Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon race review 2013

Grete's Great Gallop is a NYRR half marathon that is run Central Park every year in October.  The course is a simple 2 loops (+ a little more) of Central Park.  Not the most exciting course but since it occurs 3 weeks before the NYC marathon, a lot of people use it as a training run.  Donna, Kanaka, and I had scheduled to do a 20 mile run that weekend.  So we planned to run the race then do an extra loop of the park to get our mileage in.    

5th Ave Mile 2013 race review

The 5th Ave Mile is one of my favorite races.  Because it is only a mile.  The only race of the year I can finish in under 8 minutes.  

New York City 10K 2013 race review

 

We decided to try a new race, the New York City 10k.  Maria had seen an ad online and asked if we wanted to sign up.  Looking at the website, they had a nice t-shirt and medal so Donna and I  were in.  Rich decided to do it and it would be his last race in NY before he moves back to England at the end of this year.  I had been meaning to sign up for the race but when I got around to it 2 weeks before the race it had reached its capacity of 2000 people and was sold out.  Hema had signed up to do it but could not get off work.  So I offered to buy her bib from her.

Aquaphor New York City Triathlon 2013 race review

July 13th, 2013 was my second time doing the New York City Triathlon.  Entry into the Aquaphor New York City Triathlon is via lottery.  I think about 5000 people get in through the lottery.  They also have a pro division, para-athlete division, and relay division.  Included in the weekend's activities is a Diaper Derby at the expo, the Underwear run (where 400 people run through central park in their skivvies the Friday before the race), and a Doggy Dash at the finish line festival.  

Empire State Building Run Up 2013

Having run a half of dozen marathon and a several half marathons, I was looking for a new challenge.  I decided to whim to enter the lottery to do the Empire State Building Run Up.  Seeing how only a couple hundred of the thousands of lottery entrants actually get to do this crazy race, I did not think my chances were too good that I would be selected.  I "lucked out" and got it.  The ESBRU is a stair climb up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.  86 floors, 1576 steps.  After being accepted, I really had to question my sanity for wanting to do this.  

MS bike tour 2012 race review

Donna ran across a discount code for the MS bike tour, so Donna, Alisha, Jenny, and myself decided to sign up. There is a option of a 30, 55, or 100 mile ride.  The other girls were keen to do the 55 mile ride.  But I was scheduled to run the Baltimore marathon the following weekend so I convinced them to opt for the 30 mile.  Also the appeal of this ride is that you get to ride around Manhattan.  But they changed the routes so that the 50 and 100 mile rides do not go around Manhattan.  Those riders exit the city through the Lincoln Tunnel and do all of their ride in NJ. 

Jamica Underwear Run 2011 race review

Leading up to the NYC triathlon, they have a few fun events to get people psyched up.  There is a diaper derby at the expo and a doggy dash the morning of the race.  On the Friday before the race they do their annual underwear run.  It is 1.7 mile fun run with a few hundred people running through Central Park in their underwear.  Considering the fact that most people are super fit triathletes, it is a fun event for spectators, too.

Emerald Nuts Midnight Run 2009/2010

In order to ring in the New Year I decided to do the Emerald Nuts Midnight run in Central Park.  It is a 4 mile fun run held in every year at the turn of midnight on December 31st.  There are fireworks in the park as well.   

NYRR Grand Prix half marathon series 2009 race rev...

I decided to set a goal of running a half marathon.  I had run a few short NYRR races in 2008 and decided 2009 would be the year I start training for a serious race.  The saw that they had a 5 boro series with a half marathon in each of the 5 boros at the time.  I decided why run 1 half marathon, why not do the whole series.  I later decided to try run all the half marathons in NYC that year, which included the 5 boro series, NYC half marathon, More/Fitness half marathon, and Grete's Great Gallop half marathon.  I ended up running 7 of the 8 of them.  These races ended up being a part my 9 + 1 qualifiers for the 2010 New York City Marathon.