Packet Pickup:
Packet Pickup was at Pier 2 in Brooklyn. Same place as last year, only this year it wasn't raining outside, so that was one positive. The traffic to get there? Just as awful as last year! Between the construction in Staten Island and the never ending bumper to bumper traffic in Brooklyn, it's enough to give you heart failure.
This year we found a parking garage about 1/2 mile away from the pier and walked over to the expo. The expo was small and included New Balance and other small vendors. Our race shirts were really nice this year. Black tech shirts with the Brooklyn Half logo. Since there wasn't much happening at the expo, we got our gear and made our way back to the car. Before leaving Brooklyn, Tom found a subway station and pre-purchased metro cards for Saturdays race.
Race Day:Since my brother and niece were also running the Brooklyn Half, Tom and I had to leave New Jersey extra early to meet them in Staten Island. We woke up at 2:45 am and were out of the house by 3:40. We arrived at my brothers house by 4:30 am and were on our way to Coney Island by 4:50. The first wave of runners was scheduled to start at 7:00 am and the second wave was scheduled to start at 7:45 am. With over 26,000 runners, the parking lot fills up really fast so we wanted to be there as early as possible.
We parked the car at the Coney Island Aquarium and walked across the street to catch the Q train to Prospect Park. The subway arrived within 10 minutes and a huge group of runners got on board. We exited at the Prospect Park platform and made our way to the corrals which were set up near the Brooklyn Museum. Tom and I were in the first start wave but we decided to drop back to the first corral (corral 20) in wave 2. Once again NYRR had a million porta potties at the start line and I heard people commenting how great it is that they had that many toilets. The weather was cloudy and humid with some darker clouds on the horizon. It was difficult to tell whether or not it was going to rain on us. It felt like a 50/50 shot at that point.
We watched the first wave of runners take off and it was about 25 minutes before all of the runners cleared out. The race officials moved wave 2 up to the starting line, but we still had to wait another 20 minutes before it was our turn to go. At 7:45, the horn blew and we were off and running.
Running The Brooklyn Half:
We made our way down Washington Avenue to head towards Grand Army Plaza. I didn't notice this last year but the road heading towards the plaza has a slight upward grade and my legs felt it this year. I looked down at my watch and noticed I was running a 7:04 pace. Needless to say, I threw the brakes on immediately. We looped the statue at Grand Army Plaza and headed towards Prospect Park.
This year running through Prospect Park didn't feel as long or as hard as it did last year. I don't know why, but Prospect Park felt a bit shorter and easier to me. Trust me this is all in my head because the course was exactly the same this year as it was last year. Prospect Park is a bit hilly and you meet the longest climb at mile 5. I remembered this hill from last year and knew that I just needed to make it over the hill before my race could really begin. And then I felt a few rain drops. It felt really cool and refreshing at first, but the rain started picking up. Suddenly it was pouring on us. I noticed my body temperature cool down immediately and I decided to see if I could push myself a bit harder to take advantage of the cooling rain.
After exiting Prospect Park we headed towards Ocean Parkway. I tried to avoid the biggest puddles, but that was impossible. It just was what it was. Once I was on Ocean Parkway the rain stopped and I felt as though I was in a groove with my pace. The skies were cloudy but I'm not complaining because there's very little shade along Ocean Parkway. And sunshine is my kryptonite. NYRR set up water and Gatorade stations at every mile marker along Ocean Parkway. As always the volunteers were spectacular! Another reason why I love running this race.
There were a couple of minor grades on Ocean Parkway, but for the most part it's a straight shot to the Coney Island Boardwalk and the finish line. "Here come all the sexy runners", "Are you walking? There's no walking on MY corner", "Hurry up, Nathans is almost out of hot dogs". The comments and signs along the way made me laugh.
Every time I looked down at my watch, I noticed my pace was in the 7:43 to 7:45 range. I kept pushing myself the best that I could to hold that pace. One woman said "that's it, just keep running that nice easy pace". I wanted to strangle her because it did not feel like a nice easy pace!
I got to the end of Ocean Parkway and followed the runners towards the Coney Island Cyclone where you hang a left and take the ramp onto the boardwalk. There were tons of people cheering, but I sort of drowned them out. I had that feeling that I just needed this race to be over with. I ran up the ramp towards the boardwalk and noticed it was slippery from the sand and rain. I got onto the boardwalk and saw the finish line not too far away. I did the best that I could and hurled myself across the finish line. I didn't feel too well. I looked at my watch and noticed that I was a minute and half slower than my Staten Island Half time. I know I sound like a big baby right now but I was bit annoyed with my finish time. Somehow I really thought I would PR, so I was disappointed in myself. Hey at least I care about my time.
Tom wasn't too far behind me. We grabbed an apple and pretzels and followed the runners into the parking lot to wait for my brother and niece. There are SO MANY people at this event and we really should have agreed on a meeting place beforehand. I think the gear pickup area would have been a good idea.
The stadium is set up for 2 things; a family meeting place and after party. They put letters along the top of the stadium so that you could meet your family and/or friends in specific letter zones. But I'll tell you what. It was absolute mayhem in there. I felt this overwhelming need to get out of there because it was too crowded and people were aimlessly wandering everywhere. You could purchase beer, food, pretzels, popcorn and other items, as long as you were willing to wait on very long lines. Local bands were there to entertain everyone.
By the time we found my brother waiting for us outside of the stadium, the lot was nearly empty. We walked back to the car, which isn't the shortest of walks (especially after running 13.1 miles with soaking wet socks and sneakers). Our feet were cold and wet and I could feel a blister or two getting ready to take shape.
We got back to the car and saw that the race was nearly over. There were only a handful of runners on the road. They finally opened the parking lot and allowed us to leave but that was a nightmare because everyone was racing to get out of the parking lot.
Anyway, I know I sound a bit negative about the Brooklyn Half and I don't mean to. I'm just giving you fair warning. If you take public transportation you'll more than likely avoid a lot of traffic issues. But if you drive and park your car at the aquarium, forget about getting out of there quickly. The smart people probably take the train.
My closing thought is this: if you can avoid get stressed over the logistics of packet pickup and if you can enjoy the race and not get worked up over the endless slow moving traffic afterwards, the Brooklyn Half is one of THE BEST half marathons out there. I promise you that! So rock on Brooklyn. I'll probably be an idiot and see you again next year ;)
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