On Saturday morning I headed to Central Park for my last NYRR race before moving to London in September: the Team Championships 5-miler!
I haven’t been running that much since the Ottawa Marathon in May (no more than 7 miles) and since I’m not doing 9+1 for entry into the NYC Marathon, I haven’t been doing many NYRR races this year. But team champs is arguably the best race of the year and I knew I couldn’t miss it!
Every year, local NYC-area running clubs come together to race this hot and humid 5-miler. You have to have previously run a NYRR race as part of a running group in order to participate. Men and women race separately, so they each cheer for the other group. It’s a relatively small race and the course is never too crowded.
Every year they switch which gender races first, and this year it was the women. We were supposed to start at 8:30am and the men at 9:30am, but they moved the start times up an hour because of the heat, so we toed the starting line at a painfully early 7:30am.
Lining up in the corrals with teammates Hilary, Tanya, and Brittany
My plan for this race was to try to run sub-9 minute miles for all 5 miles. That would be a personal record, since I hadn’t raced that many 5-milers. Although it would still be a much slower pace than even my half marathon PR pace (8:22) it was a hot day and since I haven’t been running much in the past two months, I knew it would be a challenge to stay under a 9-minute pace.
My teammate Brittany had a similar time goal, so we ran together for most of the race. It wasn’t unbearably hot out (about 80 degrees) but with 75% humidity it was a rough one. The course also hits every single one of the Central Park hills. Once I started running, I was very glad that we started an hour earlier. Luckily the last mile is flat!
As I approached the last quarter mile, I started hearing cheers from all of the running groups that lined the course in the final stretch. The PPTC coach yelled at me that there was only 200m to go so I kicked it up a notch, and then finally ran past the PPTC cheering section. If only I had remembered to keep my eyes open!
I also ran past a few friends from other running teams who cheered me on. The group support in this race is incredible!
I finished in 44:14, an 8:51 pace and a new PR!
We got a cute drawstring sports backpack that says NYRR Team Championships after the finish line, and I headed over to the PPTC picnic table to refuel and get ready to cheer for the men. I was glad I had brought an extra shirt and sports bra to change into because my clothes were soaking from all the water I had poured over my head mid-race.
PPTC Women
I’m definitely going to miss Prospect Park Track Club when I’m living in London – hopefully I will find another wonderful running group across the pond!
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