The Running Tourist

The Running Tourist

Following one of our athletes posting his run around Central Park, New York, this week – and a memory popping up on my socials reminding me that this was the anniversary of this particular run, I thought I’d recall the time I did an impromptu race around New York.

As well as a chance for a little nostalgia, it also shows the unexpected experiences we can find when we are fit, when we are training constantly. This is one of the most memorable race experiences I’ve ever had – and it was an out of the blue off-hand message from a club-mate that set the wheels in motion.

The Tweet

“Did you know there is a race in Central Park tomorrow?” tweeted Robbie Collins as I was on my way to the airport for a short break in New York.  The Ted Corbitt 15K, organised by the New York Road Runners, was the race in question and it started at 8am the next morning.

Race entry and registration was at 6.30am on race day somewhere on 89^th Street.  After tentatively raising the subject in the airport lounge, Lynn was keener for me to race than I was!  “How often do you get the chance to actually race in New York” was the enthusiastic response.  OK then, that’s settled.  A couple of quick emails to the race organisers to confirm that there were entry slots available and I was all set.

The Baggage Mystery

Heavy snow that morning in Manchester (our only snow to date this winter!) meant that the airport was closed for a couple of hours and our flights were delayed.  The chance of making our connecting flight in Heathrow looked slim.  However, after a tempo run through Heathrow Terminal 5, we made our flight with seconds to spare.  

Alas, our suitcases did not.  

Or so I thought.  

Out of six suitcases, only one made it to the conveyor belt in New York.  Would you believe it was the one with my trainers and running kit?  The other cases would turn up mid-morning the next day (after the race had finished).  A sign surely?  I was meant to run this race.

Pre-Race

Pre-race preparations were not ideal.  A complimentary bar service on a 7 hour flight, coupled with a muffin and Starbucks frappuccino for breakfast, will not make many training manuals this year.  That said, after a taxi to race HQ, paying my $40, picking up my number, chip and t-shirt I was ready to run. 

Before I received my number, I was asked what my average mile pace was going to be.  I train and race in kilometres and kilometre pace so didn’t really know.  I guessed at 6.30 minute per mile.  With that, I was given a number and told I would be near the front of the race.  I also didn’t know how to pace the race.  Go out like a 10K, or hold back a bit like a half marathon?  I decided to try and start conservatively and build into the race.

I had no idea that this race was such a big event.  There were thousands of people running.  All abilities too.  Apparently there were athletes there who were going to be competing in the US Olympic trials in January!

It was a beautiful day for a run.  Bright blue skies.  Sunshine.  A real chill in the air.  Dressed in my skins running tights, long sleeve base layer, MerseyTri running top, gloves, sunglasses and ear warmers (and still shivering before the start) I was probably the most covered up I have ever been for a race.  I stood at the back of my pen, reflecting my confidence for this race, assuming all of these other runners were quicker and certainly better prepared.  There was a speech by the President of the Road Runners club followed by the US national anthem and then we were off.

And We’re Off …

It’s fair to say that I eased into the race.  Because of my laid back positioning at the start, it was very busy in front and around me.  I had no choice but to run at the pace of people around me until some gaps emerged.  The first kilometre, which was flat and even slightly downhill, was run in a leisurely 4.17. 

The course in and around Central Park could be described as ‘undulating’.  I made a lot of my moves on the hills, both up hill and down.  After moving past the 1k marker (which was clearly marked on the course and even had a digital clock next to it, giving us our times – as did all subsequent kilometre markers!), the road climbed.  I picked up my effort and started moving through the field.  I did the same on the downhill stretches, really motoring.  The first 5k was covered in 20:22.

At about this point I spotted my entourage.  Or rather they spotted me.  Lynn, Gill, Kayleigh, Amy & Lucie, who waved me off at the start, were now on their way to Strawberry Fields when they spotted me.  Thousands of miles from home and I must have had the loudest support in the whole race.  Fantastic!

The Running Tourist

During the race I kept having to remind myself that I was in New York.  I was here racing these people in Central Park.  I was a running tourist.  Dakota buildings.  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.  Strawberry Fields.  Oh look, the Plaza.  A lake – I think they do ice skating over there.  There’s the Guggenheim.  And then my mind would snap back to the race, my pacing and runners around me.

Back To The Race

I continued passing people, many of whom had just started too fast.  My second 5k was covered in 20:05.  I think at this point my not so scientific pre-race nutrition began to take effect: I was running out of energy.  I had run all of the downhill sections, so it was either flat or uphill from here on in!  I eased back slightly for the next kilometre so I could recharge and go again for the finish.  The field had really thinned out and I had been passed by very few, if any, runners since my pedestrian first kilometre.  During the last 4k my pattern was the same.  I would catch a runner, settle in behind them for a moment benefiting from their draft, and then go past them with a ‘burst’ of pace.  

Don’t you just hate it when your Garmin clocks up the race distance but you can’t see the finish line yet?  

I hit 15k on my Garmin in 1 hour and 32 seconds, with the last 5k covered again in 20:05 (the last 10k covered in 40:10 – my second fastest ever 10K!!).  By this point I was at full throttle, with the last kilometre covered in 3:49, with my heart bouncing out of my chest at 179 bpm.  I crested the top of the hill, passed the water station and gave it beans to the finish.

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Results

Finish Time  –  1:01:21

Average Pace  –  4:01 per k (15.22k) / 6:29 per mile (9.46 miles)

Average Heart Rate  –  173 bpm

Position  –  124^th out of 4292 finishers

Age Group (35-39)  –  17^th

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Well, thanks for indulging me and reading the race report. I hope you enjoyed it!