The day started EARLY. I am so not a morning person and definitely not a morning runner. I swear I was halfway through the race before I was awake. Everyone around me at the start was so pumped up. I look like I'm sleepwalking
The course is Central Park for the first 8 miles, then through Times Square (the whole reason I wanted to do it), then down the West Side Highway to the finish. I was curious if the rolling hills in Central Park would be easier at the beginning of a race instead of at the end of a full marathon but they weren't. Rolling hills are rolling hills. They're no walk in the park (get it: walk in the park?).
As we moved toward Times Square the energy was contagious. You just knew something awesome was coming.
And it was AMAZING! I think I enjoyed that even more than the epic 1st avenue of the full. It was awesome. I checked RunKeeper and even though I stopped for a picture and took in the sights, those were my fastest miles: 8:08 and 8:20. It didn't even seem like I was running fast, I was so into the energy all around me.
After that it was a relatively quick 4 miles down the West Side highway to the finish. There was lots of crowd support but it wasn't chaotic. It was a nicely organized chute, there were no sudden stops and it wasn't overly crowded. The medal is WAY nicer than I anticipated. It's heavy and beautiful.
It wasn't my greatest pace (2:18:29, 10:35/mile) but it was one of my favorite races. I love the energy of NYC. I feel very fortunate to have now covered 39.3 miles of it in 2 awesome races.
A shout out to Sarah -- it was her very first 1/2 marathon and she did great!
You do NOT look like you were sleepwalking! And you did awesome!! I wish I was more into the photo thing, but I just don't know why I'm not. I think my next half I need to be.
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