Well, we are half way through 2019, and I’m almost done with my 9+1 program with the New York Road Runners, which will earn me a spot in the 2020 NYC Marathon.
My 6th race of the year with the road runners was the Queens 10k, which takes place in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY. This was the third year that I was participating in this race, and it is one race that I have looked forward to each summer. The ride into queens is a bit shorter than the ride into Central Park, since I live on Long Island, and Dad has come along each year to cheer me on and snap some photos as I run. This year Sophie was also signed up to run, but since I wanted to race the event, we weren’t planning on running together.
I headed over to my parents house race morning, as Dad had agreed to drive to queens, and was surprised to see that my mom was awake and ready to join us. Sophie and I piled into the back seat and we were on the way. We were able to find parking in the park, so we managed to avoid having to park in citi field. We had a little walk to race day central, which had moved from where it was located previous years. This of course lead to me leading us entirely out of the way, but a volunteer eventually pointed us in the right direction, and we found it near the entrance to the subway stop at citi field.
We were able to get our bibs quickly enough, but the diversion in getting to the pick up meant that we didn’t have time to stop at the bathroom before the race. Instead, I headed for the corrals of wave one, and Sophie and I parted ways as I climbed into the corral.
A few members of the Tri team, including Sami and Nicole, were in a starting corral near mine, so the three of us were rapid fire texting before the race, trying to spot each other. We all wanted to run similar paces, so I was trying to spot them before the race began. Eventually Nicole flagged me down, and we found Sami shortly after.
The national anthem was sung, and after a bit of corrals shuffling forward, we were off! The first mile was a bit crowded, and it seemed like a fair number of runners with wave 2 bibs had somehow wound up in wave one, and it was probably a big part of the congestion that was going on. Eventually the narrow park road opened up as we made a left and headed under some highways, and we got a little more space to spread out.
While overall the course was flat, we had a few sections that largely consisted of getting up highway overpasses. Mom and Dad were positioned just after the first one the race went by, but I managed to miss them. Mile two took us by the queens museum, and then on a very long out and back, which lead to the entrance of Citi field before turning us around and sending us back to the park. As the sun rose in the sky the humidity picked up, and we were all reminded that the park was once a swamp, as buckets of sweat ensued. Throughout the race I caught glimpses of my teammates, and seeing them pushing made me continue to cling onto what was, for me, a hard pace.
As we entered the park again and ran through mile 4, I reminded myself that it’s only a 10k, it would be over in just two more miles! I spotted my parents as we ran through the park, and knew I would spot them again by the unisphere. I just kept pushing to keep up with Sami, trying to focus on running and ignore the urge to constantly check the pace on my watch. Mile five took us passed the worlds fair pavilion and observation towers, AKA those space ships that you see in the Men in Black movies.
Mile five took us passed the unisphere, and then over to the area race day central was, before heading back towards the unisphere, and making one final turn towards the finish line. So close, yet so far! I managed to keep moving forward and stick with Sami until the end of the race, and we finished in 53:19. Not too shabby for a humid day. I was happy with the time, and even happier to be done running. I was handed a medal, and collected my finishers bag, which had an Apple, a Gatorade, a water, and some pretzels.
After the race Sami and I found Nicole and Gabby, and snapped a mini-team picture, before I headed back to race day central to collect my tank top. I always get nervous about getting a shirt my size, as they sometimes run out, but I got the size I wanted this time.
I headed back towards the unisphere where my parents were waiting for Sophie to run by, and got there just in time to spot her and cheer her on. I met her by the finish as she completed her race, and then we took some photos around the park before heading home.
I love the historic scenery that you get to run by in this race, with the relics of the worlds fair scattered throughout the course. If you’re a Disney fan, this is where it’s a small world and the carousel of progress first debuted! It’s a “must do” on my race calendar each year, and I always enjoy exploring the park with my family after the race.
We hit some traffic heading home, but it enabled a little post-race nap, which was perfect for me! All in all, it was a fun start to Father’s Day weekend.