This is a little late in coming, sorry. But better late than never. Maybe. Anyway, on July 30 Rickie Innamorato and BUS staged the Pajama Run, a 6-hour race in the evening, from 6:00 pm to midnight, on a 1.27-mile loop in Astoria Park, Queens.
Despite being a somewhat late addition to the race calendar, 70 runners showed up for the start, more than I've seen at a BUS race in a long time. It was very exciting and encouraging. There were the usual regulars, but a lot of young newcomers or relative newcomers as well, including winners Tommy Pyon and Jimena Barrera. Tommy was kicking it and came up with 48.34 miles! Jimena, running very strong, had 37.93 miles.
David Plosonska, a multi-time Badwater finisher (top 20) came up from Baltimore and got second place with over 46 miles. I got third with 43.7. After my disastrous 24-hour in Philadelphia, I was happy just to keep running the whole six hours. Byron Lane got 4th and Eduardo Lara 5th. A true veteran Gail Marino finished second woman, followed by Amanda Goddard, Lucmar Araujo and Emmy Stocker.
The course was laid out well, it ran under the Triborough Bridge and the Hell Gate Bridge before looping back along the river to the start at the track area. It was heavy with parkgoers the first couple of hours of course, but the crowds thinned out as the race went on. It was also quite hot - about 90 degrees at the start - and stayed quite warm after the sun went down. But it's a beautiful park, it was a festive atmosphere, and Richie and the volunteers did an incredible job as always, but here especially taking on the higher than normal post entries. And it was a nice way to end the 2011 BUS season.
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