More/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon Recap

I have been in New York City the same weekend as the More/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon the last 2 years.  I LOVE Central Park, so I had always wished I knew in advance and had registered for the event.  This year I was determined to add it to my race calendar so I did.

Our plan had been for my husband and 3 year old to come with me since she was on spring break that week.  2 days before my daughter wasn’t feeling awesome and my husband had a meeting on the west coast and we decided that I would just fly in and out for the race.  That being said, I hopped the redeye Friday night, got to NYC Saturday morning.  I got to my hotel around 7:45am and my room wasn’t ready yet, surprise.  I was staying at 56th and 6th and the expo that day was at 18th and 6th so I decided to go for a nice walk since the weather was beautiful and work my way down to the expo for when it opened at 10am.

The weather was cool and crisp, but the sun was out and it was perfect NYC weather!!!  I went and strolled around Farmer’s Market at Union Square and around the Flatiron District.  Went to Eataly and got an amazing hazelnut croissant with a little chocolate inside.  YUM!

I got to the expo around 10:30am.  It was very well organized with lots of volunteers and good shopping.  I got my race packet and t-shirt.

On a side note: Deena Kastor spoke at the expo and she did indeed win the race the next morning and set a new course record of 1:13:25.05 by mere tenths of a second.  Awesome job Deena!

I walked back up 50 blocks to my hotel and my room was now ready.  I spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching whatever I wanted on TV and enjoying room service.  It was GREAT!

My alarm was set for 6am and I woke up and started my prerace routine.  I hate to feel rushed to get out the door so I allow myself plenty of time to drink either a regular coke or some coffee for the caffeine and sugar.  I left the hotel around 7:15am and headed over a couple blocks to Central Park.  The starting line, for those of you familiar with Central Park, was over near Tavern on the Green.  It was very well organized with lots of volunteers to help direct people to correct starting area, bathrooms, and bag check.

The race was 2 loops around Central Park.  The weather was perfect.

We ran past the Guggenheim Museum along the east side of the park.

The medals are nice and double sided to include the date and race and the fact that it was in Central Park NYC.  The finish line area had bagels, bananas, mylar blankets, cups of water and lots of helpful volunteers.

After the race I quickly headed back to the hotel to shower and pack up to get to the airport and catch my flight back home to the west coast.  It was a quick trip, but I really enjoyed it.  I highly recommend the More/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon.