Battle of Brooklyn

This past weekend, I ran in the Battle of Brooklyn 10 Miler, put on by JackRabbit Sports and NYCRuns.  My spring and summer race schedule has already been pretty hectic, but I really wanted to run this one.  I had just finished my clinical affiliation for the summer, and I needed to get my marathon training back on track (the desire to run long distances wanes slightly when you are on your feet for 8+ hours, running around and working with patients [which, don't get me wrong, I love]).  It only cost me $25 to register, thanks to the ubiquitous coupon codes that JackRabbit kept floating around the interwebs.  Included with admission were a exceptionally compressible reusable bag, and a pint glass emblazoned with the race logo.

I woke up the morning of the race, took Molly for a quick walk, and tried to devour some breakfast and coffee quickly.  I'm no fan of weekend subway work, line changes, and delays, so I thought I would give myself about an hour to get to the race, and leave at about 6:45.  With that, I should have had about 15-20 minutes to find a restroom, stretch out a little bit, and slowly warm up.  I jogged down to the 86th street station for the 4/5 express trains, and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to wait for 15 minutes to catch one.  However, my first mistake was lurking just around the corner.

I only checked the status of the F and 4/5/6 lines before I left, so I didn't know what was happening with the other subway lines.  If I had been thinking rationally, I would have just stuck with what I knew would be running, and stayed on the train.  Instead, I decided to transfer to the Q, which would mean only 3 stops to where I wanted to get off, and potentially, more time before the race to hang out.  Of course, as soon as I get to the Q platform, I find out that the train is making a bajillion more stops.  And it didn't show up for 10 minutes.

Frustrated at the snail's pace of the train, I began to worry about making it to the start in time.  It is also around this time that I realize my bladder has swollen to the size of a watermelon.  I got off the train at 7:52 (just 8 minutes before the race starts), and have about 3/4 of a mile from the train station to the start of the race.  I begin lightly jogging to try and make it there in time, but then realize that there's no way that I'll make it at that pace.  So I really kick it and start sprinting down Prospect Park West, frantically trying to find the entrance closest to the race start.  Perhaps a product of the stress of getting to the start, or the sudden shift in speed from sloth to cheetah, but I realize that nature is knocking...at the back door as well.

I arrive at the start line moments before the horn sounds to signal the start of the race.  In the commotion, I am unable to locate a port-a-let, so I just tuck into the crowd and get ready to run despite my ever-expanding bladder.  The race begins, and I take off pretty slowly, not wanting to jar anything loose.  About a mile in, I stop at the port-a-let (where a short line has already formed).  A woman emerges from inside, declaring for all to hear that there is no TP to be had at this particular rest stop.  Oh well.  I'm at least able to take care of one (number one, specifically) pressing need and move on with my race.

After my stop, I actually managed a pretty good race.  When I came upon the big hill where the "Time Your Climb" was taking place, I made an effort to keep my pace consistent, and make some loose visual landmarks (huge tree trunk, mile marker, and weird looking tree were the 3, to be precise) to compare my times against.  Halfway up this hill was a cavalry of "British soliders", aka people in wigs and Union Jack t-shirts, spraying runners with water from squirt guns.  It was a nice little touch to the race, and even though it wasn't smoldering outside as it has been the last several weeks, the spray of cool water was still appreciated.

Victory drink in my new pint glass.

My next two laps around the park were mostly uneventful.  I was able to stay very consistent on the big hill, and thought that I had a decent chance for winning the Most Consistent Time Your Climb.  I scurried across the finish line, finishing with a time of 1:26:30.  I had never raced the 10-mile distance before, so I didn't have a great sense of pacing.  Also, the aforementioned pee-mergency caused me to stop for 2 minutes at the first rest stop, hurting my time a little bit more.

I was much dismayed, as I roamed about the finishing area, to discover that none of the port-a-lets at the  finish had TP either (luckily, I made it home without incident).  This would probably be my only complaint about the race, aside from the monotony of running the same loop 3 times.

Two days later, I was checking the official results and was very pleased to find that I took second in the Most Consistent Time Your Climb competition!  I was only 0.1 seconds behind the winner, which is heartbreakingly close, but I was informed that I still won a prize.  A quick trip to JackRabbit Sports at Union Square, and I'm the proud recipient of a $30 gift card!  Just for being consistent going up some hill 3 times!

So close!

I genuinely enjoyed my Battle of Brooklyn experience.  After doing several NYRR races over the past couple of months, it was nice to have a slightly smaller race experience, and feel like I actually mattered to the race organizers, even though I'm not part of a prestigious running club or run a 5:00 per mile pace. I look forward to running more JackRabbit/NYCRuns events in the future.