Ultramarathon #2 of 2012! NYRR 60K Race Recap!

Design on the race t-shirt!

2012 has been a year of crazy decisions, but signing up for an ultra marathon to end the year was not in my plans. When they canceled the NYC Marathon, my two running buddies threw around the idea of running the NYRR 60K (previously called Knickerbocker 60K), but I did not think they were serious. After running the unofficial NYC Marathon, I thought they would forget about the 60K, but one afternoon I got emails with their confirmations for the 60K. So with some peer pressure and not wanting to miss out on the fun, I signed up for the crazy race.

The NYRR 60K logistics were very simple and so different from the North Face Endurance Challenge. Number and shirt pick up was offered only the morning of the race, there were only 6 portopotties for 400+ runners, the race did not start on time because so many people were in line for the bathroom, and many runners treated the start/finish line area as an informal “drop bag” area. With a D-tag stuck to my shoe, I knew I could not change shoes mid-race so I only packed food (GU, PBJ, honeystinger shot blocks, chips, pretzels, electrolyte tablets), extra socks, and an extra shirt in my drop bag.

The plan was to start slow, walk all water stops, make pit stops when needed, and try to not finish last. The route was a 1.2 mile out and back along the east drive of Central Park and then 9 laps of the 4 mile loop. I knew I would lose track of laps so I wore my Garmin to help me keep track of mileage.

My cheerleaders for the race! My brother brought Natalie and Connor to see me run for the first time!

Andrew, Joe, and I started out together, but running slower than our regular running pace proved to be more difficult than expected. Joe and I fell into a comfortable 9:30 pace and ran together for about 22 miles. We stopped at our drop bags twice and stopped to use the bathroom each time. Joe was having some stomach trouble so on his 3^rd bathroom stop, I tried to wait for him, but had to keep moving because I was starting to get stiff. Sorry Joe!

My stomach was not perfect during the race either, but it was manageable. I could only stomach 2.5 GU’s so I ate pretzels, honeystingers, and drank tons of Gatorade. After a while, pretzels were even too much for my stomach and I could not even finish my PBJ. I had so much food in my drop bag in case I got hungry, but I could not eat much of it during the race. =(

Got to see the kids 2x during the race before they went home!

I ran the next 15 miles without a running buddy, but never felt alone because there were so many people running around me. I crossed the finish line a little after 6 hours and instead of running straight to the hot soup, I turned around and ran back on the course to find the guys. Andrew came in first and we sprinted to the finish in just under 7 hours! I planned to go back to get Joe, but Joe finished right behind us and also made it in under 7 hours!

Despite the repetitive nature of the course, I had a great time and hope to run the race again next year. Goal for next year: Break 6 hours! Now I just have to convince the guys to run it too. =)

All smiles after finishing an ultra! Congrats to the Andrew and Joe on their first ultra!

Statistics from the race:

Men’s Winning Time: 3:55:42 (6:20 pace)

Women’s Winning Time: 4:59:44 (8:03 pace)

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My Time: 6:13:45

Place: 119

Pace: 10:02

Gender Place: 21

Age Place: 8

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Total Finishers: 297 (About 500 runners started the race)

Men: 207

Women: 90

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The 25-29 female age group had the most females (35) out of all age groups!

(The “medal” was a pretty paperweight with the race design engraved on one side, but I forgot to take a picture of it for the blog. Will post it when I get the chance!)

2012 Unofficial New York City Marathon Recap!

Finish line of the New York City Marathon!

After a very exhausting week at work, I was looking forward to running the NYC Marathon.  On Sunday, I did not think that Hurricane Sandy would affect the marathon, which was a week away.  On Tuesday, I was nervous that the race might not happen.  Mayor Bloomberg assured that the race would go on, but after reading thousands of angry messages on Facebook and in the news, I was certain they would cancel the race, but they did not.

On Thursday morning, I received an email from the New York Road Runners explaining changes to marathon week.  They canceled all events (Friday’s Opening Ceremonies and Saturday’s Dash to the Finish Line 5K) leading up the marathon so they could just focus on the marathon.  I went to the expo to pick up my number and found out that everyone who was scheduled to take the ferry at the start was being transferred to take the shuttle buses from the 42^nd street library.

On Friday, I was invited to the New York Athletic Club’s pasta party and was getting ready when my friend, Andrew texted me “I just heard the marathon was canceled….”  My response “shut up” did not capture my full emotions, but it was all I could think of at that time.  It was the right decision to make after all the controversy, but it was made too late.  Many people were happy that the marathon was canceled and many (runners and non-runners) were disappointed.

At the pasta dinner, Joan Benoit Samuelson was the guest speaker and she explained that she ran races so that she could have stories to tell.  Whatever decision I made this weekend, there would be a story to tell.  I chose to run despite all the controversy and it was not because I did not care about Staten Island, Breezy Point, or the other areas in need.  Yes, it was a selfish decision, but I had worked twelve straight days, my hospital was evacuated, and I was hosting 11 people at my house.  I was so tired and cranky that no one would have wanted me to help them anyway.  I needed the race for my own mental health.  I needed it so that I could continue to help others without burning out.

So I set out to run a marathon and I did it without any regrets.  I met up with some friends at Central Park and I was amazed by the amount of runners showing up to run loops of the park.  There were donation bins for Hurricane Sandy victims and many people donated.

Lots of runners gathering in Columbus Circle getting ready to run!

Trash bag and Dunkin Donuts beanie: typical pre-NYCM outfit!  Made sure my number was visible for the Brightroom photographer.  hah=)

We forgot to take a group picture at Central Park so we took one on our way to the West Side Highway!

I met with 7 other people and we set off to run the marathon course instead of running 4.5 loops of Central Park.  We ran along the West Side Highway, around the tip of Manhattan, and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge to get to the marathon course.  From there, we followed the blue line on the roads and orange signs on the lamp posts.  I was happy to see other runners out on the course and happy to receive cheers from locals.  At mile 17, on 1^st avenue, a mother set up a water station with her children and handed out water to runners.  We had our own water stop further up 1^st avenue set up by my friend’s wife.  I was surprised that no one yelled at us or threw objects at us.

When we got to Central Park, we realized that all the runners were running counter-clockwise, which was the opposite direction of the marathon route.  We cheered on all the runners as we ran past them and weaved through the crowds to make it to the finish line.

Finish line mob scene!

Andrew outkicked me to the finish line!

Finish line picture with all the marathon finishers!  

I made medals for the runners to make it more “official”!

Since I made the medals, I got to personalize it with names! These medals traveled 26.2 miles to the finish line with me in my hydration pack before I handed them out!

This was my second unofficial marathon and it is one that I will never forget.  There are so many stories to tell and in the end, people who wanted to run got to run and people who felt bad about running got to volunteer in the relief efforts.  People who ran also helped by donating clothes, money, and food to the relief efforts.  People will continue to help and New York will rebuild.  The NYC Marathon will be back next year (unless there is another natural disaster) and I will be there to run (disaster or no disaster).