Sunday, August 15, 2010

Race Report: Bronx Half Marathon

Today was the Bronx Half Marathon, the fourth in the series of half marathons in each borough of the city. This will be the first year I'll be able to run all five. The last, on Staten Island, will be in October.

I've run this race several times before, when it was in summer and in winter. It's an odd and somewhat convoluted series of out-and-backs, centered around the Jerome Reservoir, using Sedgewick Ave., Moshulu Parkway and the Grand Concourse. It's actually a fairly fast course, and I've run well there in the past.

It's also a course that's close to my home, only about three miles on bike. So a little after 6 a.m. I was on my bike across the University Heights Bridge. After locking my bike, dropping my bag and finding my corral, we were off at the 7 a.m. start. Weather was good, relatively cool and with cloud cover. After the first mile I was into a comfortable pace and surrounded by many runners I would be surrounded by throughout the race. In fact, there was one runner from New York Flyers who I was going back and forth with the whole time. I was confident a number of times that I'd be able to drop him, but he kept coming back, and approaching mile 12, he passed me for good. Still, I kept a decent and fairly consistent pace, if not as fast as I've run in the past, and finished in 1:24:46. in 82nd place, 80th place among men.

I didn't actually see to many runners I knew here. After the race I saw Emmy Stocker, who was using the race as a fun run, after a race the day before. Also I saw Ralph Yozzo, a West Side teammate, and chatted with him briefly after the race.

But it was a good race, and even hanging out a while after the race I was back on my bike and home by 9:15, with plenty of time for a good nap!

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