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SRRC Race Reports
MORE Magazine Half Marathon, New York, NY—Sunday, April 26, 2009
by
Mary Sullivan
This was all part of a plan I have made with myself to try and run a half marathon each year and to try some “destination” races. So the MORE Half was my kick-off race. Mother nature sabotaged my half-marathon plan for last year with a fluke Hurricane. I was signed up and trained for the North Face Half Marathon, a trail race set for September 2008 along the Potomac River starting at Algonquian Park. My only training on the trails consisted of several runs around Burke Lake. I have since decided that the Hurricane was definitely God’s not-so-subtle way of telling me I had no idea what I was getting into. So, I was saved and volunteered at the South Riding Triathlon the next day instead and set my sites on something for 2009.
Fast forward to 2009 . . .
I had probably heard of the MORE Half in Runner’s World magazine and was intrigued with the idea of an entire race run in Central Park. I had been to NY several times but had never spent any time in the Park. I had only seen it in scenes from movies and Sex and the City on HBO. It had all the makings of a perfect race—park setting; mild, spring weather conditions; female bonding as this was a Women only race; and a chance to hang out in a fabulous city. Again, Mother Nature for some reason felt I needed a little more challenge than a jaunt around a tree-lined park on a Spring day. She hit the city with unseasonable, record-breaking heat—a runner’s worst enemy. Race officials did what they felt they had to do. They canceled the full Marathon option, took away the “chip” timing on the course, and labeled it a “fun” run. This, I later figured out, was to keep the runners from all-out racing, thus decreasing the potential for medical situations. I get it now, and I realize now that it made sense. But at the time I was slightly annoyed even though at the start, the obvious heat had me worried that we might face the same scenes that played out in 2007 Chicago Marathon where water/Gatorade ran out, people were pulled from the course, and the race ended early. Fortunately, none of that happened.
This race is also a very popular “walking” race as they boast the longest cut-off of any half marathon, allowing participants to stay on the course for as long as 6 hours. Unfortunately for those who planned to walk the 2009 MORE half marathon, the heat ruined any plans of a distance walk, as race officials announced that the walkers were limited to 7 miles and they shut the course down, I believe, after 3 hours. I think a lot of women use this as a trainer/prep for the 3 day breast cancer walks.
I have to say that participating in a race that had as much a draw to walkers as runners was new to me. I think it did mess with my psyche in that I found myself more likely to take a longer walk break at the water stops than I might have otherwise done in a typical road race. It was a weird thing and one of the things I can look to blame for what is, to date, my slowest half marathon time.
The course was, as advertised, two loops around the outer perimeter of Central Park. There were two decent inclines (hills) which made the “loop” aspect of this race somewhat deflating. You knew you were going to have to face those hills AGAIN, later in the race when you were much hotter and more wiped out. Oh well, that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? The downhills, however, were lovely and equally represented. The Park was picturesque, but again, by the second loop, I had seen all I needed to see. Could have used some more shade in that park, at least the parts we had to run. This was more of an issue due to the unseasonable heat (did I mention how hot it was??)
It was also cool to run with the “Townies”, those locals who were either male and couldn’t run in the race, folks who chose biking or rollerblading over running, and those ladies who did not feel the need to enter a race to get their exercise. They were all running the opposite direction of us in the very outer lane of our running loop. I was disappointed that I didn’t see Regis walking a dog or Sarah Jessica Parker trotting along with little James Wilkie or even Donald Trump walking and talking on his Blackberry. Nope, no A-List celebrity sightings here, although apparently, Carol Alt (former Super Model) was the official race starter. (I never saw her.) Katherine Switzer the first female to run the Boston Marathon was at the Expo signing her books. (I did see her.)
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| Running has its rewards! |
New York is a great place to travel for a destination race if you can keep your pre-race sightseeing to a bus tour and cab rides. My sister and I made the mistake of walking to the Empire State Building from the Expo because I could see it in distance, and it didn’t look that far. Cleary, I am not a New Yorker and misjudged the distance. Let’s just say between the multi-block walk to the Empire State Building and the misleadingly long lines once you get your ticket and queue up for the elevators (with heavy, gear-laden Expo bags), we were on our feet WAY too long that day. So much so, that we had to nix our plans to walk to Times Square to see it all lit up at night. That was the smartest decision we made the whole trip!
So, overall a great destination experience and a mediocre race (for me personally). It was clear from the many emotional finishers that I saw that this race did accomplish its mission, which is empower women to find their inner athlete and strive for and accomplish new goals. Despite the heat, New York had a lot to offer, and I need to go back and take it all in without the pressures of a distance run. I would definitely recommend this race for any women who have a group of friends who want to accomplish a fitness goal together and have a weekend away.
April 2009
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