Another Marathon November

Thousands of medals

It's been a while. Since I got another two races down and some volunteering work at the 2014 NYC Marathon, it's time to catch up a bit. Let's start with November, 2nd. It was a cold and very windy day and I did not envy the runners of this year's marathon for what they probably had to endure at the start line. I was told that it was so windy that running across the Verrazano Bridge (pretty much the first three miles) was hard work. People took turns to run in front of groups to provide cover from the wind. I was standing in Central Park with hundreds of other volunteers and even there it was quite uncomfortable. But let's rewind a bit.

This year I was one of the lucky people to be picked for medal distribution. We were stationed just a few yards behind the finish line and we greeted the runners and handed them their well deserved medals. In the beginning there was plenty of time to hang them around their necks but very soon we had to deal with so many runners that we just had to hand them out. Some runners still begged to have the medal hung around their necks and as long as our "boss" didn't look (we weren't supposed to waste too much time because there were thousands of runners coming by and they all wanted their medals) I was game and did the favor for them. Others wanted to take pictures with me and even others asked if they could have a second medal for their boyfriend, wife, or mother. And then there was at least one guy who put his medal into his back pocket, returned, and told another volunteer that he was still to get his medal. Sneaky dude. I probably should have said something but I had runners lined up to get their medals. We were warned in the beginning that there will always be runners trying to get more than one medal. I am not sure why, though. Anyway, I will never forget the gratitude and relief most runners show immediately after they finished the race. It was a very rewarding experience despite the fact that we had to show up at 8am and I didn't leave home until around 7pm (and some runners were still coming in). I can tell you, though, the whole thing did not feel like 11 hours. It got so crazy busy once the middle pack of runners came in and it kept that way for many hours.

2014 Laurie Harris 5k

Unfortunately, we didn't see much of the elite runners. The first place woman runner came by us but after her all elites were diverted right after the finish line (and before they had to interact with common folks like us) to their own secret hide-out and recovery space. I guess it makes sense, but wouldn't it be great to hang a medal around an elite runner's neck? I assume the first woman was not supposed to walk by us and she was extremely exhausted and possibly not thinking straight anymore.

Two pieces of criticism: While the entire event was managed extremely well, there were a few too many times where I and others had to stop and asked "what are we supposed to do now?" Communication is always key and, unfortunately, many times an issue and for folks like me who do volunteer work at the finish line for the very first time we do need a clearer picture from the get go what is expected from us and what we should be doing next. Luckily there is always somebody who knows but still.

Secondly, why does volunteering on marathon day not earn you the +1 for guaranteed entry for next year's marathon? If you put in 11 hours or your time into this event (longer than any of the runners) why wouldn't I satisfy the volunteering requirement? I've tried to find an answer but I guess I have to bring this up to the NYRR. I'll shoot them an e-mail and see what the reasons are.

After last month's 10k in Bed-Stuy I took a few weeks off from racing. It felt great for my body to get a break and just focus on training a bit more. I am quite happy where I am with my pace and distances and thought it was an extremely successful year. I ramped it up a bit last weekend by running a 5k on Roosevelt Island and a 4M in Central Park. Unfortunately, my ankle/achilles tendon on my right foot has been acting up and something about my left hamstring is giving me a bit of trouble. I decided not to run at all until next week when my next 5k is due. Let me do a quick recap.

The 5k on Roosevelt Island was the 2nd Annual Laurie Harris Hope and Dreams 5k, a race organized by my running club, the NY Flyers, in honor of a past member who died from pancreatic cancer just recently. I was glad to have a race back on the island again because it is so nice not to wake up an extra hour or two earlier just to get to the start line. Unlike last year's event, this time we had quite a few less runners which is not a bad thing per se. It just shows that switching race directors seems to have an impact on the popularity of a race. Last year it was managed by NYCRUNS who took care of most of the publicity of the event - it was listed on their website, and that is how I found out about it before I even joined the NY Flyers. For some reason this time around it was managed by some outfit called Madison Square Consulting and it was entirely up to us, the club, to get the word out. We had some runners from other local clubs, and the president and CEO of the New York Road Runners was there as well (in a non-running capacity, though), but other than that it was mostly Flyers. In the end we had about 130 registered runners which is a lot less than the 450 or so finishers from last year. It was a very nice event nonetheless despite the cold. Plus, I think I found a fellow runner that I will now declare as a fierce competitor of mine and I will always try to beat him. I am not going to name names but he is a member of the Hellgates Road Runners, he's in the same age group as mine (but three years younger), and he beat me in this 5k in the very last mile! But then I beat him by a couple of minutes or so in the 4 milers the next day.

This guy, right there!
Picture by Hellgates Road Runners

As always (and I am not proud of it) I went out way too fast. Everybody already knew who is going to win the race (Brian, our head coach, a 30-something who just ran the Dash to the Finish Line 5k in a 5:20 pace) and I tried to latch on him as long as possible. The first mile went by in 6:06 minutes, the fastest ever for me in a 5k. It was just Brian, another super-speedy guy, two other guys, and me in front for the first 2 1/2 miles. I had a very good shot at getting into third place if for some reason I didn't slow down to a 6:24 in mile 2, and ran an excruciatingly slow 6:45 third mile. I am guessing I just gave way too much in that first mile and the extremely cold air was not helping. In that third mile the Hellgates runner and the first female winner squeezed by and left me in the dust. In the end I still finished in solid 7th place (out of 131 finishers), 3rd for the Flyers, and 2nd in my age group (if there were age groups, that is) with a time of 19:59 minutes, a 6:26 average pace. I made sure that I stayed under 20 minutes and when I saw the seconds tick by when I approached the finish line I knew I had to turn on the afterburner and get it done. And done I got it... barely but I did. Considering the flatness of the course I am not quite happy with my result and luckily I had the opportunity to redeem myself the very next day.

I am somewhere in there
Picture by NYRR

As eighth race for my nine "get into the 2015 marathon" races I signed up for the Race to Deliver 4M which took place the very next day in Central Park. The course was one time around the inner loop starting and ending on the 72nd St traverse. As usual I was assigned to the front corral and, not sure, yet, if this is actually good or bad, went out with the fastest of the fastest. When I entered the corral most runners tend to stay in the back and move only forward toward the start line when told my a race official. I guess very few feel really comfortable starting all the way in the front. Should I? This time I was able to pace myself a little better and the first mile went by in 6:16 minutes and the second in 6:06. Then the three rolling hills came and slowed me down to a 6:38 and I finished the last mile in 6:22. I am not going to add those numbers up (they are after all from the running app) and use the official result instead. My total time of 25:43 minutes, an average pace of 6:26 per mile, placed me 101st out of 5,302 finishers and 10th(!) out of 289 in my age group. If I ran a second or two faster I would have placed in the one-digit in my age group! This, I say, is awesome! Sure, it seems that this race did not attract the best of the best (or at least not that many) but it is still an NYRR event with thousands of participants. This was way cool. Also, I beat that guy from the day before by over a minute. Yes! When I spent some time at the finish line to spectate a bit he walked by me and recognized me. I will have an eye on him from now on...

I feel like I have not reached my full potential, yet. I used to a bit faster and I realize that it is mostly my mind trying to convince me to stop what I am doing. If I can get that reigned in (and I admit it is hard especially with the ongoing nagging tendons and/or muscles) I think I can get down to a 6 minute mile. We will see. I am focusing right now to stay under 7 minutes for longer races like the upcoming Ted Corbitt 15k (in December), the NYCRUNS Winter Series 10M (in January), and the Fred Lebow Half (also in January).

As I said above, I am taking a week off from all kinds of running, hoping that my right ankle will recover enough, and will jump right into the very technical NYCRUNS Winter Series 5k in Riverside Park on Sunday. At least, I will have a shot at an age group award again.

I will try to get my next blog entry out a lot faster than it took me to write this time. This is not a promise, though. Until then, as always, keep on running!