Why the Brooklyn Half? Well, hubby Tom and I are doing the 9+1 option through the NYRR (New York Road Runners) club. If you run 9 NYRR races and volunteer for 1 race, you are eligible for guaranteed entry into the New York City Marathon. And both of us want to run the New York City Marathon...badly!
My husband was born and raised in Brooklyn, I was born and raised in Staten Island. Each of us remembers watching the NYC Marathon on television and wondering what crazy ass person would ever want to run 26.2 miles? Fast forward into adulthood and these two crazy asses want to run the 5 boros of New York. As former New Yorkers, we consider it a right of passage.
Packet Pickup:
Ok, so back to the Brooklyn Half. Logistically speaking, its a nightmare! No really, it was. There was no race day packet pickup, there was no place to park, there's construction everywhere, no signage directing you, and of course it was pour rain. It sucked! Tom and I got into a verbal confrontation in the car. The stress of aimlessly driving around was getting the best of both us. Tom let me out of the car and drove loops while I wandered around the waterfront looking for packet pickup, in the pouring rain with no umbrella. Eventually I spotted a big tent way out on a pier and I headed that way. At last, I was in the right place.
With race bibs in hand, I headed back to the car. Race day parking would be at Coney Island and we would be taking the subway to the start line. Tom decided to pre-purchase our metro cards while we were in Brooklyn. Excellent idea on his part!
Race Day:
Saturday was race day and the weather was perfect! We left New Jersey at 4:40 in the morning and arrived at Coney Island nice and early. Or so we thought. The line into the parking lot was already insanely long. I sat quietly in the passengers seat while Tom had a near meltdown as we waited to get into the parking lot. Once the car was parked we simply followed the crowd onto the subway platform across the street.
The 1/2 hour subway ride was completely filled with excited runners making their way to the start line at the Brooklyn Museum. There were more than 25,000 runners ready to take over the streets of Brooklyn. You could feel energy and electricity in the air.
Need a porta pottie? Your in luck! Porta potties as far as the eyes could see. There was never a line to use a porta pottie and that's a big deal in a race this size. I'm going to start rating races based on their porta-pottie-to-runner ratio.
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| Tom and I in corral 20 |
The race was broken into two separate start waves. We decided to move into corral 20, which was the first corral in wave 2. Runners in the first wave were lined up. The National Anthem was sung, the horn blew and the runners took off. It took about 25 minutes for the runners in the first wave to clear out. Next it was our turn. Our corral opened, and we moved up to the start line. We were at the front of the pack. The National Anthem was sung, the horn blew and wave number two was off and running!
We ran down Washington Avenue (a nice quiet street) and turned the corner heading towards Grand Army Plaza. As we rounded the corner you could see them! Crowds of spectators lining the streets cheering and yelling. It was so damn motivating. I couldn't believe how many spectators turned out with random signs, bells, drums, whistles...you name it! Adults and kids cheered us on and motivated us along.
After looping Grand Army Plaza we headed into Prospect Park. Again, there were more spectators, more people cheering, more people high-fiving us along the route. Prospect Park was a little hilly but not too bad in my opinion. Somewhere around mile 5 was where we met our biggest incline. After that, it was a flat course.
We ran the loop inside Prospect Park then headed for Ocean Parkway. We were 7 miles into the race and I felt wonderful. Ocean Parkway was completely closed off so you had plenty of room to spread out. More people lined the street in scattered areas cheering us on. NYRR had water stations at every mile marker and the volunteers were incredible, friendly and motivating.
As I approached the end of Ocean Avenue, I could see the rides at Coney Island. It was time to run on to the boardwalk. The streets and boardwalk were lined with spectators, and I mean lined! I managed to keep a really nice, steady pace throughout the entire half marathon. I approached the boardwalk, saw the finish line and began my sprint to the finish. The crowd loved my sprint and cheered enthusiastically.
I completed the Brooklyn Half in 1:46:54...my best half marathon time so far. My husband wasn't far behind. He came running through the finish line with a terrible cramp in his calf that flared up during the last mile. He looked like peg leg running down the boardwalk, but an awesome, badass peg leg! He never stopped running. Tom finished in 1:55:00.
The traffic heading home was the worst part of the race. It was the last logistical nightmare we had to face. And in case you didn't know this, Brooklyn people are the most crazy ass drivers out there. Next year when we run again, we need to come up with a better parking/commuting plan since it took us nearly 2 hour to get out of Brooklyn. It was a long day, but worth every single second in the end! The afterglow lasted for at least a week. Hell, it's still there now!
Thank you Brooklyn for an AMAZING half marathon filled with the BEST spectators and fantastic memories! Tom and I will be back to run your streets again next year. And I'll be wearing a shirt that says No Sleep Till Brooklyn.
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