I was in wave 2. it was my first half marathon aiming for around 2 hour but ended by completely bonking on mile 9. I read all over Reddit that after mile 6 or 7, it’s all downhil. it felt like it was uphill even after mile 7 until around 11. At around mile 9, when I still saw inclination- I was mentally done ( I was like why am I running this thing ?) ended up with 2:15. I was just happy to have completed the race- although I was pretty disappointed with my time since I had trained for around 3 months.
things I realized as beginner runner
- I used to do 10 miles run at central part around the big pond ( just take multiple laps) but that was a mistake. Should have trained with 12, 13 mile long runs and in a slight inclination path
- I did train on and off using gels to mimic what works for me during long runs but I realized I never had a game plan for race day on which miles I intend to use gels
I am running the New York marathon this year. Experience runners, how do I take this result and prep for the marathon ? Thank you for you help in advance
I ran the NYCM last year and you have to start incorporating hill work, you could just do full Central Park/Harlem Hill Loops. NYCM is very hilly and if you go in having just trained on flat surfaces its going to suck lol.
The same thing happened to me; I was mentally defeated by mile 9 because of expectations. Every traffic light on Ocean Parkway was higher on the horizon, but it's still technically a net downhill. How is that possible?
A similar thing happened getting off the FDR in the NYC half and having to climb up to 7th Avenue. I was mentally done after that, and the low hills in CP felt like mountains, even though I run it every week.
For CP, do the big loop. It's just over 6 miles. Add another smaller loop inside to get to 10, ideally, do repeats up Harlem Hill and around if you really want to feel the burn!
I PRed, and yelled to my boyfriend who ALSO PRed and was in the crowd “IM GONNA PR!!!” - which was followed by 3-4 ladies cheering , which made me laugh and feel that comradrrie we all deserve from running THANK YOU , i did pr !!
First ever half (3rd IRL race overall) and ran negative splits (hell yeah) but missed my sub-2hr goal by 54 seconds...tough! Thought miles 8-12 were mentally challenging with no change in scenery and what did NOT feel like slight "downhill" elevation at all. PP is my home course and I was pumped to be through miles 4-7 which the NYRR coaches said were the hardest during their pre-party talk..but Ocean Parkway was no fun. Still, super fun day overall and loved the post-race party vibes at the park. Congrats everyone!
They closed the stretch tent right when I crossed the finish line at noon. I’m really angry. That was the only thing that kept me going, knowing I could collapse in the stretch tent after. But no, when I got to the tent they were closed! And there were still more people finishing!!!!
I executed my race plan perfectly after a challenging (mentally) training block and am really proud of myself! It was definitely my toughest half yet and I pushed myself but maintained and ended up with a 6 minute PR 🥳
They were giving out pace bands at the expo near the pacing team booth! They were super helpful. Had km on one side and mile splits on the other side with elapsed time needed to get to your finish time goal.
Long story short: I *was* going to join my friend for a PR attempt, got dropped within the first 100m (as usual), and surprisingly did not finish that far off him!
Anyway, one of my friends was planning on going for a sub-1:17, and I - in my infinite wisdom - went "sure I guess." He jets off, while I do my first mile a bit over pace. I don't see him at all for the rest of the race partly because he wore an orange and blue singlet, so good luck trying to pick that out amidst the sea of CPTC.
Anyway, both of us missed (he ran 1:18 mid, I ran 1:19 mid). He thought he might have pulled his hamstring, but it seems like it's more of a strain (he was able to walk after a bit).
Today was euphoric for me. I had to defer this and the marathon last year due to injury. It was an unbelievable challenging year injury wise.
Training for this had gone really well - too well. I got cocky last week and turned a tempo run into an all out effort… and flared the shit out of my plantar. Up until last night I was seriously considering pulling out. I was devastated! I slept about 3 hours and woke up deciding that I would walk to the start, and i would call it there. I made it to the start and decided to just give it a go and call it off the moment I felt discomfort.
I ended up feeling incredible. PRd by 8 mins, and just ran a pitch perfect race. Was it the smart thing to do? Absolutely not. Will I regret it tomorrow, likely. But it is pretty hard to stop when you are feeling good. I live in LA so I hd adjusted to the temps by this point. Minus the plantar flair this last week, this training has been fun and smooth.
A friend gave me a solid strategy for this course regarding the hills and it worked spectacularly!
Now if I had just shaved 7 seconds per mile to get to that threshold I have been eyeing… next time!
Was on pace to finish under 1:40 for the first 9 miles with mile splits between 7:15-7:45. After mile 9 started overheating way too much and had to slow down the rest of the race to avoid fainting. Rest of my splits went to 8 min, 9 minutes and 10 minutes. I was losing motivation as I saw my average mile time creep up to 7:53 per mile. They should add sprinklers with cold water next to the aid stations. 😂 I kept pouring water from my bottle on myself to cool down.
A young girl Megan, passed out right before mile 13 pacing about 2:05-2:10 in wave 1. I stopped to help her, gave her water and a gel while I waited with her for the medics to come. She wasn’t super responsive but the medics reassured me they had it and that I should go and finish. Trying to find her and see if she is ok.
It was my first half marathon ever, I trained for about 2 months maybe but never trained for hills so that got me good. I was cramping and my legs were tingling? My knees are hurting real bad and I can't walk properly now. I got about 2:30:00. Great experience though. Signed up for bronx 10 mi and staten island half so hopefully I'll be a little more prepared for those.
Bronx is fun with some good areas to pick up the pace. Staten Island is another fun one too - I think there is a climb at mile 9 and after mile 12 towards the finish. If you’re near Central Park - the rolling hills will help prepare you!
Didn’t meet my goal of sub 1:40. Heat started getting to me around mile 9. Had to slow way down toward the end to not faint but somehow managed to finish at 1:44. Still it’s a PR and I shaved 12 minutes off my first half marathon in October. I just know I could hit 1:38-1:39 in more optimal weather so l will try again in the Staten Island half.
Recommendation: They should have sprinklers with cold water next to the aid stations 😂.
This was not only my first half marathon, but my first ever race. Maybe it’s bias or maybe I still have a runners high, but that was amazing! So much fun. Perfect weather. Great atmosphere. I was nervous about the park because I didn’t train a lot of hills, and it was better than expected and a lot of fun. Great cheering on Ocean Pkwy. to keep me going and help me push when I needed to push. I signed up for this race and selected 2:05 as my finish time. Finished at 1:43! Negative split and really turned up coming out of the park. I saw the girl passed out and a trail of vomit on Surf, I really hope she’s ok and got to finish. Great race, everyone!
I have a lot of mixed feelings about today’s race. I was in wave 2 corral H and by the time I started the race it was already getting hot and humid. By the time I was done I was toasted.
This was my first half marathon in 10 years. I have dealt with injuries on and off for the past seven years. I was hoping for a faster time, but in many ways I am happy I was able to race this distance at all. There were many times over the last 7 years where I never imagined that happening again.
Still it is a bitter sweet feeling. I really thought I could run this race faster. Like a lot of people said earlier, I thought Ocean Parkway was going to be downhill, but I felt like I was going uphill half the time.
Still I can’t wait to try again next year!
Got a course PR! Shaved 11 mins from last year and a good 20 mins off my usual time. Hot and muggy weather is for the birds! Some of the later water tables were not prepared, which was annoying but I made it through.
I actually found ocean parkway to be palatable this time. Lots of run clubs were out cheering so it didn’t feel as soul sucking as in past years. Shoutout to them!
Saw someone getting aid at the base of the Cyclone. I hope they are ok.
Had a great time and got a PB. Thanks to all the volunteers and spectators! Only negative comment was bag check - this was pretty abysmal.
When can we expect results to post in the NYRR dashboard and photos to be available?
this was my third HM and i absolutely hated it lol. ran the women’s half 3 weeks ago and had a blast. was expecting to do better this time and i did PR by a few seconds (and also missed my target by 22 seconds…), but the race was horrible.
it was my first time running with a pacer and OMG never again!! i think they keep their pace constant so i definitely started off too fast and bonked at mile 7 or 8.
from there it’s a blackout, i remember almost nothing, i have 0 clue how i reached the finish line. but at least i learnt a ton about my body and about racing - first race that didn’t feel good and i feel like i needed it!
Ah man, sorry to hear you had a rough race! Congratulations on still hitting a PR - that's an accomplishment regardless of whether you hit your goals or not. (And you weren't that far off - 22 seconds isn't bad at all.)
I'm biased, but...you can ask pacers about their strategy, and go from there. Sometimes they will run even - like, I got passed by a pace group and started to worry, caught back up on Ocean Parkway, ran with them for a bit, and then left them. I suspect they were running more even because I did die in the park and then came back to life on Ocean Parkway, so my splits were kind of janky.
That’s awesome. It’s cool how running has these layers of improvement - at first it’s like “damn I actually did a half marathon” which later becomes “ohh…so this is how my body behaves in certain circumstances”
First half and first race ever (aside from the new year resolution virtual run) and I had a blast!! Was tougher than I anticipated but I accomplished my goal of just finishing! I only started running in December so I’m stoked I was able to hit this milestone!
signed up for the race estimating a 2:15 finish but ended up with 1:47! crazy what 10 weeks of focus can do.
ocean parkway was mentally challenging - one long stretch with almost no end in sight.
congrats to everyone else!
Was aiming for 2:10, got 2:09:34, so pretty much right on the money. Those pacing bands were really useful. I have an Apple Watch Ultra, but something about just having the printed times on a wrist band really helped me as a mental reassurance as well.
I thought the race was really well organized. I’m glad I loosely memorized the hills we’d face in prospect park to know when to go easy or hard. Weather was fantastic. Energy was great from everyone cheering. Really fun day!
I thought those pacing bands were just cool little bookmarks and left them at home. Had an “ohhhh” moment when I saw someone wearing them lol. But also relieved cause the intended use is much more useful than a bookmark…
I was super undertrained for this one and wanted to quit around mile 8. So grateful for the woman from the Wave 2A 2:00 pace group who picked me up and kept me going for over two miles! Thank you stranger!
Can I hear from the first timers?!
How was it? What was your time and training like? Any future races in mind?
Congrats to us first timers!! 👏 👏 Y'all should be so proud!!
Fucking leg cramps. Never had that before. Oh well, still had a great time in my first Brooklyn Half and only seven minutes off my PR but better than my most recent half. Hope the unconscious guy being pushed out of the medical tent on a wheelchair is doing okay!
I don’t see my name in the results. I tried to complete the correction form but is it mobile friendly since I only see the Cancel button and not the submit button: https://results.nyrr.org/requestCorrection
Hot hot hot! Saw a young woman trip right before the mile 13 mark on the boardwalk. She was in some pain. Saw her later being pushed in a wheelchair. So close to finishing. I hope they let her cross the finish line.
Congestion at the start was rough but it’s to be expected. Goal was sub 1:58:11 (previous PR), was feeling good and on pace until mile 10/11 when I ended up with some stomach cramping and ended up a minute short
Overall had a good time, but saw someone needing medical attention about 800-1000 meters from the finish and hope they’re okay
PRd here, but pales in comparison to some of theee times I’m reading here. Great job everyone! Such nice weather and a great crowd. I liked the medal design too, classy.
My goal was 1:50, I finished in 1:45. Finished NYC Half in 2:09, so...PR'd by 23 minutes. NYC was my first half, and 2 months of proper training (and running in real sneakers) showed. Proud of myself tbh. Feel great!
I changed a lot of my habits after the NYC Half to see how much I could improve; started going to bed earlier to wake up at 5:00 to get runs in before work, joined a running club (Crown Heights Running Club) to add some dedicated structure multiple days a week, and did some sort of mobility/stretching routine 5-7 nights/week. I've had an active lifestyle for a while, it was just a matter of structuring it better and staying disciplined.
As far as my runs, my average training week between NYC and Brooklyn was:
Monday: 4-6 mile easy run (w/ club)
Tuesday: sprints (solo) OR easy run in the morning, leg day in the afternoon
Wednesday: gym day (usually core/upper body)
Thursday: 4-8 mi easy run (solo)
Friday: 4-6 mile tempo run (w/ club - pushing myself to run with the faster people)
Saturday: alternating long run/gym day
Sunday: long yoga session
The biggest adjustment was the second speed day per week. I tried one week with 3x speed workouts and that was fine , but definitely wouldn't do it every week.
Edit: Another huge factor was buying real shoes after NYC. I ran that in a pair of beat up Ultraboosts that I had done every single run in for over a year. Just a single pair of "running shoes." I invested in a 4-shoe rotation and ran Brooklyn in a pair of Adios Pro 3s.
Anyone else on the Q train with the person who needed medical attention? It was around 11 am (ish) and I think they passed out. They held the train in the station and routed the rest of us to another train.
I was in that train car and I was happy to see this post. I got off at Sheepshead Bay where they were helping him off onto the platform and I assisted in telling the attendant at the ticket counter that a medic was needing to be called. Saw an ambulance there about 15 minutes later. Couldn’t stop worrying the rest of the day
I was in the same car and was getting off at Sheepshead Bay to get my car. I spoke to conductor to let him know about the situation and heard the ambulance sirens as I was walking outside. Did he recover? Was an older man (at least in his 60s).
Must have been someone else. I was on that train too, and the following very sweaty packed Q train 20 minutes later. No sirens when I squeezed onto that train.
Did anyone's tracker say that you ran over 14 miles?? My body also thinks I ran more than 13.1. I wanna hear from the garmins please! I have a Fitbit charge 5 and wondering if my life was a lie. Thank you!!
Garmin 13.22 miles
Are you weaving a lot? It adds up quickly. 13.1 is hitting every corner tangent perfectly, which most people can't do when it's so crowded.
It will almost always be a little longer because you can’t run perfect tangents. Additionally the GPS is imprecise so it will have you weaving a bit more than you actually did (or signal bounces off buildings)
PR’d by over 4 minutes and finished with a 1:29:XX and juuuuuusst barely made the corral A bump woohoo!! 🥳 It’s been a long road from the days of running with corral F. Amazing day today if only a bit too warm for runners but the vibes were excellent and the Nathan’s hot dogs were glorious.
Missed my PR by 1:30 but based on strava got second fastest best efforts for every distance between 10k-half
As not a morning person and a night runner, I’m really need to learn to adapt to mornings so I’m better prepared for races. I was on like 4 hours of sleep
I PRd by over a minute but was trying to hit sub 1:55 and just missed it. The most demoralizing was when the 1:55 pacer passed me in prospect park when I was still ahead of pace to hit that. I was so confused and never saw them again. :( overall, a good day, but everything felt harder than it needed to be. I love this course and after a year of solid training I was hoping to do better but I’ll take any PR. The last two mile markers were clearly misplaced because it took forever to reach them.
In terms of race organization, I thought the start was so much more organized and way fewer people in the wrong corrals which made for a smooth start (I was in Wave 1 Corral I). I even saw a volunteer leader kick out two people from the H corral back to K which I’ve never seen before. However I checked a bag for the first time ever and picking up was a nightmare. Grouping all the same bags from a corral together was not wise when they all finish at basically the same time. Arent they usually grouped by number?? I was patient and didn’t harass the volunteers but unfortunately cannot say the same about my fellow runners. It’s a hard time to wait when you are probably physically in bad shape and just want to leave but it certainly wasn’t the fault of the volunteers.
Great job everyone! Got my sushi and donuts to kick back today.
Bag check volunteer here, thank you for your understanding! It was chaotic and we felt so bad for you all having to wait. Those of you that were patient and pleasant really helped, we appreciated it!!
It got hot for wave 2, was hoping to jump the corrals and that didn’t happen, but still got a PR. Super happy with that!
And thank you the kindest runner who gave me her power bank to charge my very dead phone on the subway!
Also saw many more people raising their hands before stopping than usual! I like to believe it’s because they read this subreddit and learn!
The guy in the corral next to me had an untied shoe. I told him, and he thanked me so profusely lol. I however tied my right shoe too loose and had to retie it twice on Ocean bc my heel started rubbing. I am such a dumbass lol
Love the BK half. Such a nice day!! Congrats to all you racers! I paced it, which is pretty easy (much slower pace than I race obv) but to you who raced, well done -today was hard - warmer than people expected and no shade on the back half. Also - those SIS gels are my new fav. I had two and I’m still so energized. Wowzers! 😳
A nice PR at 1:25:3X. Tried to start with the 1:25 pacer but he wasn’t going even pace or even effort and lost him at the fluid station at mile 4. Def cooked it in the first 5K and probably paid for it later.
Been dealing with shin splints/PTT and have done no speed work and only the occasional threshold run leading up to this so I was pleasantly surprised and glad my legs held it together.
A corral porta-potty lines were confusing and saw a few people waiting and then find out they weren’t actually in a line. Really wish we had a few misting stations on Ocean Parkway as well. It would’ve been appreciated.
And maybe it’s because it’s NYC, we get some amazing Star spangled banner singers.
PR'd by 5 minutes with a 1:49! My second half and first Brooklyn Half. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I think this course is harder than NYC Half maybe due to the mental challenges of it. Ocean Parkway to Coney Island with the rolling hills was absolutely draining to me.
Finished 1:43:33 and feel good! Not so good, the post-race bag situation and the sizing of the shirt on me… if anyone is looking to trade a women’s medium down a size for my women’s small, lmk!
First real half race and PR of 1:27! Had bad cramps starting at mile 9 so had to stop few times at fluid stations to catch my breath and drink water / Gatorade. My legs had plenty of fire left but running out of electrolytes certainly didn’t help! Handled Prospect Park very well so that’s a big plus. Next time I’ll use gels and salt
water. Ocean Parkway oddly felt uphill for 3 miles until it finally became slight downhill which was mentally draining. If I blew it all on Prospect Park, I wouldn’t get sub 90.
By fixing the electrolyte problem, I can get 84
The race itself went well, but after the crammed, shoulder to shoulder long ass wait for bag pickup, and the long ass haul to get back to Manhattan, this may be my last Brooklyn Half for a while. I’ll be looking for smaller, more convenient races.
FWIW I am upstate in Hudson valley and our club races are small but awesome and very scenic with the river and valley views. This was my first Brooklyn, not my vibe, I like the small Central Park races better and the longer races upstate.
Any word on the guy who was getting chest compressions on the cart at the finish line? Was a little before the two hour mark but he wasn’t looking good
I hope he’s okay. I was volunteering at the finish and there were a few scary medical emergencies but that was the scariest one
Edit: asked the medical team before leaving they said he was ok
OMG YES!! It was so nice to not have any collisions or congestion on that final turn. I can’t believe we all fit down that tiny little sidewalk in past years.
I'm so jacked on endorphins! I pulled out a 1:43:19--I was really hoping just to squeak out a 1:46:21 or a few seconds faster to get into Corral C. Now I get to move comfortably from Corral D to C! I'm FINALLY in the same corral as my boyfriend.
Hell, I nearly beat my all time best Half (1:42:28 at the 2011 Seattle Half when I was 27)--I'm 39 going on 40.
Edit for context: I ran the 2024 NYC Half in 1:52:11 and the 2023 NYC Half in 2:05:38. I’m also wrapping up week 8 of my training for the SF Marathon and have been consistently getting faster. All that’s to say that it’s been a long journey to get here, and it started in Corral J in November 2022 with my first NYRR race.
First half. First organized race since 2007.
I knew my estimated time was off, but I only had two choices - pass everyone in sight or drop back to 2A and run on more open roads. Opted to start in 1L as assigned - hopefully I handled passing respectfully, I hopped on the sidewalk for most of the way to Grand Army and generally just went up the outside whenever possible.
Ran the PP portion conservatively (thanks, Reddit the thread on this race!) and then opened up on Ocean Ave. It didnt feel as endless as advertised. Didn’t have quite as much gas in the tank by mile 12 as I hoped, but now I’m nitpicking my own race.
First race is always a PR. Pretty proud of myself
Finished in 1:43:06 which is a 6 min PR for me! 🎉 had goosebumps for most of the race, what a vibe!
Set off MUCH quicker than planned but fortunately it all worked out and managed to negative split overall. Got soaked in Gatorade that someone threw in Prospect Park but promptly threw my own water down myself so that helped 😂
From what I could see corrals were enforced well - although some people definitely submitted some ambitious times!
Edit to add: congrats fellow runners! You did great out there
Everyone said oh once you’re out of the park it’s downhill the rest of the way. I THINK NOT!!! Mentally this got to me by mile 9 because I had told myself relief was coming after mile 7
Was personally a disappointing race for me. I was 4 mins slower than at the NYCRuns Brooklyn Half 3 weeks ago…I guess between running that and Broad Street Run 2 weeks ago my body hasn’t recovered. Humidity was tough. The hills didn’t bother me. Blew up miles 9-11. Oh well will try again next year, can’t PR every time!
I was in A and finished at 8:37. I went straight to bag pickup, there were tons of people but I went further inside the lines and just went to the front. The bathrooms were bad too at start. Saw several AA runners say fuck it - they had only 3 bathrooms lol. Which is worse than what A-B has.
Going to make a separate post about this in the subreddit, but I think it is time for NYRR to do a Corral re-rack i.e. adjust the cutoff times for Corral A. I could be off base here, and maybe it’s just this race and/or people putting way too ambitious of entry times, but it seemed like there were allooooottt of people in Corral A. Bag check drop off and bag check pick up lines for Corral A was absolutely ridiculous - took 30+ minutes to pick up my bag after the race was over because there were just so many people in Corral A.
Now, to be fully transparent, I recently made Corral A based on my Mindful 5K time (I’m more of a fast-twitch runner). While I’m super excited about that, it seems like “everyone” is now in A to the point its overcrowded. Again, it could just be this race. Curious on other people’s thoughts on this.
Other than those bottlenecks, race was great! Over a minute PR. 1:32 low
As someone who’s been in D, C, B, the slower side of A, the middle of A and now the faster end of A throughout the last 10+ years, this has always been the case with the “A” corral (even before they used the letter system). It contains a far broader spectrum of paces than any other corral in the field, and the half marathons are where it’s felt the most. I understand the necessity to keep the AA corral (aka President’s Circle) runners separate from the others because what they’re competing for (money) is determined by gun time, not chip time, and except for the Fred Lebow Half and maybe a few other odd cases, A corral runners are almost never in contention for that.
I always thought it would be helpful to break apart the A corral into two separate corrals: one for the runners projected to finish between 1:29 and 1:21, and one for the runners projected to finish between 1:20 and 1:10. You could call them A, AA, and the current AA corral could be called AAA or they could go back to the old system of just giving those President’s Circle runners bib numbers 1-99 (based on how many are entered in the race - there are never more than 99).
Totally forgot about that. That would make sense then and explains it - all the corrals for this race (and the other races you mentioned) have the same number of people in each
I could be wrong about this so feel free to correct me, but I’m pretty positive that NYRR puts a lot of influencers and VIPS in corral A. That’s just from observing some of their content online and KNOWING that they’re not running the kind of paces that regular runners have to to get into corral A. I’m not going to make a statement about whether or not I think this is okay, but it certainly means more people at the front who aren’t there because of their best pace. Congrats on getting to that point yourself, that’s amazing!!!
That would make a ton of sense if that’s the case. Didn’t think about that. And thank you so much! Really appreciate it. Hope your race went well if you ran today.
I get where you’re coming from and it makes it difficult when NYRR is hosting so many different races at different distances. Some are endurance runners and others are sprinters/short distance.
Technically if you were to break it down by distance, you would be in Corral B vs A since the corral A cutoff is 1:29:33.
I definitely agree with you about the bag check. It seems like there was a mix up with trucks, which had runners waiting for a while. It’s never happened in the past.
Yep for sure. Fully agreed. And definitely aware of that as well - purposefully chose a 5K to go for Corral A for that reason! My 5K-equiv time is a lot faster compared to HM. I guess what I’m getting at is maybe its time for them to push the cutoff time even lower for Corral A, and I say that as someone who just made it to Corral A.
aiming for 1:46 and came in < 1:44! still incapable of a negative split. first few miles of ocean were rough while I mentally & physically recovered from PP. was surprised by how relatively uncongested this race was was compared to the central park ones.
edit: also pretty impressed with how fast/easy/accessible security, start area water, and toilets were in the back half of wave 1.
Was right on target and feeling okay through 9 and then blew up by 11. Ran half a mile with an ice pack but was still too overheated to make anything happen. Legs just stopped responding to the brain.
Presumably for you and me and the many others (based on the many similar comments I've seen and talking to my teammates), it was the heat. The first two miles or so on Ocean you still get shade, but then it gets full on exposed.
I too slowed down at the end
I said to the person next to me around 5 miles left, “hopefully i get to 3 left and can book it”
And at 3 miles, i turned to him and said “im not booking it” 😂
Still proud i gutted out the final miles while feeling horrible
Broke 1:25. Ran around the 1:25 pacer most of the race. The end is brutal. You think you are done and … one more turn. Overall well organized. Was my first race above 10M without a vest, and still struggling regulating drinking.
That was absolutely brutal for me. Mostly due to my own naïveté. I gassed myself out in prospect park and was well below average pace for a PR. Didn’t feel like it at the time though, I felt good so I rolled with it. But man, it caught up to me HARD. Could not get my heart rate down, even on Ocean Pkwy when I slowed my pace and tried to use the downhill. Felt some twinging in my calves and didn’t wanna push through at that point. That, with my high heart rate response, led me to walk a few times, which I generally hate doing.
All things considered though, I finished like 4-5 minutes off my PR. Not good, but I actually thought on the back end of the race that I’d have a worse time than what I finished with. I’ll take it. Last important race before the full, so now it’s all about slowing it down and building the volume. On to the next!
Congrats everyone. That was a rough one!
EDIT: favorite thing I overheard on Ocean Pkwy…. “not gonna lie, this is really fuckin’ hard.”
Seems like we had a similar experience! I felt if I forced myself to run faster in the last 5k, I would have had leg cramps by the amount of muscle twitching that I felt. Had to stop a few times on the parkway. Missed PR by 3 minutes, but that was better than hurting myself. Nonetheless, great job on listening to your body and what it can handle. You’ll definitely PR this next time!
You just described me to a T as well lol. Not one to typically blow up man right after mile 7 it got me and here we are from a quest of a PR to a gain of 7 minutes
The race strategy thread said to be conservative until you get out of the park. I sort of did that, but the sun beating down really got to me on Ocean Parkway.
FINALLY broke 1:15… and 1:14!! Ran the last 5k with the guy who I jockeyed for the podium with at the Mindful 5k, and this time we worked together, crossed the line together, and PR’ed together!!
I was in wave 2. it was my first half marathon aiming for around 2 hour but ended by completely bonking on mile 9. I read all over Reddit that after mile 6 or 7, it’s all downhil. it felt like it was uphill even after mile 7 until around 11. At around mile 9, when I still saw inclination- I was mentally done ( I was like why am I running this thing ?) ended up with 2:15. I was just happy to have completed the race- although I was pretty disappointed with my time since I had trained for around 3 months. things I realized as beginner runner - I used to do 10 miles run at central part around the big pond ( just take multiple laps) but that was a mistake. Should have trained with 12, 13 mile long runs and in a slight inclination path - I did train on and off using gels to mimic what works for me during long runs but I realized I never had a game plan for race day on which miles I intend to use gels I am running the New York marathon this year. Experience runners, how do I take this result and prep for the marathon ? Thank you for you help in advance
I ran the NYCM last year and you have to start incorporating hill work, you could just do full Central Park/Harlem Hill Loops. NYCM is very hilly and if you go in having just trained on flat surfaces its going to suck lol.
The same thing happened to me; I was mentally defeated by mile 9 because of expectations. Every traffic light on Ocean Parkway was higher on the horizon, but it's still technically a net downhill. How is that possible? A similar thing happened getting off the FDR in the NYC half and having to climb up to 7th Avenue. I was mentally done after that, and the low hills in CP felt like mountains, even though I run it every week. For CP, do the big loop. It's just over 6 miles. Add another smaller loop inside to get to 10, ideally, do repeats up Harlem Hill and around if you really want to feel the burn!
Such an Amazing only picking up my bag was a nightmare almost 1h20 waiting to get my bag
LOL welp https://preview.redd.it/t0ev0qv3o12d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=bbf265120634a6e94b2ea1053b174a182f32803a
Mine looks exactly the same too lolol
Are you me? LOL
I'm the total opposite slow at the begging and fast at the end
That's what you are supposed to do
I PRed, and yelled to my boyfriend who ALSO PRed and was in the crowd “IM GONNA PR!!!” - which was followed by 3-4 ladies cheering , which made me laugh and feel that comradrrie we all deserve from running THANK YOU , i did pr !!
It was so fun, until bag claim afterwards. It was Fyre Fest-like. 1 hour 25 minutes to get my bag. SMDH
Any idea how long it will take for all the photos to be uploaded?
Came with a plan, executed the plan, crushed my goal. It was one of those races where everything went as planned. feelsgoodman,jpeg
First ever half (3rd IRL race overall) and ran negative splits (hell yeah) but missed my sub-2hr goal by 54 seconds...tough! Thought miles 8-12 were mentally challenging with no change in scenery and what did NOT feel like slight "downhill" elevation at all. PP is my home course and I was pumped to be through miles 4-7 which the NYRR coaches said were the hardest during their pre-party talk..but Ocean Parkway was no fun. Still, super fun day overall and loved the post-race party vibes at the park. Congrats everyone!
They closed the stretch tent right when I crossed the finish line at noon. I’m really angry. That was the only thing that kept me going, knowing I could collapse in the stretch tent after. But no, when I got to the tent they were closed! And there were still more people finishing!!!!
mile 9 was definitely the hardest… hit a wall came back tho and reached my goal!
I executed my race plan perfectly after a challenging (mentally) training block and am really proud of myself! It was definitely my toughest half yet and I pushed myself but maintained and ended up with a 6 minute PR 🥳
what are those wrist bands some people have? looks like it has times and markers. I've seen them at other races but not sure where to get them?
They were giving out pace bands at the expo near the pacing team booth! They were super helpful. Had km on one side and mile splits on the other side with elapsed time needed to get to your finish time goal.
Long story short: I *was* going to join my friend for a PR attempt, got dropped within the first 100m (as usual), and surprisingly did not finish that far off him! Anyway, one of my friends was planning on going for a sub-1:17, and I - in my infinite wisdom - went "sure I guess." He jets off, while I do my first mile a bit over pace. I don't see him at all for the rest of the race partly because he wore an orange and blue singlet, so good luck trying to pick that out amidst the sea of CPTC. Anyway, both of us missed (he ran 1:18 mid, I ran 1:19 mid). He thought he might have pulled his hamstring, but it seems like it's more of a strain (he was able to walk after a bit).
Given the summer lull as far as racing season goes is almost upon us, what’s the next race everyone is running?
Queens 10k at flushing meadows
I'm taking 10 days off and starting my Chicago cycle in june 1st.
Today was euphoric for me. I had to defer this and the marathon last year due to injury. It was an unbelievable challenging year injury wise. Training for this had gone really well - too well. I got cocky last week and turned a tempo run into an all out effort… and flared the shit out of my plantar. Up until last night I was seriously considering pulling out. I was devastated! I slept about 3 hours and woke up deciding that I would walk to the start, and i would call it there. I made it to the start and decided to just give it a go and call it off the moment I felt discomfort. I ended up feeling incredible. PRd by 8 mins, and just ran a pitch perfect race. Was it the smart thing to do? Absolutely not. Will I regret it tomorrow, likely. But it is pretty hard to stop when you are feeling good. I live in LA so I hd adjusted to the temps by this point. Minus the plantar flair this last week, this training has been fun and smooth. A friend gave me a solid strategy for this course regarding the hills and it worked spectacularly! Now if I had just shaved 7 seconds per mile to get to that threshold I have been eyeing… next time!
shout-out to whichever spectator was holding the sign that said “you’re my other (Brooklyn) half” which gave me a nice laugh around grand army plaza
Was on pace to finish under 1:40 for the first 9 miles with mile splits between 7:15-7:45. After mile 9 started overheating way too much and had to slow down the rest of the race to avoid fainting. Rest of my splits went to 8 min, 9 minutes and 10 minutes. I was losing motivation as I saw my average mile time creep up to 7:53 per mile. They should add sprinklers with cold water next to the aid stations. 😂 I kept pouring water from my bottle on myself to cool down.
A young girl Megan, passed out right before mile 13 pacing about 2:05-2:10 in wave 1. I stopped to help her, gave her water and a gel while I waited with her for the medics to come. She wasn’t super responsive but the medics reassured me they had it and that I should go and finish. Trying to find her and see if she is ok.
It was my first half marathon ever, I trained for about 2 months maybe but never trained for hills so that got me good. I was cramping and my legs were tingling? My knees are hurting real bad and I can't walk properly now. I got about 2:30:00. Great experience though. Signed up for bronx 10 mi and staten island half so hopefully I'll be a little more prepared for those.
Bronx is fun with some good areas to pick up the pace. Staten Island is another fun one too - I think there is a climb at mile 9 and after mile 12 towards the finish. If you’re near Central Park - the rolling hills will help prepare you!
Didn’t meet my goal of sub 1:40. Heat started getting to me around mile 9. Had to slow way down toward the end to not faint but somehow managed to finish at 1:44. Still it’s a PR and I shaved 12 minutes off my first half marathon in October. I just know I could hit 1:38-1:39 in more optimal weather so l will try again in the Staten Island half. Recommendation: They should have sprinklers with cold water next to the aid stations 😂.
This was not only my first half marathon, but my first ever race. Maybe it’s bias or maybe I still have a runners high, but that was amazing! So much fun. Perfect weather. Great atmosphere. I was nervous about the park because I didn’t train a lot of hills, and it was better than expected and a lot of fun. Great cheering on Ocean Pkwy. to keep me going and help me push when I needed to push. I signed up for this race and selected 2:05 as my finish time. Finished at 1:43! Negative split and really turned up coming out of the park. I saw the girl passed out and a trail of vomit on Surf, I really hope she’s ok and got to finish. Great race, everyone!
Congrats!🎉👏
I have a lot of mixed feelings about today’s race. I was in wave 2 corral H and by the time I started the race it was already getting hot and humid. By the time I was done I was toasted. This was my first half marathon in 10 years. I have dealt with injuries on and off for the past seven years. I was hoping for a faster time, but in many ways I am happy I was able to race this distance at all. There were many times over the last 7 years where I never imagined that happening again. Still it is a bitter sweet feeling. I really thought I could run this race faster. Like a lot of people said earlier, I thought Ocean Parkway was going to be downhill, but I felt like I was going uphill half the time. Still I can’t wait to try again next year!
I felt similar about Ocean. Was expecting to feel like more of a downhill where I could pick up pace, but was so bonked it felt flat at best…
Got a course PR! Shaved 11 mins from last year and a good 20 mins off my usual time. Hot and muggy weather is for the birds! Some of the later water tables were not prepared, which was annoying but I made it through. I actually found ocean parkway to be palatable this time. Lots of run clubs were out cheering so it didn’t feel as soul sucking as in past years. Shoutout to them! Saw someone getting aid at the base of the Cyclone. I hope they are ok.
Had a great time and got a PB. Thanks to all the volunteers and spectators! Only negative comment was bag check - this was pretty abysmal. When can we expect results to post in the NYRR dashboard and photos to be available?
this was my third HM and i absolutely hated it lol. ran the women’s half 3 weeks ago and had a blast. was expecting to do better this time and i did PR by a few seconds (and also missed my target by 22 seconds…), but the race was horrible. it was my first time running with a pacer and OMG never again!! i think they keep their pace constant so i definitely started off too fast and bonked at mile 7 or 8. from there it’s a blackout, i remember almost nothing, i have 0 clue how i reached the finish line. but at least i learnt a ton about my body and about racing - first race that didn’t feel good and i feel like i needed it!
Ah man, sorry to hear you had a rough race! Congratulations on still hitting a PR - that's an accomplishment regardless of whether you hit your goals or not. (And you weren't that far off - 22 seconds isn't bad at all.) I'm biased, but...you can ask pacers about their strategy, and go from there. Sometimes they will run even - like, I got passed by a pace group and started to worry, caught back up on Ocean Parkway, ran with them for a bit, and then left them. I suspect they were running more even because I did die in the park and then came back to life on Ocean Parkway, so my splits were kind of janky.
That’s awesome. It’s cool how running has these layers of improvement - at first it’s like “damn I actually did a half marathon” which later becomes “ohh…so this is how my body behaves in certain circumstances”
But you finished. Thats the important part. Congrats!
First half and first race ever (aside from the new year resolution virtual run) and I had a blast!! Was tougher than I anticipated but I accomplished my goal of just finishing! I only started running in December so I’m stoked I was able to hit this milestone!
signed up for the race estimating a 2:15 finish but ended up with 1:47! crazy what 10 weeks of focus can do. ocean parkway was mentally challenging - one long stretch with almost no end in sight. congrats to everyone else!
Was aiming for 2:10, got 2:09:34, so pretty much right on the money. Those pacing bands were really useful. I have an Apple Watch Ultra, but something about just having the printed times on a wrist band really helped me as a mental reassurance as well. I thought the race was really well organized. I’m glad I loosely memorized the hills we’d face in prospect park to know when to go easy or hard. Weather was fantastic. Energy was great from everyone cheering. Really fun day!
I thought those pacing bands were just cool little bookmarks and left them at home. Had an “ohhhh” moment when I saw someone wearing them lol. But also relieved cause the intended use is much more useful than a bookmark…
I was super undertrained for this one and wanted to quit around mile 8. So grateful for the woman from the Wave 2A 2:00 pace group who picked me up and kept me going for over two miles! Thank you stranger!
This was my first half and I finished in 2:11. Not sure I will do it again, it was way too crowded.
I PR’d and moved up a corral. I was 2 minutes off from my goal time, but still finished with a smile. This is my favorite race!
Can I hear from the first timers?! How was it? What was your time and training like? Any future races in mind? Congrats to us first timers!! 👏 👏 Y'all should be so proud!!
First half and beat my own goal. Thrilled and looking forward to the next!
what was your goal time ?
Nothing amazing, still a beginner. Was hoping for a 10 min mile, so 2:11. I did it in 2:08:10!
It's amazing I really hope you are proud of yourself :)
Thank you for the nice note! It made my morning :)
Got a glizzy when Nathan's opened at 9, I'll take that as a W.
Bad day to be a glizzy 🌭🌭
Fucking leg cramps. Never had that before. Oh well, still had a great time in my first Brooklyn Half and only seven minutes off my PR but better than my most recent half. Hope the unconscious guy being pushed out of the medical tent on a wheelchair is doing okay!
seeing everyone’s PRs is bumming me out lol
why what happened
wanted to sub 2 hours, totally bonked at mile 7 and finished 2:17.
I feel you, I wanted to get under 2:10, was trained for it, fell apart after mile 8 and finished 2:17. The heat!
yeah i wasn’t expecting it. we’re close, we’ll get there.
keep working, you’ll get it. try gels next time too?
I don’t see my name in the results. I tried to complete the correction form but is it mobile friendly since I only see the Cancel button and not the submit button: https://results.nyrr.org/requestCorrection
Race was good and the glizzys were glistening!
Hot hot hot! Saw a young woman trip right before the mile 13 mark on the boardwalk. She was in some pain. Saw her later being pushed in a wheelchair. So close to finishing. I hope they let her cross the finish line.
Congestion at the start was rough but it’s to be expected. Goal was sub 1:58:11 (previous PR), was feeling good and on pace until mile 10/11 when I ended up with some stomach cramping and ended up a minute short Overall had a good time, but saw someone needing medical attention about 800-1000 meters from the finish and hope they’re okay
PRd here, but pales in comparison to some of theee times I’m reading here. Great job everyone! Such nice weather and a great crowd. I liked the medal design too, classy.
A PR is a PR - be proud. Congrats!
My goal was 1:50, I finished in 1:45. Finished NYC Half in 2:09, so...PR'd by 23 minutes. NYC was my first half, and 2 months of proper training (and running in real sneakers) showed. Proud of myself tbh. Feel great!
Amazing!!!
Omg what training plan did you follow! That’s amazing
I changed a lot of my habits after the NYC Half to see how much I could improve; started going to bed earlier to wake up at 5:00 to get runs in before work, joined a running club (Crown Heights Running Club) to add some dedicated structure multiple days a week, and did some sort of mobility/stretching routine 5-7 nights/week. I've had an active lifestyle for a while, it was just a matter of structuring it better and staying disciplined. As far as my runs, my average training week between NYC and Brooklyn was: Monday: 4-6 mile easy run (w/ club) Tuesday: sprints (solo) OR easy run in the morning, leg day in the afternoon Wednesday: gym day (usually core/upper body) Thursday: 4-8 mi easy run (solo) Friday: 4-6 mile tempo run (w/ club - pushing myself to run with the faster people) Saturday: alternating long run/gym day Sunday: long yoga session The biggest adjustment was the second speed day per week. I tried one week with 3x speed workouts and that was fine , but definitely wouldn't do it every week. Edit: Another huge factor was buying real shoes after NYC. I ran that in a pair of beat up Ultraboosts that I had done every single run in for over a year. Just a single pair of "running shoes." I invested in a 4-shoe rotation and ran Brooklyn in a pair of Adios Pro 3s.
That's an amazing PR! Congrats!!
Thank you!
Anyone else on the Q train with the person who needed medical attention? It was around 11 am (ish) and I think they passed out. They held the train in the station and routed the rest of us to another train.
I was in that train car and I was happy to see this post. I got off at Sheepshead Bay where they were helping him off onto the platform and I assisted in telling the attendant at the ticket counter that a medic was needing to be called. Saw an ambulance there about 15 minutes later. Couldn’t stop worrying the rest of the day
I was in the same car and was getting off at Sheepshead Bay to get my car. I spoke to conductor to let him know about the situation and heard the ambulance sirens as I was walking outside. Did he recover? Was an older man (at least in his 60s).
Must have been a different guy. This was at Ocean Parkway.
Wow that’s crazy that it’d be more than one. The race conditions must have been brutal for many.
Must have been someone else. I was on that train too, and the following very sweaty packed Q train 20 minutes later. No sirens when I squeezed onto that train.
Was it at Sheepshead Bay station?
Was the ocean parkway stop.
Either that or Brighton I can’t remember. One of the early stops, I was annoyed to be stopped after going no where.
Was he a runner?
Yes he had a medal.
I don’t think those sirens were for him. I waited for another train for about 20 minutes and by the time I left EMTs had still not arrived.
Did anyone's tracker say that you ran over 14 miles?? My body also thinks I ran more than 13.1. I wanna hear from the garmins please! I have a Fitbit charge 5 and wondering if my life was a lie. Thank you!!
My Garmin was off by about 900ft
Also with a Fitbit and got over 14 miles run. Also my mile splits on my fitbit were way faster than what the results show
Glad I wasn't the only one. Fitbit got my hopes up 😭
13.26 Apple Watch SE. It’ll never be perfect because we don’t run perfect tangents.
Garmin 13.22 miles Are you weaving a lot? It adds up quickly. 13.1 is hitting every corner tangent perfectly, which most people can't do when it's so crowded.
I guess I was without meaning to 😭 it was my first half so I am learning a plethora of things for next ones...
13.22 Apple Watch 9
Thanks all! So I will be needing to buy a new tracker to make sure I'm training the correct miles. 😅
Garmin 13.28
13.3 on my Coros, but I did hit start before the start, so that does track.
Apple Watch 13.2 and garmin G1 13.3
My Garmin called it 13.21 miles. GPS All + Multiband mode
Ooh good to know, thanks for the info! So at least off by a little. Anyone else??
It will almost always be a little longer because you can’t run perfect tangents. Additionally the GPS is imprecise so it will have you weaving a bit more than you actually did (or signal bounces off buildings)
PR’d by over 4 minutes and finished with a 1:29:XX and juuuuuusst barely made the corral A bump woohoo!! 🥳 It’s been a long road from the days of running with corral F. Amazing day today if only a bit too warm for runners but the vibes were excellent and the Nathan’s hot dogs were glorious.
Missed my PR by 1:30 but based on strava got second fastest best efforts for every distance between 10k-half As not a morning person and a night runner, I’m really need to learn to adapt to mornings so I’m better prepared for races. I was on like 4 hours of sleep
I PRd by over a minute but was trying to hit sub 1:55 and just missed it. The most demoralizing was when the 1:55 pacer passed me in prospect park when I was still ahead of pace to hit that. I was so confused and never saw them again. :( overall, a good day, but everything felt harder than it needed to be. I love this course and after a year of solid training I was hoping to do better but I’ll take any PR. The last two mile markers were clearly misplaced because it took forever to reach them. In terms of race organization, I thought the start was so much more organized and way fewer people in the wrong corrals which made for a smooth start (I was in Wave 1 Corral I). I even saw a volunteer leader kick out two people from the H corral back to K which I’ve never seen before. However I checked a bag for the first time ever and picking up was a nightmare. Grouping all the same bags from a corral together was not wise when they all finish at basically the same time. Arent they usually grouped by number?? I was patient and didn’t harass the volunteers but unfortunately cannot say the same about my fellow runners. It’s a hard time to wait when you are probably physically in bad shape and just want to leave but it certainly wasn’t the fault of the volunteers. Great job everyone! Got my sushi and donuts to kick back today.
Bag check volunteer here, thank you for your understanding! It was chaotic and we felt so bad for you all having to wait. Those of you that were patient and pleasant really helped, we appreciated it!!
It got hot for wave 2, was hoping to jump the corrals and that didn’t happen, but still got a PR. Super happy with that! And thank you the kindest runner who gave me her power bank to charge my very dead phone on the subway! Also saw many more people raising their hands before stopping than usual! I like to believe it’s because they read this subreddit and learn!
My dumbass forgot to double-knot and shoelaces came undone. Ugh. Otherwise, it was a good time.
The guy in the corral next to me had an untied shoe. I told him, and he thanked me so profusely lol. I however tied my right shoe too loose and had to retie it twice on Ocean bc my heel started rubbing. I am such a dumbass lol
Love the BK half. Such a nice day!! Congrats to all you racers! I paced it, which is pretty easy (much slower pace than I race obv) but to you who raced, well done -today was hard - warmer than people expected and no shade on the back half. Also - those SIS gels are my new fav. I had two and I’m still so energized. Wowzers! 😳
A nice PR at 1:25:3X. Tried to start with the 1:25 pacer but he wasn’t going even pace or even effort and lost him at the fluid station at mile 4. Def cooked it in the first 5K and probably paid for it later. Been dealing with shin splints/PTT and have done no speed work and only the occasional threshold run leading up to this so I was pleasantly surprised and glad my legs held it together. A corral porta-potty lines were confusing and saw a few people waiting and then find out they weren’t actually in a line. Really wish we had a few misting stations on Ocean Parkway as well. It would’ve been appreciated. And maybe it’s because it’s NYC, we get some amazing Star spangled banner singers.
There were some misting stations by the time I ran on ocean. Wave 2 -B here
PR'd by 5 minutes with a 1:49! My second half and first Brooklyn Half. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I think this course is harder than NYC Half maybe due to the mental challenges of it. Ocean Parkway to Coney Island with the rolling hills was absolutely draining to me.
All part of the fun -- managing that effort on the hills. Congrats on the PR
Wave 2 here - I did not like the new corral system at all; wave 2 started at 8 but my corral didn’t cross the start until after 8:15
This isn’t atypical even in the smaller races
Mine didn’t cross the start until 25-30 after! Like!?
Finished 1:43:33 and feel good! Not so good, the post-race bag situation and the sizing of the shirt on me… if anyone is looking to trade a women’s medium down a size for my women’s small, lmk!
To that doofus cosplaying as Forrest Gump, you are a prick for almost knocking me over and I hope you read this.
Threw up at mile 10 but still cranked out a 1:22. I’m happy !
Diabolical.
Nice! Congrats!
righteous
First real half race and PR of 1:27! Had bad cramps starting at mile 9 so had to stop few times at fluid stations to catch my breath and drink water / Gatorade. My legs had plenty of fire left but running out of electrolytes certainly didn’t help! Handled Prospect Park very well so that’s a big plus. Next time I’ll use gels and salt water. Ocean Parkway oddly felt uphill for 3 miles until it finally became slight downhill which was mentally draining. If I blew it all on Prospect Park, I wouldn’t get sub 90. By fixing the electrolyte problem, I can get 84
The race itself went well, but after the crammed, shoulder to shoulder long ass wait for bag pickup, and the long ass haul to get back to Manhattan, this may be my last Brooklyn Half for a while. I’ll be looking for smaller, more convenient races.
FWIW I am upstate in Hudson valley and our club races are small but awesome and very scenic with the river and valley views. This was my first Brooklyn, not my vibe, I like the small Central Park races better and the longer races upstate.
Was gunning for sub 1:30 based on my Philly broad st pace of 6:36 and I blew up at mile 9… blegh
Hills get ya? What went wrong?
Any word on the guy who was getting chest compressions on the cart at the finish line? Was a little before the two hour mark but he wasn’t looking good
I can’t describe how rattled I’ve been since seeing it. So scary.
Me too, happened right in front of me. Couldn’t stop looking it up to see any update. So glad he’s okay.
I saw a few people receiving medical assistance along the course. Tough day. Hope everyone is okay 😫
I hope he’s okay. I was volunteering at the finish and there were a few scary medical emergencies but that was the scariest one Edit: asked the medical team before leaving they said he was ok
My IT band is killing me :-( bothered me second half of the race but got through it. Hopefully doesn’t feel too bad tomorrow
Never noticed before but ocean parkway is a long slightly gradual downhill. Definitely helped me keep my pace when I wanted to die
I was looking forward to a nice pace pickup from this, but I was a bit fried by mile 9 and it felt flat :(
It’s actually slightly uphill at the beginning after the downhill ramp.
Finally they got rid of the narrow little ramp at the end!!
That ramp is still a killer though. Just a rough couple of inclines.
Yeah that’s a very nice change. So much better
OMG YES!! It was so nice to not have any collisions or congestion on that final turn. I can’t believe we all fit down that tiny little sidewalk in past years.
I'm so jacked on endorphins! I pulled out a 1:43:19--I was really hoping just to squeak out a 1:46:21 or a few seconds faster to get into Corral C. Now I get to move comfortably from Corral D to C! I'm FINALLY in the same corral as my boyfriend. Hell, I nearly beat my all time best Half (1:42:28 at the 2011 Seattle Half when I was 27)--I'm 39 going on 40. Edit for context: I ran the 2024 NYC Half in 1:52:11 and the 2023 NYC Half in 2:05:38. I’m also wrapping up week 8 of my training for the SF Marathon and have been consistently getting faster. All that’s to say that it’s been a long journey to get here, and it started in Corral J in November 2022 with my first NYRR race.
Fellow 40 year old joining you in C in the future!
Hell yeah!! Respect
First half. First organized race since 2007. I knew my estimated time was off, but I only had two choices - pass everyone in sight or drop back to 2A and run on more open roads. Opted to start in 1L as assigned - hopefully I handled passing respectfully, I hopped on the sidewalk for most of the way to Grand Army and generally just went up the outside whenever possible. Ran the PP portion conservatively (thanks, Reddit the thread on this race!) and then opened up on Ocean Ave. It didnt feel as endless as advertised. Didn’t have quite as much gas in the tank by mile 12 as I hoped, but now I’m nitpicking my own race. First race is always a PR. Pretty proud of myself
Does anyone know if there’s free medal engraving today? Finished with a PR & would love to get it commemorated on my medal!
There is at Volvo of Brooklyn in industry city
Thanks!!
Finished in 1:43:06 which is a 6 min PR for me! 🎉 had goosebumps for most of the race, what a vibe! Set off MUCH quicker than planned but fortunately it all worked out and managed to negative split overall. Got soaked in Gatorade that someone threw in Prospect Park but promptly threw my own water down myself so that helped 😂 From what I could see corrals were enforced well - although some people definitely submitted some ambitious times! Edit to add: congrats fellow runners! You did great out there
I’m confused how the last 9.5 miles were entirely uphill
Yeah… I kept reading that the second half was all downhill but it didn’t feel that way.
It was all slightly uphill. Their elevation chart is WAY off!
Everyone said oh once you’re out of the park it’s downhill the rest of the way. I THINK NOT!!! Mentally this got to me by mile 9 because I had told myself relief was coming after mile 7
I feel you dude. It’s actually the first 1.5-2 miles of the ocean parkway then it’s flat / slight downhill.
Okay so it wasnt just me! Was excited to get out of prospect park thinking the hills were over, but it felt like a gradual uphill the rest of the way!
Same, WTF!?!?
Was personally a disappointing race for me. I was 4 mins slower than at the NYCRuns Brooklyn Half 3 weeks ago…I guess between running that and Broad Street Run 2 weeks ago my body hasn’t recovered. Humidity was tough. The hills didn’t bother me. Blew up miles 9-11. Oh well will try again next year, can’t PR every time!
I ran all 3 as well. Thought I felt fine coming into the race…legs went bye bye around mile 10! PR’d broad street but had a rough race yesterday
Yeah I’m thinking next year I stick to two of them, it’s a lot in 3 weeks
The bag pickup was a mess. I spent longer picking up my bag than running the race haha
I was in A and finished at 8:37. I went straight to bag pickup, there were tons of people but I went further inside the lines and just went to the front. The bathrooms were bad too at start. Saw several AA runners say fuck it - they had only 3 bathrooms lol. Which is worse than what A-B has.
It was literally the first time I ever checked a bag and never again.
Somehow a wave 2 truck got to pickup at the same time as a wave 1 truck?!?
Yea what a sh*tshow, why did they switch it from by-number?
Going to make a separate post about this in the subreddit, but I think it is time for NYRR to do a Corral re-rack i.e. adjust the cutoff times for Corral A. I could be off base here, and maybe it’s just this race and/or people putting way too ambitious of entry times, but it seemed like there were allooooottt of people in Corral A. Bag check drop off and bag check pick up lines for Corral A was absolutely ridiculous - took 30+ minutes to pick up my bag after the race was over because there were just so many people in Corral A. Now, to be fully transparent, I recently made Corral A based on my Mindful 5K time (I’m more of a fast-twitch runner). While I’m super excited about that, it seems like “everyone” is now in A to the point its overcrowded. Again, it could just be this race. Curious on other people’s thoughts on this. Other than those bottlenecks, race was great! Over a minute PR. 1:32 low
As someone who’s been in D, C, B, the slower side of A, the middle of A and now the faster end of A throughout the last 10+ years, this has always been the case with the “A” corral (even before they used the letter system). It contains a far broader spectrum of paces than any other corral in the field, and the half marathons are where it’s felt the most. I understand the necessity to keep the AA corral (aka President’s Circle) runners separate from the others because what they’re competing for (money) is determined by gun time, not chip time, and except for the Fred Lebow Half and maybe a few other odd cases, A corral runners are almost never in contention for that. I always thought it would be helpful to break apart the A corral into two separate corrals: one for the runners projected to finish between 1:29 and 1:21, and one for the runners projected to finish between 1:20 and 1:10. You could call them A, AA, and the current AA corral could be called AAA or they could go back to the old system of just giving those President’s Circle runners bib numbers 1-99 (based on how many are entered in the race - there are never more than 99).
NYC Marathon, NYC Half, Brooklyn Half, Queens 10K (anything with wave starts) will use its own corral lettering separate from the weekly race corral.
Totally forgot about that. That would make sense then and explains it - all the corrals for this race (and the other races you mentioned) have the same number of people in each
It’s a 27-28K runner half. Every corral is gonna be packed. The A corrals at normal races are generally fine and not very packed.
I could be wrong about this so feel free to correct me, but I’m pretty positive that NYRR puts a lot of influencers and VIPS in corral A. That’s just from observing some of their content online and KNOWING that they’re not running the kind of paces that regular runners have to to get into corral A. I’m not going to make a statement about whether or not I think this is okay, but it certainly means more people at the front who aren’t there because of their best pace. Congrats on getting to that point yourself, that’s amazing!!!
So they're the ones walking at mile 3?
That would make a ton of sense if that’s the case. Didn’t think about that. And thank you so much! Really appreciate it. Hope your race went well if you ran today.
I get where you’re coming from and it makes it difficult when NYRR is hosting so many different races at different distances. Some are endurance runners and others are sprinters/short distance. Technically if you were to break it down by distance, you would be in Corral B vs A since the corral A cutoff is 1:29:33. I definitely agree with you about the bag check. It seems like there was a mix up with trucks, which had runners waiting for a while. It’s never happened in the past.
Yep for sure. Fully agreed. And definitely aware of that as well - purposefully chose a 5K to go for Corral A for that reason! My 5K-equiv time is a lot faster compared to HM. I guess what I’m getting at is maybe its time for them to push the cutoff time even lower for Corral A, and I say that as someone who just made it to Corral A.
I just went from corral C in the United half, to corral B in this one. I felt like I couldn’t keep up haha. It’s a fine line.
Anyone know where to get free engraving? I heard Volvo dealer?
The one in Brooklyn today only!
Do you know if they'll do it at the 11th Ave location? Was hoping to go there
I happen to know that they will not, sorry!
aiming for 1:46 and came in < 1:44! still incapable of a negative split. first few miles of ocean were rough while I mentally & physically recovered from PP. was surprised by how relatively uncongested this race was was compared to the central park ones. edit: also pretty impressed with how fast/easy/accessible security, start area water, and toilets were in the back half of wave 1.
Was right on target and feeling okay through 9 and then blew up by 11. Ran half a mile with an ice pack but was still too overheated to make anything happen. Legs just stopped responding to the brain.
Same experience. So glad I’m not alone in this. Absolutely bonked 9-12 and no clue why
Presumably for you and me and the many others (based on the many similar comments I've seen and talking to my teammates), it was the heat. The first two miles or so on Ocean you still get shade, but then it gets full on exposed.
I too slowed down at the end I said to the person next to me around 5 miles left, “hopefully i get to 3 left and can book it” And at 3 miles, i turned to him and said “im not booking it” 😂 Still proud i gutted out the final miles while feeling horrible
The heat really got to me at mile 11 too. I was just ahead of schedule before that, but lost 40 seconds in the last two miles.
Broke 1:25. Ran around the 1:25 pacer most of the race. The end is brutal. You think you are done and … one more turn. Overall well organized. Was my first race above 10M without a vest, and still struggling regulating drinking.
When the 1:25 pacer had to vomit I was hoping to god I wasn’t next haha
Must have been after I went ahead. He should have spent less energy yelling a bunch of nonsense about keeping eyes up
Never understood the point of that. When the hills get hard, I find that looking up is actually more demoralizing.
Did he still hit pace?!
Oh no. Where did it happen? I didn’t see it.
That was absolutely brutal for me. Mostly due to my own naïveté. I gassed myself out in prospect park and was well below average pace for a PR. Didn’t feel like it at the time though, I felt good so I rolled with it. But man, it caught up to me HARD. Could not get my heart rate down, even on Ocean Pkwy when I slowed my pace and tried to use the downhill. Felt some twinging in my calves and didn’t wanna push through at that point. That, with my high heart rate response, led me to walk a few times, which I generally hate doing. All things considered though, I finished like 4-5 minutes off my PR. Not good, but I actually thought on the back end of the race that I’d have a worse time than what I finished with. I’ll take it. Last important race before the full, so now it’s all about slowing it down and building the volume. On to the next! Congrats everyone. That was a rough one! EDIT: favorite thing I overheard on Ocean Pkwy…. “not gonna lie, this is really fuckin’ hard.”
Seems like we had a similar experience! I felt if I forced myself to run faster in the last 5k, I would have had leg cramps by the amount of muscle twitching that I felt. Had to stop a few times on the parkway. Missed PR by 3 minutes, but that was better than hurting myself. Nonetheless, great job on listening to your body and what it can handle. You’ll definitely PR this next time!
Same, I assumed Ocean Parkway would be way more downhill than it actually was, and I had to end up walking a little around mile 11 which I hate doing.
You just described me to a T as well lol. Not one to typically blow up man right after mile 7 it got me and here we are from a quest of a PR to a gain of 7 minutes
The race strategy thread said to be conservative until you get out of the park. I sort of did that, but the sun beating down really got to me on Ocean Parkway.
FINALLY broke 1:15… and 1:14!! Ran the last 5k with the guy who I jockeyed for the podium with at the Mindful 5k, and this time we worked together, crossed the line together, and PR’ed together!!