I am so not a morning person. Had to set the alarm to get up early and get myself across Central Park and on a subway headed north to Washington Heights for a 9:00 (a.m.!!) start time. No you cannot spot me here at the starting line as I am bringing up the rear with the other slow pokes who signed up as 12-minute milers.
The great thing about this race (aside from being only 3.1 miles in distance) is that there are musicians all along the course to inspire you. Everything from blues, jazz, rock, marching bands, and my personal favorite: mariachi - how cool are they?! 
And there are lots of people from the neighborhood leaning out their windows or lining the streets to cheer you on, even New York's Finest offering a word of encouragement. (I personally abandoned an impromptu walk break halfway up a %*&#$! hill as I passed a crew of NY FIrefighters cheering the runners. Suddenly "this is a steep hill" didn't seem like a compelling reason to slow down.)
After the official 5k, they had the cutest thing: kids races! Instead of pace times, they had the rugrats queue up by age, the youngest sign I saw was, "Age 2". I'm not sure how far they ran, but they were adorable. And they were presented with little medals at the finish line by the NYFD. Cute!
I had a bit of a sore throat the night before, but nothing severe enough to consider bailing on the run. The weather wasn't too harsh. About 40 and sunny, no wind, thankfully. So I don't know if running in the elements exacerbated my throat or what, but I'm trying to take it fairly easy today. It's in the 50's now, so I'm excited to get some regular runs al fresco happening!
One more thing, results! I finished just a few seconds after 35 minutes, which of course makes me wish I had worn a stop watch because I'm sure I could have shaved off 6 seconds...coulda woulda shoulda... My pace per mile averaged 11:19, which is all ok with me. I strive to 1) finish and 2) beat a 12-minute mile. Done and done!
Now for my tea...
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