Running Brooklyn

With the changes going on in my life, I took the last minute opportunity to run the Brooklyn Half marathon. I figured it would be  a nice way to see Brooklyn before I left. For a NYRR race, it was huge. I think there were more than 25,000 runners in the race. They had to set people off in 2 waves. Not surprisingly, I was in Wave 2. It was packed.

Waiting in the corrals at start of #brooklynhalf vine.co/v/bE0E1J0QXzg
— caitlyn kim (@caitlynkim) May 18, 2013

I finally got to cross the start line about 38 minutes into the race. The course went around Prospect Park. This was the green, pretty part of the race, running past some pretty brownstones, and watching people and their dogs playing in the park as thousands ran by. Then came the boring stretch: Ocean Ave. We were on that for about 5-6 miles until we hit Coney Island. I kept waiting to see signs of the beach because then I'd know the finish line was near. Alas, all that running straight ahead never seemed to get us to the beach. Until....finally I could see the boardwalk and then we hung a right and crowds were there and you could see Luna Park and all the rides. We got to run on the boardwalk. It was fun.

GR, MR and I ran it from work. And GM also ran. And even with the large crowds -- and the fact that it took about 20 minutes to leave the finish area -- I was able to meet up with everyone.

My only complaint was getting home from the finish. The subway was packed and it took about 1:15 for me to get home. It only took about 30 mins to get to the start at Prospect Park. Oh well.