New Balance Bronx 10 Mile – Race Report

DISTANCE: 10 Miles

DATE/TIME: September 24th, 2017/8:00 am

LOCATION: The Bronx (Grand Concourse and Lehman College)

WEATHER: 76F; 68% humidity

FINISHERS: 7,750 Men; 7,214 Women

Man, it has been a long time since I have participated in an NYRR race. I believe the last on was the NYRR Team Championships, back in August (***). Unfortunately, I have placed a greater importance on my social life than my racing life, because I missed the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run and the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile. Well . . . I did not want to run those races anyway. 😉

This was one of those early call times, because I had to commute from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn to Yankee Stadium, the Bronx. One days like these, I really miss living on Roosevelt Island.

Google maps was right about significant dealys, but what else is new for early morning/weekend commuting with the MTA. Since the 4 train (an express train) was running local, it took a minute and an half to travel from Brooklyn Bridge to Yankee Stadium. Hell,  the train was packed first thing in the morning – even before the majority of the runners got on the train. Can a f*cker get a seat at 6am?!!!

Pre-race:

Man, there were quite a bit of clusterf*cks before getting to the start line.

The subway platform at Yankee Stadium was way too packed, and it took about 20-25 minutes just to get onto the street. I do not know why the city did not have all of the exits open, until the race started. Tip for next time, take the train uptown one stop pass Yankee Stadium and then take another downtown 4 train. I say this, because two uptown and one downtown trains passed us while we were on the platform. Also, it took another some time to make it through the baggage drop.

Ok, now it is time to go to the start, which was about a mile away from the baggage drop. Nope, not too fast, KOS. Time to take a poop . . . in a portapotty, YUCK. Unfortunately, I have not been able to modify my poop schedule during this training season. I pretty much have my morning poop at 7-8 am, like clockwork. By the time, I made it to the starting area (around 8:15 am), the race had already started. I know that there have been plenty protests in the NFL and NBA, but I like to hear the Star Spangled Banner before my races. Missing the start was not too big of a deal; even though I was assigned to Corral D, I had already planned to start in a later corral. Question: why do people who know that they are going to walk or are injured start in earlier corral? Ugh, so annoying because quite a few people were even running when the race started.

Waiting for the start. Wait, I thought camelbacks were not allowed in NYRR races.

The Race: 

I liked this course, because it is something different from the races held in Central Park. Also, I cannot even tell you the last time I’ve been to the Bronx. Oh wait, I know the last time. My drunk ass passed out on the subway and ended up in the Bronx.

The first three miles went OK (for my body at this point of the training). however, I became really hungry right after mile 3 and I had to start eating my granola (usually, I don’t have to eat anything until mile 5). Before leaving my apt at 5:30 am, I had a bagel and a yogurt and I ate another bagel one hour before running the race. Eating that early in the race kind of threw me off of my game a bit, because mentally I really could not recover. On top mentally preparing myself to finish 10 miles; now, I had to mentally tell myself when to eat and coordinate eating with the water stations.

I really enjoyed the mostly flat in and out style course. Since this is an in and out course, it was really inspiring to see the elite runners on their way back to the finish line. Actually, it’s also a bad feeling, because you are like “damn, I am only at Mile 3-4, and these folks are almost done.

Although the weather report 76 F, but it felt so much hotter with the eastern sun bearing on us. I could have sworn that the weather was more in the 80s. The heat messed me up a little bit, because I had to take extra water at the fluid stations. Normally, I am good without water until mile 3 and I do not really need Gatorade until mile 5 or 6. This race changed all of that, because I got Gatorade at most of the fluid stations. Heat and thirst aide, it was kind of cool seeing people from the neighborhood cheering us on and providing us with candy and other types of treats. I do not take treats/candy from strangers, but it is the thought that counts, right? For some reason, I did not take too many pictures while running this race. Maybe, I just was focusing on finishing because I really was in starvation mode.

I think he was the second place finisher

Near the finish line

Other folks finishing the run.

Race music: 

Here are some of my favorite jams during this run. I think that my marathon playlist is pretty much on point, because I really did not have to skip any songs during this race. I think Nelly Furtado’s “Forca” was my favorite song, because is so inspirational. Random: I wonder what Nelly Furtado is up to these days? 

Post race: 

There was quite a bit of activity at the end of the race. I forgot that finishers receive medals after these outer borough series races, so that was a pleasant surprise for me. Also, the ice-soaked cloths were a godsend and I had to grab two of them. Sometimes the NYRR spoils us, but it is nice to be spoiled one and a while.

The post race recovery bag was pretty nice – a bottle of Gatorade and water, an apple, a powerbar, two bags of pretzels, and I forget the rest of the contents. Some of the finishers really annoyed me because they were taking multiple Gatorade bottles from the prepared recovery bags and placing them into theirs. I’m like, if you are going to do that, then just take another bag. I would rather have someone take multiple bags, then leave bags with missing items for the later runners. Honestly, I wanted to take a couple of bags, but I was like “It is not all about you, KOS, and people who are still running the race will want/need these post-race recovery bags”.

The presence of DJ Kool Herc was ONE HUGE surprise that I was not expecting after the run. I just had to take a few pictures of him in action.

If you do not know, DJ Kook Herc, pretty much was/is  one of the founding fathers of Hip Hop, which was considered to be born in the Bronx. I would have never expected the organizers of the this race to have him work the turntables. Again, much props to the NYRR.

After the race, I rushed to a Crunch fitness in Union Square to shower (I did not have time to stretch) and to downtown Brooklyn to teach my Biology class. After class, I destroyed some Vietnamese food, at one of my favorite divey spots in Chinatown.

Last thoughts:

• Why don’t the organizers for the the Bronx 10 mile race just make it into half-marathon? What’s 3.1 more miles? There are a couple of places where the course could accommodate four extra 0.75 stretches. I would like to see the day when all five boroughs will have a half-marathon (then maybe it will not be so stressful to register for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon). Although it may be hard to accomplish this feat for Queens, because that outer borough race always falls during the hottest months in the summer.

 

• According to the Facebook’s  “On this day” feature I was running 10 miles five years ago to the date of this race. Fortunately, I did not have bloody nipples after this race. Actually, I do not remember the last time I had bloody nipples after a long run. I guess that is a good thing.

• Because I’m always thinking about a drink. I wish that I had known the Hard Rock Cafe was open after the race, because I totally would have gotten a beer. Also, here is a photo of my favorite post-Yankee’s game bar, Billy’s. My favorite pre-Yankee’s game bar, The Dugout, is a few blocks north of Billy’s.