Race #2, State #2 NY

Race #2, State #2 NY

March 24, 2012--Queens, NY

This race came to my attention through my dear cousin, Chris. A friend of his actually put the race on her to-do list and recruited him and his husband Dave (and some other friends, too, I think) to get involved. I hadn’t yet thought about running all 50 states, but coming off of my excellent run in Hartford, I readily joined in. Winter training is not my favorite thing, but I managed to get through it thanks to a membership at Planet Fitness to get my through the snowy and super freezing days. 

By the time race day came around, Chris and most of the other folks were out for various reasons, leaving only Dave and I to brave it out. It was his first half marathon, and he was feeling pretty unsure about it all, having only run about 9 miles or so on his longest run. I convinced him to lineup with me at the 2 hour corral, assuring him that he’d do well and likely be right around that time. 

The race was in Queens at the Flushing Meadows Park and was part of the 13.1 series. The official name of it was 13.1 NYC 2012. We lucked out on the weather which was cool and a bit breezy but not nearly as windy as it would be the next day. The race looped a few different times around the Flushing Meadows Park, former site of the World’s Fair. It was cool to run by the retro “futuristic” relics still there. For me, the best part of the race were the local cheerleaders, drum corps and bands from the area schools. They were great motivators along the way. The worst part was having to run up and over so many curved footbridges. By the end, those “little” hills were killing me. The finish line featured a disco themed dance party, complete with discoball men and a drag queen. I brought my pink wig along for the after party and felt right at home. Dave and I both finished within the 2 hour goal. My time on this race was better than last 1:52:43. It was after this race that I started to entertain the idea of running the other 48 states. Thank you NYC!