What what?? Another race recap?! So soon? Why, yes. We just won’t talk about the ones I’ve done recently that you will never hear of on this page – well you might hear of them but there will probably be no recap!!
This past weekend I ran my first NYCRuns event – the Take Your Base 5K. The race was in Coney Island, NY (Go Brooklyn yo.) and past experience has taught me that we cannot get to Brooklyn, much less all the way down to Coney Island, if we take the train to Manhattan and then subway it all the way to CI. Which meant an early day.
Kathy came over on Friday evening – the plan was to get up and go into the City for a day of shopping and eating. We watched The Exorcist (Director’s Cut) and headed to bed!
Even though we got a later start than usual, we did head down to the train. Figuring that parking would be tough at New Haven, I thought we might try out the new Metro North station in West Haven. Well, that was a BRILLIANT idea if I say so myself! Free parking on the weekend!! Did a lot of walking in the city and quick back on the train because it would be an EARLY day tomorrow.
Grand Central welcomes you!!
This guy plays his piano out in Washington Square Park! Super cool!!
At the end of a long day in the city…some of us get a little punchy!!
I counted on the drive taking around 1.5 to 2 hours with packet pickup starting at 7 I thought it would be good to be out of the house no later than 5 (plus, there was some concern in my head about parking once we got there!). The drive was smooth and we parked right at the baseball stadium – MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. Packets picked up we found a nearby Dunkin Donuts for some coffee and waiting out the start!
I met this guy — Sammy the Seagull, the Brooklyn Cyclones mascot! I will admit, we weren’t sure what kind of bird he was at first!!
Everyone started lining up, and we eventually started – a little after the 9 am start time. Everyone was pretty good about lining up where they thought they should be. I know I was! I headed towards the back since I’m still slow, and wasn’t sure how much I’d end up walking.
The course was great — except for the first couple tenths of the first mile, where we had to run through a pee-stinky alleyway, we were on the boardwalk. Running on boards! It was an out and back course so a bit more than 1.5 out and then 1.5 back. There was a water station just before mile 1 and just after mile 2 and they were out and fully stocked for those of us WAY in the back!! Near the end we headed into the MCU stadium where there was plenty of support pointing us in the right direction as well as being incredibly encouraging!! The finish was 3/4 lap of the warning track and then a finish on the track!
Why yes, I *am* wearing the same thing as in my last recap!
My time wasn’t so great, but I’m not going to focus on that these days.
Post race goodies — were good! We got a Nathan’s hot dog and fries. And beers. We each got 2 beer tickets and they were serving Coney Island beer – I selected the Mermaid Pilsner and was happy with my choice! It was also nice to have inside, maintained real potties! Which also made for a good spot to change into beach clothes!
After enjoying our beers and dogs, we headed for the beach for a few hours! I love the beach! 🙂
Well, hi there!
After a quick romp in the water, I managed to take a short nap on my towel! The wind was pretty fierce and we gave up eventually. Instead of staying for the Cyclones game that evening we headed back to CT, with a stop in Westport at the Shake Shack to top of a FANTASTIC weekend!!
outrunningthefork 