Well, it took 7 years of doing races with the New York Road Runners, but I can officially say that I have completed every race that is part of the 5 borough series. Some, like the NYC half and the Queens 10k I jump at the chance to run each year, but I was a hold out with the Staten Island half. After hearing friends stories of the hills there, plus the annoyance of having to drive in or take a ferry, I never bothered with this race before. But this year, it fell on a weekend where all of my local running buddies had other plans, and I needed to get in a long training run for the NYC marathon. So when my friend Carson told me she was registered for the race, and encouraged me to sign up too, it was just the push I needed to finally cross this race off the “to-do” list.
Carson lives in Manhattan, so to make race morning easier I crashed at her apartment the night before. So on Saturday afternoon I hopped on the LIRR and headed into Manhattan, then walked uptown and met up with her and her boyfriend, Drew. The three of us killed some time by visiting the Nike store and walking through their winding 5 story shop, which showcased various athletic gear and assortments of sneakers, and then met up with an additional friend of carson’s and headed to “The Monkey Bar” for dinner. Carson is on a quest to find the best burger in NYC, and this restaurant was on her list to try. The highlight of the meal for me was the appetizers – we got an order of the king crab rangoon and their truffle mac and cheese to share, and both were delicious.
After dinner we headed uptown to Carson’s apartment, and the two of us prepped our bags and outfits for race morning. I had decided on a long sleeve tee and a pair of shorts for the following day’s race, which was projected to have temps in the high 40s, with clear skies. Carson had picked up our race bibs and shirts in advance, which meant we could sleep in a little later the following day. The two of us hung out and caught up, eventually turning in for an early-ish bedtime.
When my alarm blared at 5:45, it felt WAY too early. I slowly rolled out of bed and got dressed, and braided half of my hair while Carson got ready… I would finish the other half later in the morning, while we waited for the ferry to arrive at the terminal. Carson had set up an Lyft, which picked us up at 6:15 and drove us all the way downtown to the ferry terminal. It was a quick ride, and when we got into the terminal they had a shop open, so we were able to grab breakfast while we waited for the 7:00 ferry to arrive. As 7:00 grew closer an announcement was made that the arriving ferry had “limited capacity,” and nervous runners rushed to line up at the ferry door to ensure that they would make it onto the boat.
When 7:00 rolled around, we were able to get on to the ferry, and even found seats near a window on the lower level. We watched the sunrise over the water as we headed from Manhattan to Staten Island. When the ferry arrived at staten island we opted to wait in line for the bathrooms in the terminal, which were indoor, instead of waiting for porter potties outside, since it was a chilly morning (it was in the high 40s °F). By the time we made it through the line it was already 8 am, and we were scheduled to start the race at 8:30. I quickly braided Carson’s hair, and then we headed outside.
The race staging was set up right outside of the terminal, which made getting to the start super easy. As soon as we walked out we saw NYRR tents, and were easily able to find the bag check, where I left my overnight bag while we were running. Once our bags were left behind, we headed to security, where we had to walk through metal detectors. But as soon as we were through security we could see the start corrals, and headed towards our corral, after spending a minute stretching and arranging all my fuel for the race.
Before we knew it, the corrals were collapsing, and we were walking towards the start. My plan for the day was simple: steady state running. I wanted to settle into a comfortable pace and just keep moving forward, no walking breaks, not even for water or fuel. While Carson and I were starting the race together, we knew we would probably go our separate ways a few miles in.
We crossed the start with all the other runners, and the rolling hills began almost immediately. Carson had run the event another year and warned me that at the beginning of the course the road had a bad left/right slant, and she was so right! We tried to stay as close to the middle of the road as we could, watching our feet as we ran over the uneven roads. Despite this, we were feeling okay as we settled into running, chatting as we made our way through the first few miles. There were water stations every mile or so on course, and while we got separated after the first one, Carson popped back by my side soon after. Between miles 3 and 4 Carson decided to walk a little, and we said our goodbyes and parted ways as we came upon another hill.
By then we were at the out and back part of the course, and I could see runners streaming by in the other direction and turned with them around mile 6 as I approached the second half of the race. My pace was holding steady in the mid-10s range, and I felt pretty good.
I started to recognize the course around mile 9, as we ran by Ft. Wadsworth, where the start village for the NYC marathon is held each year. I felt excited seeing it, thinking about how in under a month I’ll be there with Mike, getting ready to take on the NYC marathon together. Shortly after that I ran up yet another uphill, which took me under the Verrazano, where the NYC marathon starts. That got me even more excited for race day!
The last few miles of the race were sometimes along the water, which gave us city views as we ran. When I got to mile 11 I switched from listening to an audiobook to some music, looking for something a little faster paced to give me a push to get me through the last few miles.
Before I knew it I was going up what spectators yelled was “the last hill of the race,” and then spotting the finish line. I pushed to get through the last little bit of the course and crossed the finish line – and accomplished my goal of running the whole race without walking.
From there I was herded through the finisher chute, where I was handed a metal and then a recovery bag, which had a box of water, a bottle of Gatorade, a bag of pretzels and an apple. The fenced in area lead right to the bag check, so I grabbed my stuff and then found a curb to re-organize and stretch while waiting for Carson to finish running. A little less than a half hour later she came out of the finisher area and proclaimed that she was ready to get off this island and head home.
The two of us headed to the ferry together and found a sunny outdoor seat on the top deck for our return trip to Manhattan. Once we were back in the city we hopped on the subway, where we parted ways for the day. I took the subway right to Penn station, where I was able to change out of my running clothes and grab a sandwich while waiting for my train to arrive. It was a lot of mass transit to get home, but at least there wasn’t too much waiting around. When I got to the station near my house Dennis was waiting to pick me up, and I spent the rest of my day relaxing and recovering from the morning’s race.