We Are NYC Virtual Queens 5k!

Hi everyone, hope everyone is staying safe during these unique times!

Our club has been staying active while practicing social distancing of course. We recently concluded our first virtual race, the Brooklyn Virtual Mile. Most of the proceeds for that race went to those impacted by Covid-19. One of our contributions was a $1,000 donation to City Harvest who is in dire need of donations to their food banks here in NYC. Our donation is estimates to feed approximately 1,400 hungry New Yorkers!

With that said, since our first virtual race was a success, we are now ready to open up our next race to EVERYONE!

Some of members enjoying their medal from our previous virtual race! (Photo Credit: Eva F)

THE WE ARE NYC RUNNING CLUB VIRTUAL QUEENS 5K! (3.1 Miles)

RACE DETAILS:

You can run the “WERNYC Queens 5k” any time on Saturday 6/6 or Sunday 6/7. Once completed, please upload a screen shot of your Strava, Garmin or any running app result to the following page:

We Are NYC RC Public FB Page

Alternatively, you can email your result to wearenycrc@gmail.com!

Please note that the result must be a 5k. We will not take spilts from a longer run. This race is open to the public and not limited to members! Anyone can run! Tell your family and friends as well! Screen shot must show the date and time that the run was completed.

COST AND WHAT IT INCLUDES:

CLICK Here for the We Are NYC RC 5k Essentials Package $25

-More than half of your race fee will go towards helping those impacted by Covid 19!

-You will also receive a medal commemorating your achievement (pictured in post).

Click Here for the We Are NYC RC 5k – Summer Essentials Package – $35

-More than half of your race fee will go towards helping those impacted by Covid 19!

-You will also receive a medal commemorating your achievement (pictured in post)

-You will also receive a red or black club (dependent on which one you chose) beverage koozie to keep your favorite beverage cool this summer!

-You will also receive a bottle opener to keep in your koozie or to detach it!

Score either a red or a black koozie and a bottle opener w/ the summer essentials package!

Upon check out of either option, please make sure to indicate your mailing address so that we can mail your items out to you! To avoid confusion with the club merchandise on this site, PLEASE DO NOT ORDER anything else from this website while purchasing the virtual race so as to not confuse our printers with our virtual race!

We Are NYC Virtual 5k Registration

THE PURPOSE:

The “We Are NYC Running Club – Queens 5k” will be run for multiple reasons! The first is for us to stay active and to continue practice social distancing during these difficult times. As an alternative to another virtual group run, this is designed to do something different and to reward everyone the runs it with a sharp looking medal honoring Queens NYC!

Further and most importantly, as mentioned above more than half of race fees collected will go towards helping those impacted financially by the Covid-19 crisis. The remainder of the fees will go to cover costs associated with medals and shipping of the medals.

Good luck at the “We Are NYC Virtual Queens 5k”!

 

 

 

 

 

My Most Recent Review Of The United NYC Half Course!

Fantastic Group Of Runners This Past Sunday Who Ran The Course!

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to tackle the United NYC Half Course with members of my We Are NYC Running Club and members of the United NYC Half Facebook Group! It was a beautiful Sunday morning for the run. A little chilly but we waited around for everyone in a nice section of Prospect Park that had lots of sun shining on us. In seeing this course again this past Sunday and in running it the last few years, I thought I would share a review of the course.

Some of you may know that the United NYC Half Marathon course has changed from previous years. In 2019, the course started inside of Prospect Park Brooklyn for the first time. This past Sunday, we pretty much excluded the first two miles which take place inside the park. As far as those two miles are concerned, based on my running the race last year, you will encounter an uphill in the first mile. It comes in the second half of the first mile and it’s a net climb of about 80 feet. Just around the time that you finish that first mile you will exit the park and encounter crowds for the first time. You will be on Flatbush Avenue and you will head out on a 1 ½ mile out and back on Flatbush Ave adjacent to the park. The first half of this 1.5  miles is a steady downhill. Be careful though because you will have to come back up that same stretch but this time do it uphill.

Once you are done with this out and back, you will be at around the 2.5 mile mark and you will be passing Grand Army Plaza and leaving the park completely. Here you should encounter a good amount of spectators. When you reach this portion, do your best to put your adrenalin in check because the next mile or so is a steady downhill! Strava measured this mile to be a decrease in elevation of about 96 feet. I have to admit, this is also a nice wide road with lots of local shops. Assuming it is a decent weather day, I am 99% positive that this stretch of the course is going to be filled with spectators on race day. With that said, these spectators, along with the steady downhill will you give you the temptation to unleash a fast mile. I will say to just be careful here, because you have a long way to go and some challenges ahead.

Having Fun On The Manhattan Bridge This Past Sunday (photo credit Bon R.)

 

As you reach the mile 4 mark, you will start your climb onto the Manhattan Bridge. This is where your work and challenges will start. From the 4 mile mark, its a long steady climb onto the bridge until you get to the middle of the bridge. Your total climb will be around 90 feet. As you get to the summit of the bridge take a nice exhale for two reasons. First, the views are amazing here so enjoy them! Second, the next mile and change is a nice and steady downhill. I strongly suggest you enjoy this stretch. Let your muscles recoup. Think about taking a gel or some type of energy supplement at this point because you will need it for the second half of the race . Think about how you feel. Keep your emotions in check and remember, you are here to have fun!

Once you get off of the Manhattan Bridge you will enter Chinatown where the crowds are always amazing! Soak in the crowds because you are headed for the FDR Drive soon. The FDR drive is a popular NYC highway that closes one direction just for you on this day. On the surface, New Yorkers may think that it is pretty cool to be running on the FDR Drive, but I find that these approximately three miles can be pretty boring miles on the course. Yes, there are nice views of the east river but the crowds are also very small on this stretch. As I mentioned, your time on the FDR is close to three miles as if boring miles are not enough, you will also gradually be climbing throughout these three miles. I did say that the second half of the race would be challenging right? (lol)

Its a long stretch of close to 3 miles on the FDR Drive!

You will finally exit the FDR Drive at 42nd St as you pass the United Nations, another very nice scenic view during this race. As you start to head west on 42nd street, you will be passing the 10 mile marker and you will continue to climb in elevation for about 40 feet until you get past 5th avenue. Here you will begin a small gradual run downhill that will take you into a very cool portion of the race, none other than Times Square. I mean other than New Years, eve, Times Square never closes for anyone but on this day, it closes for you! Take this stretch in because once you turn onto 7^thavenue at around mile 11 and approach 45th street you will begin an approximate one mile climb up that will take you up another 40 feet in elevation and will leave you right at the entrance to Central Park. As you run thru Times Square, take a look for the Youth Run that shold be taking place on the right side of 7^thavenue. I think its pretty cool that they are running their own race, while we run ours!

Back to our race though, as you finish your uphill climb on 7^thavenue, you will enter Central Park and soon approach the 12 mile marker. Once you enter the park, a series of small uphills and downhills will await. Nothing too drastic. Keep it all together here and focus on your stride as you’re still about a mile from the finish. The park has always given me adrenalin. There is some rich running history here as it’s where the NYC Marathon finishes every year. Use this adrenalin to push you that last mile. During this last mile in the park, you will make a left turn at 72^ndstreet. Save some juice for this last quarter mile because there is one more sneaky hill in the last quarter mile as you turn left again onto Central Park West Drive. Give it all you have on this hill because just beyond it, is your finish line!

I can’t rel you how much I love this course. The views, the towns that you go thru, Times Square and Central Park all make it amazing! A personal record is not impossible on this course, but it is also not easy. How you attack this course will be key. Go out too hard during the downhills in the first half and you will may pay the price on the hills that await you on the 2^ndhalf of the course. For me take advantage of that last mile in the park. It’s a great mile to finish a great half marathon!

I hope you have enjoyed this review of the United NYC Half Course! As always you can follow me on Strava under my name Cesar Trelles or on Instagram @catrunsnyc_2018 ! Leave me some comments after the race on either of these on what you thought of the race course! Good luck to all of those that are running the 2020 United NYC Half Marathon!

The Only Race To Take You Thru Times Square!

Tune Up For The United NYC Half This Sunday!

At the start of a previous course trial run!

This past Sunday came and went and that has taken us to under 4 weeks until the running of the 2020 United NYC Half Marathon! For some of you out there, part of your preparation may have been chatting it up with others on our NYC Half FB Forum page which is now in our third year! On the page we have discussed a variety of topics regrind the NYC Half Marathon. We’ve also offered a NYC Half course training run which will be taking place this coming Sunday February 23rd at 8am. The training run is COMPLETELY FREE TO JOIN! Just show up!

Details on the course training run are below. If you have any questions or comments regarding the run, please comment below or email us at wearenycrc@gmail.com !

What: United NYC Half Course Training Run

When: Sunday, February 23, 2020 @ 8:00am

Where: Grand Army Plaza Prospect Park Brooklyn (Pictured above)

More info: 10 miles of the NYC half marathon course! BAG CHECK AVAILABLE at the start and bag retrieval at the conclusion of your run!

ALL PACES ARE WELCOME!

We will try and stagger a few groups 5-10 minutes apart. Slower groups leaving at 8:00am with faster groups leaving 5-10 minutes staggered, No more than three pace groups will depart!

Course Info:

*Starting at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect park, head north up Flatbush Avenue towards the Manhattan Bridge for approximately 1.75 miles to Willoughby St.

*At Willoughby St. make a left and cross over Flatbush Avenue and continue on Willoughby st to Jay st.

*Make a right on Jay St. and continue on Jay St. We should be at around mile 2 when we turn onto Jay St.

*Stay on Jay St until we get to the Manhattan Bridge Park where you will find the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge footbridge. Take that over the Manhattan bridge and cross into Manhattan!

*Its just about 1.5 miles on the Manhattan Bridge until you exit off of the bridge. Once you exit you will be on Bowery St. Make a quick right onto Canal St. and stay on Canal St about three short blocks until you get to Allen St.

*Make a right on Allen St which become Pike St which then becomes Pike Slip. Take this all the way to South St. and make a left. You will be under the FDR Drive at this point.

*Continue on South St. under the FDR drive for about 1.5 miles. Once you cross under the Williamsburg Bridge, use one of the footbridges either at Houston St or 6th st to cross over the FDR Drive and to reach the East River bikeway. You will be at around mile 6 of the run when you hit 6th st.

*Once you cross over the FDR Drive, continue taking that path north along the FDR drive. Take the FDR drive bike path to 34th st which is just past “The Water Club” and cross back under the FDR drive. Take 34th st to 1st Avenue and make a right.

*Continue on 1st Ave to 42nd st and make a left. You should just have past the 8th mile at the his point. From here on your GPS may go crazy as 42nd st tends to do that to GPS watches.

*Continue on 42nd st for about a mile and make a right on 7th ave

*Continue on 7th ave to 59th st and end the run at the entrance to Central Park! Bag pick up will be close by!

The NYRR run center is available a couple of blocks away as a changing facility once you have finished your run!

For an interactive link to the route on MapMyRun, click here! 

We hope to see you out there and getting a solid run in Sunday that will leave you feeling CONFIDENT with three weeks to go til race day!

Stay positive and stay running ~ Cesar

Some of last years participants at the finish of the run!

 

NYC Marathon Transport & Bag Check Decision Time!

Hello class of 2019 TCS NYC Marathoners!

While we are still over 3 months away from the actual day of the TCS NYC Marathon, the next couple of days are very important days to all of us. On August 1, New York Road Runners will allow you to go into your profile to let you choose your transportation options as well as your bag check options. All you have to do is log into your account and go to your NYC Marathon entry within your profile and select your options.

For those who have run the marathon before, by now you likely have your preferred options and know how to respond accordingly. It may be helpful for experienced runners to chime in on your opinions below in the comments section!

However, if this is your first time running the race, then it may be worth it for you to proceed reading! Here is how I break down the different options that will be in front of you soon!

Transportation Decisions

Riding the ferry to the start line does provide an amazing view!

NYRR will give you two options with respect to the transportation that they provide to you. Those options are either chartered buses or the Staten Island Ferry.  Before I go into these decisions, I will start by saying that your transportation to this race is like no other traveling you have done for any other race. Unless you are staying in Staten Island close to the start village, you will need to give yourself plenty of time to get to the starters village. Remember, there are 60,000 runners making their way to the start line with you!

The FIRST transportation option is a chartered bus that leaves from two (2) locations. You can choose to take a bus that departs from either the NY Public Library (42nd Street & 5th Avenue) or from New Jersey departing from MetLife Stadium (parking lot K).

If you happen to be staying in Manhattan or anywhere near Manhattan, I strongly suggest the buses that leave from the NY Public Library. The bus from the NY Public Library will take you straight to the starters village in Staten Island. In fact this ride is so smooth that the NYC Department of transportation has arranged to have the roads leading to the starting village closed off and strictly only for the buses. It is my thought that NYRR hires every charter bus in NYC for this event because the parade of buses seems to be continuous. NYRR will ask you to pick a time slot where you will board the NYC buses, but to be honest, just show up with plenty of time before your start time and you will be able to board a bus.

With that being said…I strongly suggest giving yourself three hours of traveling and prep prior to your wave start time regardless of which option you choose. Ideally, traveling will take you between 60-90 mins and then getting thru security will take you some time as well. With that being said, it isn’t a bad idea if you factored in even more time to travel!

I can’t comment here about the bus from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey but I have to imagine that it is similar to the bus that leaves from Manhattan and runs very smooth.

The SECOND transportation option is taking the The Staten Island Ferry. Like the buses, the ferry also leaves from Manhattan, near Battery Park, but departs once every half hour. Unlike the buses, it isn’t a continuous departure. If you choose to travel via ferry and you happen to miss a ferry, then you are waiting a half hour for the next one. Something else to keep in mind is that once you are off the ferry, you will still have to board a bus from the ferry terminal to the starters village. In 2018, there were serious delays with this shuttle buses from the ferry terminal. Will NYRR fix them for 2019? Lets hope so!

Bag Check or No bag Check?

Aside from transportation options, NYRR will also ask you to declare whether you will be utilizing their bag check system or not. For ease of reference, you will check your bag in at the starters village in Staten Island and it will then be transported to the finish line area in Central Park. The weather in New York City can be very unpredictable and its hard to say what you will need after your race months in advance. But I will say this, if you plan on meeting someone after the race or if you are staying in Manhattan afterwards, you might want to consider the option against bag check. I say this for a few reasons. The first reason is that if you decline bag check, NYRR give you a very cool insulated poncho. No this isn’t an aluminum heat wrap but a very nice insulated poncho! This poncho cannot be obtained by any other methods other than by declining bag check on the day of the NYC Marathon. A picture of the poncho is below as it is being worn by a bunch of runners!

You can only scoop up these cool ponchos if you decline bag check!

Also a deterrent of bag check for me is that the walk off after you cross the finish line will be even longer if you have to pick up your bag from bag check. For comparison, the walk off if you opt for no bag check is roughly a half mile to exit the park at which point you receive your poncho and continue on your way, However…if you have to retrieve a bag from bag check, you can end up walking close to a mile to retrieve your bag and you guessed it – no pretty poncho! Walking a mile after you have run 26.2 miles can be quite daunting.

Finally, the third reason I lean away from bag check is because of the complimentary runners aide bag that is given. While the bag is a very nice gesture by NYRR, it will include two bottles of water/gatorade, a protein drink and some other nutrition in the bag. If you are tired, the bag will weigh a bit as will the bag that you retrieve should you be checking one. I just wanted to mention this if you were still considering checking in a bag as carrying two bags after 26.2 miles might be a drag.

Overall, my personal opinion is to decline the bag check and grab the cool poncho. Of course I say this because I will likely stay at a hotel in Manhattan after the race and will just make may way to the hotel to change. But if you have to travel after the race, checking a bag to get into some fresh clothes might be for you. Just give yourself even more time before the start of the race to go thru the bag check area as that will also require more time from you before you start the race.

At the end, lets hope that the decisions that we are about to make in the next couple of days regarding bag check and transportation are the hardest decisions that we will have to make during our journey to the marathon! Making the decisions to run the 26.2 miles was clearly the easy decision right?

If you have any questions regarding the bag check or transportation options you can reach out to me on wearenycrc@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram at @catrunsnyc_2018 . Enjoy your decision making day!

The finish line awaits!

Preparing For The NYC Marathon

Hi everyone, Cesar here chiming in on marathon training prep! While the NYC Marathon is still more than 20 weeks away, many runners are starting to ponder how they will be preparing for their big race in November.

If this is your first marathon, I strongly suggest follow a training plan. Why you ask? Training for a marathon is unlike any race you may have done previously. Training for a half marathon is no where close to training for a full marathon. I highly encourage runners not to try to “wing it” with your training. I’ve seen people do this and it results in injury and none of us want that!

With so many training plan options out there today, choosing how to prepare for a marathon can be almost as daunting as running the 26.2 miles! Doing a simple google search for “Marathon Training Plans” will give you several results, all of which will cost you nothing to follow them. On the other extreme, organizations suchs as New York Road Runners offer comprehensive plans with different features that can add up and cost you a pretty penny. Since your race fee is so high, opting for one of these may not make sense for you.

So what is runner to do? Every runner will be different on how they will approach this however I wanted to suggest a couple of things that you should ensure are included in your training.

Remember It Is Your Plan! There are alot of plans out on the internet that are very generic in nature. They will tell you to run the mileage but once again, every runner is different. Some may need more time to build up their mileage than others. If this is your first marathon, ask yourself and be honest with yourself if jumping to 26.2 miles will be a big jump for you. If so, be mindful of these generic plans and how quickly they outline your jump in mileage. Also make sure that the paces prescribed in these generic plans make sense for you. If you need help figuring out what pace you should be training at, you can drop me an email at my contacts below!

Build the Base First! While everyone is eager to get race day ready, it is extemely important not to progress your mileage too fast. Make sure that your plan has you building a base of miles first before you jump into higher mileage or jump into drastic speed work. Your first 3-4 weeks of your plan should include building your base. your runs should be around 4-7 miles and not much longer. Also these miles should be done at an easy conversation pace and no where near your race pace. Adding in some strength training and core work at your gym will also help prepare your legs for the demands of increased mileage which will come soon!

Once Your Base Is Built It’s Time To Build Mileage This part of the plan is inevitable. To run 26.2 miles, you need to train for 26.2 miles. However this is the area where many people risk injury. It’s not a smart practice to jump from 6 mile long runs to 15 mile long runs. That’s where injuries occur and exhaustion can set in because your body just isn’t used to that increased mileage. A good rule of thumb is to increase your weekly volume by 10%. If your plan has you jumping more than 10% to a new long run, maybe it time to think twice about that plan.

Also something to note, based on how many weeks you are training, try to maximize your longest run between 20-22 miles. This is where the longer plan (ie 18-20 weeks) is prefereable. There are a lot of plans that max out their longest long run at 18 miles. That’s 8 miles more that you are asking your body to give you without knowing how it will respond. With that being said, be mindful of trying to rush your training to get to a 20-22 mile long run. Getting there should be a gradual process that progresses along the lines of what I previously recommended of adding 10% each week.

Don’t forget speed work and hills! Speed work may not be for everyone but if you are looking to run a certain time then don’t skimp on the speed work. Long intervals such as 1200 meter repeats and mile repeats are perfect speed drills to implement when training for a marathon.

Unlike speed work, for the TCS NYC Marathon, hill work should definitely be part of your training! There are 5 bridges to overcome on this 26.2 mile trek in addition to other hills (more on those at a later date). Make sure that your training plan implements hill repeats thru out! If you live in the NYC area, I strongly suggest working out on any and all of the bridges that are part of the course.

Pace is a critical part of your training! I’ve seen so many plans that just detail the mileage to be done on a daily basis with no mention at all as to pace. Some experiences runners may know the paces they need to run during their training but not every runner will know! Your plan should be descriptive as to what your pace should be on a daily basis especially if you are looking to run under a certain time. Long runs should be done at a vey relaxed pace or how some call it, a conversation pace. Speed workouts should be done at a much faster pace but not necessarily all out. Then of course for those who are looking to run under a certain time, there is the ever popular “marathon pace”. This is the pace that you will need to average to hit your desired time. Some of your runs should be run at marathon pace but it shouldn’t be all of them. I’ve seen people train at marathon pace all the time and that type of training is not sustainable over the course of 16-20 weeks. On some of your runs, your plan should include portions of your runs where you work up to marathon pace and hold it.

Somewhat related to this is working on achieving negative splits on york long runs. For those unfamiliar with the term, negative splits is when the second half of your run is faster than your first half. Training your body for this will help you overcome “the wall” which usually hits in the second half of a marathon.

 In closing, there are ALOT of things clearly to consider when choosing a plan but it is worth your time to research and ensure some of these are addressed by your training plan. After all, it’s your race, and you want to run YOUR time!

If you are still unsure about which plan to choose or if you are unsure about the paces your training runs should be at, you can always drop me a line at wearenycrc@gmail.com and I would be glad to assist!

Additionally contact me about personalizing a plan as well based on your needs! Good luck to all marathoners and their training!!!

Cesar

 

 

Join Us Saturday May 4th In Brooklyn! RAIN OR SHINE!

Some of Our Members After The 2018 Version Of Our BK Half Trial Run!

*TRIAL COURSE UPDATE!*

updated 5/3/19

Good morning everyone! Tomorrow’s Brooklyn Half Course trial run is on RAIN OR SHINE! Last year the race was run in a steady pouring rain so might as well get out there and give your rain gear a trial run in case this year’s race is also rainy!

ALSO- BAG CHECK WILL BE PROVIDED at the start and transported to the finish. My foot isn’t 100% and rather then run 13 miles tomorrow, I’ll save it for the race and serve as bag check tomorrow! 🤙🤙

Finally, I will have a water/nutrition station setup at about mile 7 as you exit the park HOWEVER you will have to provide your water bottles and nutrition to me at the start! Once everyone passes me at mile 7, i’ll head to the finish line 👍👍

Hope to see everyone tomorrow morning!

On Saturday, May 4th, 2019, we will be having a trial run of the Brooklyn Half Marathon course with members of  our “We Are NYC Running Club”. The trial run is as it sounds – a practice run of the entire course- yup 13.1 miles on a Saturday morning! The trial run is free and everyone is welcome to join!

*MEET UP SPOT🏛️🏛️

As this is a trial run of the course, we are asking everyone to meet up at Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238) at 7:00am! Please do not be late!

Yes thats nice and early in the morning but keep in mind, the actual race also starts at 7:00am on race day anyways! This gives you a chance to wake up early and practice your routine and route to the start line!

*TRANSPORTATION TO START🚕🚆🚗

You can always park by the finish line and then either take a subway to the start or Uber which is about $10-$20. If you plan on doing that, plan on being by the finish line by no later than 6:30am!

Of course you can take the subway to the start line. The Eastern Parkway Brooklyn Musem stop on the 2-3 line seems to be the closest station to the start line. Check the MTA website to make sure these trains are running on Saturday morning!

This is the 2018 race course map however it is expected to be the same in 2019!

*THE COURSE!

The course map is above. I also posted details of the the start area and finish area are below. Some of you may remember the trial run of the United NYC Half Marathon course that I held back in February. Unlike that trial run that we held, we should be able to run this course fairly close to the actual course. If you remember we couldn’t get on parts of the United NYC Half Course. That shouldn’t be the case here for the trial run of the BK Half. We should be able to see the entire course!

Here’s a brief overview of the course and what we plan on running on Saturday!

-The course starts at the Brooklyn Museum and we will run south along Washington Avenue, down to Empire Blvd where we make a right and another quick right onto Flatbush Avenue.

-Next we head north on Flatbush Avenue, towards Grand Army Plaza. Runners of the United NYC Half may remember this stretch as it was the starting corrals of that race.

-One we approach Grand Army Plaza (at approximately the 1.5 mile mark) we will loop around the Plaza and then head back south on Flatbush Avenue, til we get back to Ocean Avenue.

-We will take a slight right onto Ocean Avenue and proceed straight until we get to Parkside Avenue where we will make a right onto Parkside Avenue. This will be around the 3 mile marker on the course map.

-Continuing west on Parkside Avenue we enter Prospect park near Machate Circle where we will then proceed to do a full loop within Prospect Park.

-After one full loop within the park, we will exit the park close to where we entered it for the loop and run onto Ocean Parkway. Once we leave the park we should be 7 miles in

-Once on Ocean Parkway we will stay on Ocean Parkway and head south for a little over 5 miles until we turn onto Surf Avenue. On the course map this is around the 20k marker or 12.5 miles.

-We will continue west on Surf Avenue for about a half mile until west 10th street where we will make a left onto west 10th street once you pass by the Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster.

-Take west 10th street one block to the Coney Island Boardwalk – once you get to the boardwalk make a right.

-Run on the boardwalk until you reach “Tom’s of Coney Island” -this is the approximate finish line of the race!

 

Get Ready To Race For The Finish!

*PACE OF RUN ⏱️⏱️

Some things to note – this is not meant to be all out pace. Personally As this will likely be one of your last long rains, try and take it easy and enjoy the run! Maybe snap some pictures along the route so you don’t have to do that on race day! Have fun with this run and lets hope we have a gorgeous day!

As for paces, this trial run is for EVERYONE! During trial runs of the NYC Half Course in February, we staggered pace groups and we are looking to do the same thing again! Here are the pace group and their expected times of departure:

 

–First group, runners planning on running over 12:00/mile pace would leave at 7:15 am.

 –Second group, runners between 10:00/mile pace and 12:00/ mile pace who would leave at 7:30am. 

–Third Group for any runners running under 10:00/ mile pace who would leave at 7:45am. 

 The idea of breaking up pace groups this way would be that we would all arrive to the end closer in time to the end and folks would avoid getting lost this way as well. 

*OTHER ITEMS TO CONSIDER!

Also to note are bathroom breaks – try and hit the bathrooms before you start. I have been told that there are portable bathrooms at 5 different locations on the loop within Prospect Park with 2 portable bathrooms where we enter and exit the park to and from our loop.

The stretch along Ocean Parkway is mostly residential so I’m not sure if you will have access to bathrooms during that 5 mile stretch. Or course when we get to Coney Island, there should be public rest rooms to use also.

As for hydration and nutrition, please bring your own! There are 5 water fountain stops within the Prospect Park loop. However once we exit Prospect Park, I cannot guarantee that we will pass by open store fronts.

Additionally please bring your own gels or anything you may consume for a 13.1 run.

Once we are done with the run we can hangout on the boardwalk and maybe catch a cold adult beverage to “re-hydrate”!

If you have any questions or comments – please do comment below! These group runs are a great way to get together – meet some fellow runners and take one huge step towards getting ready for the Brooklyn Half Marathon!

This run is sponsored by “We Are NYC Running Club” however is open to the entire running community! Need some cool t-shirts to get yourself ready for the 2019 Brooklyn Half? How about some racing singlets or tanks? We got you covered!

See you on Saturday May 4th

~~~Cesar & We Are NYC Running Club

Smile Samantha! You Are Our Member Spotlight Of The Week!

Always with a smile, Samantha has been featured on many NYRR promo ads!

Another week has passed so it’s time to shine the spotlight on one of our members! Today we are happy to shine that spotlight on one of our very first members, the always smiling, Samantha M.!

Samantha has always come to club gatherings with tons of energy, a positive attitude and of course her vibrant smile.

Samantha started running in 2001 in college when she felt she was overweight and as a result, it made her self-conscious. At the time she had an unpleasant dance teacher that would make her feel uncomfortable about her weight so she turned to running to prove that teacher wrong and feel better about herself. Little by little she would set small benchmarks for herlsef measured in city blocks.

When she’s no running, Samantha loves singing and dancing!

 

Eventually she had worked up to a mile and before she knew it she was running as far as 5 kilometers! As running became a healthy obsession, she would run at the gym on treadmills admittedly so she could watch trashy TV (lol). Ever increasing her mileage, she joined New York Road runners in 2012 and ran her first 5k that year. Fast forward to today, Samantha has run over 80 races with NYRR!

Being a runner since 2012, Samantha stumbled across We Are NYC Running club last year while training for the United NYC Half Marathon. Why would Samantha join a running club though after being a runner for 6 years and having success with it? Samantha points to the amount of support that she felt from strangers who shared the same common goal as her and had a true genuine love for running.

3rd from the right, Samantha was at the very first official club meet up!

Samantha was part of the first unofficial meet up of the club back at the 2018 NYRR Gridiron 4 miler run. That day she felt the group had something special just from spending 15 minutes together with the group before the 4 mile race. With many years of running already under her belt, she wanted to be part of something bigger where she could talk to people and not be judged. She remembers many years back still to that dance class teacher where she made to feel so small. Being a part of this club, she no longer feels that at all! Since joining the club, Samantha has loved being a member as she points to the many fabulous, strong, dedicated and down to earth people she has met. She adds that running a race is so much better knowing that you have a lot of people out there rooting for you and running with you. Just yesterday, Samantha ran her 22^nd race as a member of We Are NYC Running Club as she ran the NYRR Gridiron 4 miler with the club and celebrated a year of running with her new found running family!

Looking forward, she continues to think about running the TCS NYC Marathon as a long term goal. For now she is concerned with committing time to train for a marathon as she knows the amount of time involved with it and she does not want to take that time away from her family, especially her three year old son Harrison. Speaking of her son Harrison, he himself has already run some races with NYRR. Samantha plans on continuing to have Harrison run more races this year while she continues to prepare for some more half marathons herself with the 2:00 time barrier as her ultimate goal!

Pictured here at the Bronx 10 Mile, Samantha ran 22 races with We Are NYC RC in 2018!

We are fairly confident that Samantha will break that 2:00 barrier if not at the NYC Half Marathon, perhaps the Brooklyn half marathon! Once she has done that, if she hasn’t changed her mind about going for the TCS NYC marathon, she may just be content with continuing another fun hobby of hers – performing and singing famous Broadway musical scores on top of her radiator with her son Harrison!

Here are some words that some of our members had for Samantha!

Fellow Club teammate Marjorie

Fellow Club teammate Cesar

 

Monday Member Spotlight – Meet Carlo!

Carlo Has Ascended to B Corral & Shows No Signs Of Stopping!

This week our member spotlight is focused on our quiet but fearless Carlo Fervil. Carlo’s love for running has turned into a lifelong passion. Here’s why…

Carlo had no idea that he was going to soon find his passion and something that would take him on a lifelong journey. At the encouragement of a co worker and curious to try running as a way to get fit, Carlo entered his first 5K in Brooklyn. Excited to see what the hype of running was all about, he ended up disappointed when the race he ran was very disorganized. In 2017, his co worker told him about New York Road Runners, so he entered a 5k in Prospect Park. It was love at first run! Every race he ran, he pushed himself harder and harder to see what his limit was. He quickly realized, there were no limits to how hard and fast he could run. Carlo did not see running as a “one and done” thing. He wanted to keep going, learn everything he needed to know and most of all give 100%.

 

Carlo Was Part Of The Club’s First Ever Ragnar Relay Team This Year!

Then Carlo had something happen that changed his perspective and made him realize that he also needed to learn how to train properly. He entered the Staten Island Half, his very first half marathon. Not sure how to train, he used an app but didn’t quite follow the training the way it was prescribed. Not training properly resulted in injury to his IT band, during the race. Unable to walk he realized at that moment that he wanted to do whatever he could to avoid injury, so he began doing research on how to train properly. Carlo learned there are three important components to running injury free. Cadence, hip strength and heart rate. He used that to develop his own training, worked it into every run and started to see that he was becoming a stronger, faster and more efficient runner.

“Coach Carlo” Is Always Willing To Give His Teammates Running Advice!

It didn’t stop there for Carlo. Now he wanted to share everything he had learned with everyone around him. In 2018, Carlo joined his first training run with We Are NYC Running Club. He quickly became part of the team, but also felt that he wanted to help others run better too. Carlo started offering teammates small tips on how they could improve their form and ways to run better. This would lead to many of his teammates calling him “Coach Carlo”! Last fall, he organized some of his own training runs to work on interval training. Now some of his teammates were seeing their own gains and improvements. Coach Carlo was making a much bigger impact.

Carlo has big plans for his future. He is looking towards becoming a Certified Running Coach through the Road Runners Club of America. In 2019, he will be running both the Chicago and Berlin marathons. But both of those races are going to be a small step in preparing him for the biggest journey of his life. To begin his training, in the hopes of obtaining a spot in the Olympic marathon trials. Carlo’s dream is to take his passion for running all the way to the Olympics.

Carlo leaves us with his motto in the hopes that everyone will apply it to all areas of their life.

“Patience and consistency are the keys to success and it stands true when applied to fitness and running goals.”

Always With A Smile, Carlo Is Aiming For The Olympics One Day!

 

 

Monday Member Spotlight Time!

Our Member Spotlights Bassem Reaches “50” Days On His Run Streak

In continuing with our We Are NYC Running Club member spotlight, our next awesome member is one of our more vocal, motivated, and loveable members. Bassem has been a long time runner and has logged well over 60 races just with New York Road Runners alone. Three of those races have been the New York City Marathon. In 2018 he opted not to run the NYC Marathon and focused on the Philadelphia Marathon instead. It resulted in him running a personal record of 3:49:22 after having a previous record of 4:52 in NYC! An outstanding PR of over an hour, but what makes this even more fantastic, is that Bassem just turned a young 50 years old!

Bassem Last Month At The Joe K. 10k

Realizing his accomplishment this year, Bassem now has his eyes set on qualifying for the Boston Marathon. He would have to knock off another 25 minutes on his marathon time but he says there is something different now about his training. As noted earlier, Bassem is a long time runner, but this year he has seen improvement thanks to the support that he has received from his “We Are NYC Running Club” members. He points at the motivation factor as well as accountability being a huge boost to his training. While his pursuit of the Boston Marathon is currently a long term goal, his short term goal is to keep his current run streak alive. A couple of months ago when he turned 50 years old, Bassem decided to start a “run streak” where he runs at least one mile each day. Last week during one of our weekly group runs, Bassem reached 50 days on that streak and doesn’t plan to stop any time soon! How long can Bassem go? We shall see!

Seeing how much the club has given him this past year, Bassem is always willing to give back. At group runs and on race days, Bassem is always willing to give runners advice based on his past experiences. Whether it may be about running apparel, nutrition or race logistics, you can count on Bassem to give you his words of wisdom.

Bassem (on the right) With His Vuvuzuela @ The Fred Lebow Half Marathon!

Bassem doesn’t stop there either in supporting his running club teammates. Coming out and cheering with the club as part of our infamous cheer squads is something Bassem enjoys doing. If you have run any races in Central Park recently, you may be familiar with the loud echoing sound of a “vuvuzuela”! Yup – one of those vuvuzuelas is likely Basem!

His energy and dedication to the club make him a clear candidate for today’s spotlight and he is just another reason that We Are NYC Running Club continues to thrive today!

We will leave you with some words from Mr. Vuvuzuela aka Run Streak Man, aka Ragnar Guy aka Boston Marathon hopefully, aka BASSEM!

 

NEW FEATURE – Monday Member Spotlight

Cheryl crushing the 2018 TCS NYC marathon this past November!

Good Morning Running Community!

Over the past (almost) year, We Are NYC Running Club has grown tremendously and with over 450 active members worldwide sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who is up to what. So to assist with keeping up to date with our members, we’ve decided that starting in 2019, we would introduce one outstanding member per week to showcase who they are and why they are such a great teammate.

It is our honor and privilege to introduce the first ever Member Spotlight: Cheryl F. (IG: @cfriscia). 

Cheryl has been such a supportive and compassionate member from the day she joined the club. She puts 110% into everything she does whether it’s encouraging her teammates during group runs or organizing a Cross Fit class for the club. Cheryl is committed to taking We Are NYC Running Club to the next level.

Cheryl is a survivor of stage 3 kidney disease. With her kidneys failing in 2014, she was hospitalized and underwent two years of intense treatment. While she avoided a transplant, she has come back to full health thanks in part to a complete diet change and lots of exercise. In April she celebrated her full recovery with our running club by running the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K.

With the arrival of her first grandchild and watching her son get married, Cheryl experienced it all this past year! She capped off a triumphant year by running and completing her first marathon, the TCS NYC Marathon, and her teammates were there cheering her on all across Manhattan!

When Cheryl sets goals, she hits them! Check out some highlights on Cheryl and hear what other members had to say about her character and impact she’s had on the club! We can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for you, Cheryl! Thank you for being the personable, driven, and kind member that you are!

Here are some member messages about Cheryl!

Some kind words on Cheryl from teammate Derek S.!

More kind words from teammate and good friend Rosa S.

A big thank you to our teammate Casey (IG: @caseyalexandrafit ) for her work on this!

Be on the lookout every Monday for our latest Member Spotlight!

Happy running to you all!

Cheryl holding her newborn grandson earlier this year!