Posts Tagged ‘central park race’

June 10th – NYC Chase Corporate Challenge

10, Jun 2009

Tonight was a great night to race in Central Park and I think the 3.5 mile Chase Corporate Challenge went off without a hitch. It was a slightly humid 70 degrees which made for pretty comfortable conditions. I had a good race, coming across the finish line at 21:25 with 6:07 mile-splits. I’m going to guess that puts me in the top 150 or so.

The journey to the starting corrals seemed a little less hectic than it’s felt in previous years. I began the race 7 or 8 rows back from the start line and never felt like it was too congested. I heard from people further back in the corrals that the start went pretty smooth for them as well.

I like the course. Although there are a few rolling hills, I think its actually a small net decline. I’ve never seen so many water stations in a three mile race, but I guess that a lot of people do this as a fun run and are therefore out on the course for a while.

There are also some pretty fast runners that come out for the Corporate Challenge. I heard the winner was a JP Morgan employee and that he ran a 16:45-ish race. That’s really freaking fast. Like 4:45 mile split fast.

There’s also a lot of runners that go out really fast and then die after the first mile. I was passing people left and right starting at the 1.5 mile point. There were also a lot of people that finished around me looking pretty strong, whereas I know I was completely spent running a 21:25.

There was good food in the tents for those with access. The beer tickets at the end were a nice treat as well, thanks JP Morgan Chase!

J

Healthy Kidney 10k: Race Wrap-up 2009

16, May 2009

2009 Healthy Kidney 10k – Race Wrap up

healthy-kidney-10k-2009

Getting There. Got off to a great start this morning. I wouldn’t say I slept like a baby last night, but I got a decent night’s sleep. Waking up at 7am, we gave ourselves about an hour to get dressed and fed, before heading out the door a little after eight.

Saw quite a few fellow Healthy Kidney runners on the 2,3 train and upon exiting at columbus circle, noticed the entire southwest corner of the park was overtaken by us. The 2,3 train goes local on weekends, so the commute from the financial district took entirely too long, but we made it into the park by 8:40am, with enough time to hit the port-a-potties and hop into the starting corral just in time to see…

  • the introduction of the elite runners
  • a brief statement by the NYRR’s Mary Wittenberg,
  • a briefer statement by some representative of Dubai
  • the singing of the national anthem
  • and the “runner’s on your mark… [air-horn blast]“

I had excellent starting position, per usual. Maybe a few rows ahead of my talent level, as this is a competitive club points race, but not by much… and whatever this was an important race for me. Right at about the time the horn sounded, a faint drizzle broke out.

I did a pretty good job at resisting the urge to go out too fast. I went a little fast, but I don’t feel guilty about it, clocking a 6:12 first mile when I was shooting for 6:30-ish. About a half mile later, the drizzle turned into a light rain. I passed the 2nd mile marker at about 12:36, which makes my second mile split at 6:24, much closer to my “early race” goal pace and also a nice average split of 6:18. Then the rain picked up quite a bit…

iPods and Competitive Racing

24, Apr 2009

Last Sunday at the Run As One 4-Miler, I stood up front in the first starting line corral waiting for the gun to go off. I went through my normal pre-race rituals…

  • Continued stretching, a challenge in the confinement of a corral.
  • Made sure my sneakers were tied tight, but not cutting off blood flow.
  • Re-tied my shorts, tucked my shirt, pulled up my socks.
  • Convinced myself I didn’t have to pee, which made me have to pee more.

And I tooled with my iPod incessantly, checking to see if I chose the right playlist. Making sure the volume was loud enough, but not headache loud. Testing my ability to start the stopwatch and playlist simultaneously. Then I looked around. Is anyone else even wearing an iPod (besides this guy)?

Run As One 4-Miler = 24:40

19, Apr 2009

I decided to run this morning’s NYRR race in Central Park, the Run as One 4 Miler, an excellent choice on my part. The threat of poor weather was an idle one, as the temperatures were ideal for racing and the wind was barely noticeable. With 11,000 runners I’m glad I chose to start at the very front of the pack. I heard that it took up to 15 minutes for some people to make it to the starting line after the gun went off.

run-as-one-4-miler

It’s On…

19, Apr 2009

Weather is fantastic and I woke up feeling pretty damn good (a little sore from yesterday’s bike). Results for the Central Park “Run as One” 4 miler to follow…

J

Healthy Kidney 10K Course Map + Elevation Chart

9, Apr 2009

There’s no course map for the Healthy Kidney 10K posted on the New York Road Runners website, so I took the liberty of mapping out the course myself.

healthy-kidney-10k

You can also find it at: http://www.walkjogrun.net/routes/current_route.cfm?rid=8D90BE53-E945-875A-DC1EB6F292A818B5&success=1

But that’s not all, I used the data from www.walkjogrun.net to graph the elevation profile in excel (loser). Whatever, it should be helpful for race strategy.

healthy-kidney-10k-elevation-21


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