into the park, there was a mild hill. Earlier in the race, I would have chewed it up and spit it out. But now … my legs just weren’t dealing.
There were some people flying past me, and I was envious that they were finishing strong. But then, I looked to the left and saw the young guy in black. He was pulled up on the left side of the road, doubled over with a cramp or some kind of problem. So close!
The split at 20k was 21:14. By far the slowest 5k.
The Final Kilometer: Onwards to the Finish
At this point, I was done with math. I was done with goals. I just wanted to be done with the race.
Throughout the morning, I didn’t notice the wind at all. The forecast called for winds from the south, so theoretically it should have been at our backs. Maybe there was a slight tailwind, I couldn’t tell you.
But in this moment, the wind swirled around and smacked me in the face. As we ran north into the park, there was a definite headwind. It was brief. But it came at exactly the wrong time in the race.
We passed a sign saying 800m to go. Surely, I can just push through this last half mile.
I picked up the pace a little bit, but it only lasted 200m or so. I faded a little bit, and for the first time since FDR Drive I spotted that young woman with the bright top. She passed me and finished strong.
I didn’t have much of a finishing kick, but I finished as well as I could in that final 400m. Stopped my watch at 1:27:40. Official time was 1:27:41.
Post Race and Reflections
In the moment, I was a little disappointed. But I also knew this was an improvement over Brooklyn, and you can’t be mad about a PR, right?
While I was walking through the finishers chute, I grabbed my stuff, and I ran into two people that read this blog. It’s the first time I’ve been recognized in real life, so that was a bit of a trip! But it was nice chatting with them both – shout out to Kristyn and Eric.
I made my way to the subway and rode back down to my car. The guy at the parking lot was surprised to see me – “You’re done already?!?” And then I was on my way home. The logistics of getting in and out of the city were surprisingly smooth.
On the one hand, I missed my goal. So not a great outcome.
But, I did better than I did at Brooklyn. I also faded harder there. As soon as we leveled off on the Parkway, I lost the pace and got progressively slower.
This was also better than I did in the fall at the Jersey Shore Half Marathon. I didn’t fade quite as bad at that race. But I just couldn’t get up to speed at all. There were no hills to blame, and I couldn’t manage a single mile under 6:30.
So this was definitely progress. I survived the early hills, and I felt pretty strong along the FDR Drive. Without the late hills, I think I would have finished much better. And if this had been a flat course like Jersey Shore, I’d definitely be looking at a 1:25 or at worst a 1:26.
The real question is, “Where do we go from here?”
My other big goal for the spring is to go sub-3 at Jersey City and notch a solid qualifying time for Boston. It’s a flat race, so I don’t have to worry about hills. I’ve got team races coming up the next two weeks – a 10 mile and a 15k – and I’m going to take those at around marathon pace to get more comfortable running at 6:45-6:50/mi.
My training has been trending in the right direction, so as long as I recover well this week, I think I’ll continue to improve over the next two weeks – and show up to Jersey City in prime shape.
