New York City Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

The start of this race is unpleasant. There are over 10,000 people jammed into Central Park so just getting to the start line took almost 15 minutes. Even though I did this race last year in 2:04, which isn't terribly fast but also not terribly slow, I got placed in the 13,000s start corral with people aiming to do 10-11 minute miles or walk. The numbers were supposed to be based on estimated finish time so I was disappointed.

To make matters worse, stomach issues kicked in before the race even started. I had been a little nauseous all morning, but passed it off as being early and tired. I wish that were the case. Without getting into TMI, let's just say that I was miserable and the race hadn't even started. I had upper and lower GI troubles and felt weak.

It took 6 miles for me to settle into a good pace due to the crowding and the start position I was stuck with. I had to run on the cobblestones and grass off to the side to pass and took more elbows than an Ironman mass start. It was frustrating and makes me question whether or not I'll continue to do this race.

Because of my stomach I had a very hard time getting fluids down so I skipped every other station and had just sips of Gatorade. I was dehydrating and didn't feel like anything was absorbing, even after 3 miles with no fluids my stomach felt sloshy. I had a gel at mile 10 and pushed it hard to get to the finish. I just wanted it to be over at that point.

I was really excited about my finish time. It's a PR for me and 12 minutes better than the same race last year. But I like to enjoy the experience of my races rather than just push through for a time so it was disappointing to have the slow start and be sick. I kept hoping it would go away and instead it got worse.

Not be sick, try to get a better corral position before the race started.

None really. I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. I stretched a little while waiting for family and stretched again at home before a very long nap. It was hours before I could eat or drink.


Stomach problems, dehydration, poor start positioning. But regardless of this, I'm not sure I could have run any faster. I felt I gave it my best.


If you just want to run a fun half and enjoy NYC, this is a great race, which is why I rated it a 4. If you want to challenge yourself on a half and achieve a time goal, it's a tough race given the number of people and tight course.

Every race day can't be perfect and you can't control whether or not your body cooperates. Today was not a great race day for me, but I'm still very proud of my finish time and the fact that I exceeded my goal despite challenges. Just think how fun my next half-mary will seem in comparison?