Each year New York Road Runners puts on dozens of races
besides the ING NYC Marathon. Many of
the races are in Central Park . Races in the park vary from 5K’s to half
marathons and regularly have 7,000+ participants. Volunteers herd runners into corrals for the
most organized start possible and several miles are needed for the hoard to
evolve into a smooth flow of biomass.
Then there’s the 60K (formally known as the Knickerbocker
60K), which is limited to a few hundred participants. Starting at 6:45 bibs and t-shirts were ready
to be picked up at the NYRR headquarters, which is half a block from the park,
200 or so yards from the start/finish line.
The race “village” was set up on the Bridle Path, just below
the famous reservoir running path and consisted of a scoring tent, a tent with
warm beverages, bag check tent and of course a few outhouses. Runners placed drop bags along the fence just
past the village, the course would take us by this spot several time.
It was a sunny morning with only a light breeze in Central
Park, but temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s had some runners shivering and
some donning their souvenir t-shirts. I
was glad I was going to get moving as opposed to the volunteers who would be standing
for several hours, I suspect they experienced some cold toes and noses before
it warmed up later in the day. (NYRR members can get guaranteed entry in to the
marathon by participating in 9 races and volunteering once each year, I choose
to volunteer at the Marathon Expo since I KNOW what the weather will be like
indoors!)
The runners assembled on the south side of the start/finish
line. The course began with us running
just over ½ a mile north on East
Drive , around a pylon and back. Once crossing the start/finish we began our
first of 9 “Inner Loops”. Central Park’s
Loop is made up of East Drive and West Drive and is very close to 6 miles
around. The Inner Loop utilizes the 72nd Street
transverse and the 102nd
Street transverse to form a 4 mile loop. This leaves off the Harlem Hills north of 102
and by running clockwise we ran down Cat Hill, the other significant hill in
the park.
I hadn’t put much thought into my strategy. I wasn’t confident I had done enough long
runs to be prepared. My last marathon,
in July, wasn’t very successful. Sure it
was a good 20 mile run, but that was followed by a 10K walk. I assumed I’d need some walking breaks, but
hadn’t planned them. I though my very
best case scenario would be to get under 10 min/mile and break 6 hours, even if
I struggled I thought I would finish in less than 7 hours. I set out at a 10 min/mile pace.
The out and back from the start features a gentle swale each
way, then a flat section through the start/finish. After passing the Metropolitan Museum of Art
on the left and the Great Lawn on the right we descended Cat Hill, named after
the bronze panther crouching on the rocks about 15 feet above the roadway. The bottom of the hill houses the Central
Park Boathouse. Then we start up an incline,
turning right onto the 72nd
Street transverse and continuing the incline to
the midpoint of the transverse, which overlooks Bethesda Terrace. A short decline and right turn onto West Drive where we
passed a stones throw from Strawberry Fields.
Running northward on West
Drive we covered some rolling hills and passed the
second aid station. This second station
had water and Gatorade (and of course outhouses). After a nice downhill section passing the
North Meadow (kids playing soccer) we turned right onto the 102nd Street transverse. We were greeted a 20 foot high mountain of
mulch which extended for at least 100 yards.
Before Hurricane Sandy visited Central Park
this mountain had been elms, maples, oaks and other hardwood trees. At the end of Mulch Mountain East Drive
to return to the start/finish.
As the runners crossed the finish line they could see their
time and number of laps completed on a monitor.
In addition to the D-Tag timing volunteers manually recorded the laps; no
one wanted any unfortunate effects caused by an electronic failure. The aid station here had water, Gatorade,
flat Coca-Cola, pretzels, bagels, Power-Gel and bananas. Many runners had left drop bags in this area
as well.
I was running with my water belt carrying 16 oz of
Accelarade, I sipped on that as I went and took some small amounts of Gatorade
early in the race as well. I had eaten
half of a Clif bar before starting and I finished that bar in the on my second
loop. Near the end of my second loop I
saw my wife and son. They cheered as I
passed by and went to the playground – he is three. On the third loop I traded empty Accelarade
bottles for full ones and a new Clif bar and my wife joined me for a 4 mile
loop, leaving our son with some friends.
After running four miles my wife and fans left to go eat pancakes, I
kept running.
Up to this point I had not felt any pain, chafing, cramping
or any discomfort other than requiring a few bathroom breaks. When I looked at my watch and saw 14+ miles I
was relieved that I felt so good and even more relieved that the time had seemed
to pass quickly, let’s be honest, when you know you are going to be out there a
long time you worry about getting bored.
The warm and fuzzy was awesome, for about three minutes, then I must
have unconsciously done some math and the “I still have to run 23 miles”
thought popped into my head. It was
deflating, but only partly so.
As I finished my 6th lap the #3 finisher crossed
the line. So, three folks beat me by 12
miles or more, good for them.
By this point the
racers are well spaced out and by far the minority of the runners in the park
on a sunny Saturday. Many of the other
runners as well as some of the dog walkers and tourists in the park gave words
of encouragement and a small, but enthusiastic crowd was gathering at the
finish line.
Just into my 7th loop I spotted a couple of
friends, one of whom joined me. She can
talk up a storm while running 9:30 miles, so the time passed quickly. I continued running with no walk breaks other
than what was required to pick up a bagel.
My pace crept down ever so slightly throughout the race. I never felt I was pushing to maintain the
pace. My shoulders and neck had been
stiff for a little while but that passed.
My friend reminded my to open up my stride a bit on the down hills to
give some muscles a break. It was a good
idea.
As we neared the finish area for me to start my final loop,
my wife and son reappeared, fresh from their pancake brunch. Our son stayed with our friends, quickly
falling asleep, while my wife and I set off for the final four miles.
These four miles turned out to be my fastest miles. I still never felt that any extra effort was
required to maintain my pace, I was just running, and for the first time during
the day I had no concern about going too fast.
I had thought I’d be closer to my 6 hour time goal, but early in the
final loop I realized I wouldn’t be very close.
I hadn’t figured into my pacing the lack of perfect tangents that I
would be running. In all, according to
Mr. Garmin, I ran 37.98 miles, or about ¾ of a mile more than the measured
distance. I didn’t particularly try to
cut all the corners and in some stretches I stayed to the center of the road
where the road is flatter rather than where it’s more sloped, but I still am a
bit surprised at the difference.
My finishing time was 6:13:01 on my watch for an average
pace of 10:02/mile for the measured distance.
Finishers received an engraved Lucite plaque.
After getting finisher’s plaque, grabbing some water and
thanking some volunteers, I checked the scoring tent to ensure the timing mat
read my D-Tag. Some hugs and congrats
from friends and family and within a few minutes I was back home.
It was a great experience.
Just about every variable came up in my favor. The weather was perfect for a run of that
length. It was my home course – I’ve run
that loop 100’s of times in the last 10 years.
I was very fortunate to have company for almost half of the run. The volunteers were always cheerful and
friendly. I had no problems with cramps,
blisters or chafing, I’m still amazed about that – thank you Aquaphor. I did not have any stomach problems. Even though I was prepared with gels I stuck
with solids, Clif bars and bagels (cinnamon raisin).
This event benefits from New York Road Runners expertise in
putting on road races. They average one
event per week year round. But the small
field and type of runners attracted to an even of this distance gave it a very
different feel than other NYRR events. I
would highly recommend this race to anyone wanting to visit Manhattan
and Central Park in November. Friends and family can brunch at the
Boathouse and cheer each of your nine loops.
One possible downside is that the course is entirely asphalt; on the
other hand it won’t be muddy!
Visit www.nyrr.org for
details, photos and results.
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