Race Review & Photo Essay: NYCRUNS Roosevelt Island Hot Chocolate 10K

A few weeks ago I sent out an email to 20 people asking them to join me in my inaugural NYCRUNS race. The burgeoning race organization has been getting some great press in NYC and I’ve been wanting to run one of their races to see how well they are organized.

This morning, 647 hearty souls lined up for the 10K on Roosevelt Island including three of the people on that email (me being one of them).

It was one of the most enjoyable races I’ve run in recent memory. Despite the fact that it snowed ~six inches in NYC yesterday and it rained almost all night, we had a blast.

Here’s my quick review:

The Good
Bib pick up was fast and easy, not to mention located in my favorite local running store (The New York Running Company). I was in and out in less than five minutes (which included picking up some items I “needed” from the store). The volunteers were friendly, the process was seamless and I was able to pick up bibs for all my friends without a problem.

The race was on Roosevelt Island. Almost all the races I do are in Central Park, don’t get me wrong, I love Central Park, but it’s nice to race in other areas of the largest city in the country. As a bonus, we got to take the Roosevelt Island tram over to the start (which I haven’t been on since I was 3 or 4). It was quick and easy and the race was literally steps away from the tram.

The course was flat. I’m in my post-season and haven’t been running as consistently as I do the other 11 months of the year, so it was nice to run a 10K on a completely flat (and I mean pancake flat) course. The small group I was with all decided that it was going to be a fun run yet I managed to come in 18th in my age group (and one of us came in first in his age group)! I feel like if I was still at my peak performance, I could have broken the top 10 in my age group.

NYCRUNS was VERY communicative. As I mentioned, it snowed in NYC yesterday and as usual, the media hyped the storm as if it was armageddon. NYCRUNS sent out emails a few days leading up to the run acknowledging the weather and letting runners know that they were going to stay in touch with what was what. Then yesterday we got an email letting us know about the potential of it becoming an untimed but supported fun run with 90 minutes to finish but we would hear from them by 7AM today with the final word.

At 6:43 this morning I got an email stating that the race was on but the course was going to be wet. We were advised to bring an extra pair of shoes, it was like they were channeling my Jewish mother (but this time I listened). It was genius advice and I was super psyched I did — my sneaks were SOAKED by the end of the run and I would have been miserable on my way home.

Then, minutes after I got home I received an email with my results including my average pace, age group and overall place.

The hot chocolate at the end was super delish. It’s always better when you earn it and the race swag was a mug, so we were able to enjoy a sweet treat and be environmentally conscious at the same time!

The Bad

Lined up and ready for the gun

We were SUPER early and it was freezing. This is my own fault, I didn’t pay close attention to where the race was going to be on the Island and I didn’t know how long it would take us to get to the start from the tram, check our bags and get to the start line. Turns out it took less than 10 minutes to do all that, so we basically stood around in 30 degrees with a 20 MPH wind gusts for almost an hour. Luckily, there weren’t many wind gusts.

The course was a little short. I don’t think this is NYCRUNS fault. After talking with some folks who had done the race in previous years, we found out that the organization changed one end of the course, I assume to accommodate for the snow/slush/ice on Roosevelt Island. I registered 6.03 miles on my Garmin which means it was probably closer to 5.9 miles – close enough for me, I’m wasn’t out there to qualify for the Olympics.

Single file half way through the Slush Field
(notice some runners ran off the course to our right)

The slush field. Again, this was all about the weather and not anything the organizers did. About two miles into the race, we ran through 2 inch deep, slushy puddles for about 600 meters. Since we there for a fun run, we just went with the flow. It was interesting, at one point, everyone around us were running in almost single file to keep out of the deeper puddles. I’ve yet to see that one in a race.

Conclusion

Will we race with NYCRUNS again? In a heartbeat. The race was well organized and the participants we met were all super friendly (we chatted with everyone around us during the run and on the tram on the way back), there didn’t seem to be a very competitive vibe about the race (maybe due to the weather?).

After looking at the race calendar, I’m thinking that the Central Park Hot Chocolate 10 Miler will fit nicely into my Fred Lebow Half Marathon training . . . we’ll see.

Regardless, it’s nice that a scrappy race outfit organizes smaller, super fun races.

I had my GoPro with me today, here are a few more photos: