Wall Street Run Recap

Last night was the American Heart Association's Wall Street Run. A 3 miler through the financial district in downtown NYC. This was my second time doing this race, and I must say this year seemed to be better than last. Overall, a good, fun race, with picturesque views of the water during twilight. And great weather to boot, 76 degrees and clear, and most importantly, low humidity.

With a 7pm start, we arrived at the starting "corrals" at around 6:30pm. I put corrals in quotes because it was really just a starting area, and does not have the traditional corrals of other races, which separate you by your bib number. But this year (I dont believe they did it last year), they did place signs so that you can line up where your estimated pace is. That worked well, as I noticed I was not impeded as much as last year, and did not seem as chaotic.

The start is delayed a few minutes, I believe they were still clearing the roads. The start of this one is interesting because we make an immediate right turn, and if you get caught on the inside, well, you're slowed to a crawl. I tried to stay near the middle but somehow got caught in the crawl anyway. Out of the jam and was on my way. It was pretty uneventful from there. I was really thirsty though, since we were standing around for about 30 min, and I really did try to curb my water intake an hour or 2 before, so avoid having to go to the port-o-potty! There was only one water station, so I patiently waited for the 1.5 mile marker for that. I'm trying to take in the views of downtown, when I nearly roll my ankle due to the uneven streets. So from then on, as much as I wanted to admire the views, I kept my focus on the road in front of me, to avoid anything that will seriously kill my ankle. Thankfully nothing did for the remainder of the race.

So we arrive at the esplanade so I know the end is near. Its still fairly crowded at this point as the route narrows and I'm trying to plan my kick to the finish. Unfortunately, with too many people in my way, I was not able to go into a full sprint, so I just cruise through the finish. Final time of 28:50 (9:37 pace), I was hoping for closer to 28:30 (and would have if I could have gone into my kick!), and really WANTED closer to 28:00. But seems my pace has been pretty consistent for these shorter distances. Still trying to come close to my 9:19 PR from last year. Well, I'll have another shot this Sunday at Celebrate Israel. Until then!

A quick post-race photo