10.12.10
Posted in New York at 10:01 am by Administrator
From Guest Blogger Nola Ford
On Sunday, I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon. It was the final race in the 2010 NYC Half Marathon Series. The day was cool, sunny and crisp. It was a perfect day to run. (Warwick did not run this race, focusing on long runs between his two marathons.)
The race started and finished close to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The ferry operates hourly early Sunday mornings, so a huge crowd of runners boarded the 7:30 am ferry. The biggest pre-race problem for runners was the huge lineup for restrooms on the ferry, at the ferry terminal, and in the race start area. Many of the 7,000 runners would have started late.
The course headed west, along Bay Street, through the Fort Wadsworth area, and then south along the beaches. At South Beach there was a turnaround with runners essentially retracing the route back to the ferry. There are detailed maps of this part of Staten Island in our book Fun on Foot in New York.
There were several hills and varying grades everywhere except for the beach section. There were plenty of water and Gatorade stations plus porta-potties throughout.
The route provided runners with a great view of Manhattan across the way and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. On a crisp sunny day, the Staten Island Half was most enjoyable with Staten Island locals encouraging the runners along the route. I recommend this race to all runners next year.
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09.09.10
Posted in New York, Philadelphia, Uncategorized at 9:24 pm by Administrator
The Philadelphia Distance Run, arguably Philadelphia’s most prestigious annual running event, has this year morphed into the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon. Not much has changed from past years, except for the addition of a little pizzazz and general fun. The race is on Sunday, September 19, starting and finishing near the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Nola and I are both entered to run the race. We shall also be at the Expo at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday and Saturday, September 17-18. We shall be autographing books there for all-comers, and the event is open to the public at no charge. We hope to meet many of our running colleagues and readers there.
The bad news is that the race is already full so it is too late to register now. However, all information you might need about the event is at: http://philadelphia.competitor.com
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07.24.10
Posted in New York at 5:27 pm by Administrator
This morning was the Queens Half, on a brand new course, centered around Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Establishing a new course this year was an excellent idea. At last year’s Queens Half, centered at College Point, it was so difficult to get to the start and home from the finish that many runners had their starts severely delayed and their day’s plans seriously disrupted.
The new course is really excellent. You get to the start/finish area via the 7 train. The runner passes all the interesting sights in the Flushing Meadows vicinity. It is also a pleasantly flat course, ideal for fast times and PRs on a normal day.
But today was no normal day. The race (thankfully) started at 7:00 am. However, the official race temperature was 86 degrees and humidity was 63%.
I ran my worst time ever in a half marathon (and I am not particularly out of condition). Compare that with last year’s Queens Half (run in September) where I ran my personal best. Every other runner I spoke to had similar thoughts – this was really a brutal run.
NYRR and their volunteers did an amazing job in supporting the event. There were water stations (almost all with Gatorade as well) at almost every mile. Problems today were definitely not attributable to the race organizers.
NYC weather is surprisingly nasty this summer. Keep cool, runners!
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07.14.10
Posted in Boston, New York at 4:16 pm by Administrator
Today at 9:00 am was your opportunity to register online for the October Boston Half Marathon, limited to 5,000 registrants. Like so many others, I duly went to the website precisely at 9:00 am, filled in the form with the enormous number of details required, and felt good when it accepted the form and offered me the waiver page. I then hit SUBMIT. The result, a minute or two later, was that my browser advised that the website had an error.
Since I had a long run scheduled today, I did not have the time to fight BAA’s faulty website any more. After my run, no surprise, the registration had closed.
This is typical of BAA, who have no ability (maybe no desire?) to conduct a real community event. Compare with NYRR, who go to such lengthy measures to ensure that all the NYC community have a fair chance to participate in their events.
I look forward to comments from others…
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06.27.10
Posted in New York, Uncategorized at 4:06 pm by Administrator
Today Sunday ended a very intense few days of city running activities. Last Sunday was the 5-mile Fathers Day run. Thursday evening was the American Heart Association 3-mile Wall Street run, Saturday was the Pride 5-Mile Run in Central Park, and today was the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5-Mile Run in Central Park. All four of these races were qualifying races for the 2011 New York City Marathon so all were popular for that reason in addition to the fundamental support causes of each event.
Having just moved back to New York for the season, Nola and I were no exceptions to the involvement. We both ran the Wall Street and Pride runs and volunteered to work the Achilles run. All were fun but all suffered from one negative factor – heat and humidity far higher than we runners like.
What impressed me most was the unrelenting strength of most runners in failing to let the heat and humidity dampen their spirits. If you run a little (or a lot) slower on hot humid days than on runner-perfect days, that is just normal. Perform as well as you can under the circumstances, and feel satisfied with your result. Your performance will undoubtedly add to your longer term strength and stamina building.
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05.24.10
Posted in New York at 11:18 am by Administrator
This past Saturday I ran my second Brooklyn Half Marathon. This is a popular New York City event with a character of its own. It starts in Prospect Park where runners are subjected to a quite hilly seven-mile double loop of the park, followed by a six-mile flat run along Ocean Parkway to Coney Island where it finishes on the boardwalk.
This year the weather was warm and very humid but not excessively hot. Nevertheless I struggled immensely in the last few miles of the event and was far from satisfied with my final time. I could put that down to my own form not being up to scratch coupled with the stress of waking at 4:00 am with a 3-hour time zone shift (that meant it was 1:00 am to my body) to get the subway to Brooklyn for a 7:00 am start. However, I was surprised to learn at the finish how many other runners were equally dissatisfied with their performances.
Despite those feelings, I was delighted to link up with my old running club (the Reservoir Dogs) and the partying that followed at Coney Island immediately after the race, involving not just my club but apparently most of the 7,000 finishers, made everyone quickly forget their times and feel good. There is something about this event that makes it one not to be missed!
(c) Warwick Ford, 2010
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05.23.10
Posted in New York at 2:53 pm by Administrator
Yesterday the final link in the trail along the Hudson River edge in Riverside Park, New York, was opened. This last link fills in the section between W 83rd and W 92nd Streets, where, until now, it was necessary to divert inland onto a trail in Riverside Park east of the Henry Hudson Parkway. Read the rest of this entry »
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03.24.10
Posted in New York at 5:41 pm by Administrator
On October 3, 2009, the defunct Poughkeepsie-Highland Rail Bridge was opened to the public for bicycle and pedestrian use as the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park (www.walkway.org). This completed the loop route foreshadowed in Fun on Foot in New York, using the sidewalk of the Mid-Hudson Road Bridge and the new Walkway connecting through downtown Poughkeepsie and Highland in Ulster County. Read the rest of this entry »
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11.17.09
Posted in New York, Uncategorized at 10:10 pm by Administrator
I have had this book for quite a while but held off on writing a review until putting it to the test. I ran my first marathon this month – the New York City Marathon, at age 61. My personal target was 4:30 and I succeeded in just beating that. I used many sources of inspiration and information, some printed and the others verbal or web-based. This book, which intrigued me, was one such source.
It is a short book (about 100 pages). It is a little out of date. Nevertheless, I found it very relevant, easy to use, and often of help. If someone wanted to run their first marathon and was limited to reading no more than one 100-page book, this book is undoubtedly the answer. Read the rest of this entry »
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11.03.09
Posted in New York at 10:38 am by Administrator
I ran the NYC Marathon Sunday – my first marathon. What an amazing experience! It was much more than just a 26.2 mile run. The route, touching on all five boroughs, is uniquely exciting. There were over 43,000 runners. The massive, enthusiastic crowds along the route were loud and supportive of all runners. The whole event was orchestrated extremely well by New York Road Runners and the many other organizations that play a role in making the day a success.
Personally I was very happy with my 4:27 finish, beating my goal for the day and establishing a respectable PR. I am already planning to do this marathon again next year.
One of the most important things in getting me to a successful marathon finish was my local running club, the Reservoir Dogs. What a fantastically supportive group of young people – superb athletes, with social activities always prominent! My best advice for any budding marathon runner is to find a club, such as the Dogs, to train with and support you.
Having now survived not only the marathon but also the Reservoir Dogs marathon night celebration, I am now working on total recovery. Legs are aching but life is good!
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