This is the second time I was participating in the NCPD Memorial 5K, as excited to get out for a good cause. The race fundraisers for the families of the fallen officers from the Nassau County Police Department. Coming from a family of cops, I think that the families of fallen officers should always receive support from the community.
Plus, the last time I did this race it was a great time! It’s an easy and quick course through Eisenhower Park that is entirely flat, and they don’t even make you run over the grass which sometimes happens with races in that park. I had originally asked my cousin Ryan to run this race with me, but he was under the weather tonight. I texted Mike to see if he still had plans, for the last time we had discuss the race he was busy. But lucky for me – his other plans fell through and he was able to come run with me.
The race happened on a Monday night, so after work I headed home and change into the shirt that I wore for the New York City Marathon in 2017, which featured the NYPD running club. I swung by Mike’s house and picked him up, and we head to the park together. It’s a local race for us so it only took about 10 minutes to get there.
The parking lot closest to the race were already filled up, and I didn’t want to park on the grass this time around us so I opted for a slightly further out parking lot. We’re already going to be running a 5K, so with a little extra walking really matter. We got over to the race area just as people are starting to head to the start line, and fell into the massive group of people waiting to get going. Soon after there was announcement at the start was going to be delayed by 10 minutes. I looked around us and waited in the starting corral knowing that a lot of the tri team was going to be doing this race and spotted a few of the jerseys ahead of us. We weaved through the group of waiting runners and I spotted Tara.
She asked me what my plan for this race was, and honestly I didn’t really have one. I just plan on sticking with Mike and letting whatever piece happened it just happened. But when she greeted me she had told me that she was hoping to see me, so I could pace her for this race. I asked her what time she wanted to run, and she said something in the eights. I knew that Mike had been able to hold pieces that fast as he had been coming with me lately to do a few miles during my tempo runs, so I figured we may as well go for it.
The national anthem was saying, and the race finally begin just a few minutes delayed. At first it was very crowded, with over 700 runners doing this event and no real seeding system runners of all different paces were starting at the same time. Made for a congested start, but with a little bit of weaving we were able to break into a less congested area of the race. The 1st mile including out and back portion where we ran towards the aquatic center in the park, and then we ran back towards the start area and spotted other members of the Tri team among the spectators. A lot of people that I knew spectating the race, and it was exciting do you hear them shout out my name as I ran by. At one point we ran through so many people that I knew, that Mike joked he would pay someone a dollar just to cheer for him. My watch buzzed to indicate that we had ran a mile just as we passed the 1st mile marker, an 8:29 pace. Before starting we had said we would try to stay between 830 and 845, so I tried to slow the pace down a little bit going into mile two that way there wouldn’t be any burnouts. But so far Mike and Tara were both sticking with me and looking strong.
It was a nice night out despite being August in New York, and Even the humidity was tolerable. I was surprised with how little I was sweating, and overall just felt really good. The week before this race I had totaled 50 miles, so I really didn’t expect these pieces to be coming without a high level of effort even the humidity was tolerable. I was surprised with how little I was sweating, and how overall i felt really good. The week before this race I had totaled 50 miles, so I really didn’t expect these paces to be coming without a high level of effort. There was a water stop in the 2nd mile, but I didn’t manage to get over in time. Sorry Mike and Tarah, if you guys had really wanted water at that point. I figured it was only a 5K, so we would survive to the end even if it sucked a little bit. The true torture came when we ran by an ice cream truck shortly after, and I didn’t even have any change to get something. We finished mile 2 with an 8:40 pace, as we weaved through a more wooded area of the park. At this point I kept a little bit of a closer eye on the pace - I wanted to make sure that we all would be able to stay together to the finish line.
I tried to cheer on my fellow runners as Mike, Tara and I pushed to keep the pace. We looped through the back side of Eisenhower park, and were soon nearing the area that we started the race in, and closing in on our third mile. Mike fell behind a little bit during the last mile, so as we approached the finish line I told Tara to go on without me, and slowed a little so Mike and I could be reunited, and finish the race together. When he caught up to me he was practically sprinting, and I met his pace as we raced for the finish line together. - we finished the race in 26:38, a new PR for Mike!
There were volunteers handing out cool towels and water bottles at the finish line, and those towels were amazing. We caught our breath, and then walked around the post-race area until we found the BBQ. They had catering from Texas roadhouse, and each runner was able to select two hot foods, a side, and a drink. I got a hot dog, a chicken slider, a oatmeal cookie, and a seltzer. They were also handing out draft beer to the runners, so Mike and I each got a pint, and I passed mine along to him once we found a seat to eat, since beer isn’t really my thing. The beer was unlimited for each runner, you just had to being back your cup to get more.
Mike and I enjoyed our tiny feast, watching other runners finish their race as the sun set in the park. Once we were finished eating we chatted with some of my friends from the tri team, as we waited for the raffles to be drawn - each runner had been given a raffle ticket, and there were additional tickets available for purchases, with some great prizes. We didn’t wind up winning anything though, and headed home after the numbers had been drawn.
Overall, I love this event, from the cause it supports, to the BBQ after the race, and the T-shirt that they give out, and I hope I will be able to run it for years to come.