the art of ultrarunning: manhattan half marathon race report

The disappointing view this morning.

As we were warned last night, snow hit NYC early this morning. We woke up to about 2 inches already on the ground. The NYRR made the decision to have the race, but to have it "unscored," which means no prize money and no club scoring (that has to do with the different running clubs, like my own Harlem Road Runner's Club, competing for points each year based on the amount of runners in each event and how they finish). They still had a bag drop and water stations throughout the run, which was appreciated.

We got down to West 63rd about 20 minutes before the race and dropped off our bag...then we were off on a snowy adventure of 2.25 laps around Central Park (starting on West 63 and finishing in front of Bethesda Fountain on the 72nd St. transverse).

The first lap wasn't too bad. The snow was still packed pretty hard, so we didn't have to deal with slush and possible ice. We were both dressed really warm, so the coldness wasn't too much of an issue. The biggest issue was the snow constantly falling in our face and eyes.

The second lap got a little slushy towards the southwest side of the park. But by that time we were at mile 11, so we both were in good spirits since we only had 2 miles left.

We ran together the entire time and we actually RAN the entire time (except for one short bathroom break). I was really impressed with Liz. I thought for sure she would want to walk up the series of hills at the northwest of the park on the second loop, but she kept pushing it. I couldn't be more proud!

So, our first half marathon is in the books. Besides the Chicago Marathon this fall, I think I'm done with road races. Trail races are so much more fun. It was also a bummer that we didn't get a medal for this half marathon. Not to be vain or needy, but I thought it was etiquette to get a medal for anything over 10k. Oh well, at least we finished in some very unique weather conditions. Enjoy the photos and keep running!