My Experience Running the 2024 NYC Half Marathon
THREE DAYS BEFORE THE RACE…
I stepped on a giant rock (that I clearly didn’t see) and rolled my right ankle. I couldn’t believe it. How did I get this close to race day and roll my ankle now? On a road that I’ve run countless times, on what was supposed to be an easy shake-out run?
I kept running on it to see if it would even out, and after about 30 seconds of total shock and pain, it felt fine. I couldn’t really tell that I had done it. I knew that part of this was bound to be some endorphins flowing through my system, but I figured that since I wasn’t actively wincing in pain, it was a good sign. I prayed it would stay this way.
That’s what was on my mind the days and hours leading up to the United Airlines NYC Half 2024 race. My ankle, my knee (which had previously been a problem, and lately was doing okay), and if I had run enough to even complete the half marathon. I hadn’t run a half since October of last year, and had a rocky on/off training schedule the last couple of months. The longest run I had done in a while was 10 miles. I was nervous, excited, anxious, all the things. But mostly I was obsessing over my ankle.
THE MORNING OF
I woke up around 4:45am, started making coffee, got dressed, ate half a peanut butter jelly sandwich, and started to hop around on my ankle. It felt fine and I had done a lot of rehab work the past several days, and stretching and massaging. I figured jumping around in my apartment at 5 in the morning was as good a sign as I would get that I could run this race. I finally let myself feel excitement that this was happening.
GETTING TO THE START
I’ve decided there’s no easy way to get to Brooklyn. I live in Manhattan, so my realistic choices were take a car or take the subway. I checked both, and neither seemed great. Both were estimating about 50-60 minutes, although a car promised to be a bit faster. Obviously the car was more expensive but the benefit in my head was that it reduced time on my ankle. I still didn’t want to risk anything, so I decided to take a car.
Leaving Manhattan was easy, but Brooklyn was a mess. We spent most of our time navigating small streets because Flatbush Ave was closed for the race. I kept doing the math of opening my phone, seeing how far I was from race start, and figuring if I had to get out of the car, could I walk or run to the corrals from here? I would check: 2.6 miles. Ok I could swing that. Wouldn’t be ideal but at least I’d be at the start. Then as we drove on, I’d watch the mileage tick down until I felt safe I could start.
THE START
The weather promised to be absolutely perfect race-day weather, but the morning was windy, chilly, and cloudy. I regretted not bringing something warm to donate (which I saw many people do), but there wasn’t anything I could do about that now. Instead, I focused on my two primary goals I have any time I arrive at a race, especially half marathons:
Use the bathroom
Stretch
(In that order). If I had to sacrifice stretching in order to use the bathroom, I would and it wouldn’t be the first time! The lines for the bathroom outside of the corrals were insane -- it was easily going to be 20-25 minutes, and the corrals would be almost closing at that point. I saw signs indicating bathrooms were available inside the corral, and my instinct told me to go that route.
Thankfully my instinct was spot on, because once wave 2 corrals opened, I was able to immediately get in line for some port-a-potties and use one. Item 1 complete! Next I stretched a little bit, but at that point, we were about 7 minutes from race start, so I just queued in the corral and texted my wife and did all my final race checks -- gummies in the right pocket, phone ready to start my playlist, headphones in my ears, and watch and heart rate monitor connected and ready to start.
MILES 1-3
As mentioned, my primary concern as I started was how on earth was my ankle going to perform. Thankfully this early it was doing okay! I didn’t feel it at all, and I hoped it would hold the entire race (spoiler: it did).
The first three miles for me were all about holding the pace. It had some downhill elements which was begging me to fly -- I would check my pace on my watch and see that I was logging almost 8 minute miles, when I needed to be doing 9:30 right now. I knew that I needed to conserve everything for the last part of the race, so I forced myself to slow it down, and take it easy on the hills. The key thing I kept telling myself was: Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan. This is very difficult when you feel like the entire field is flying past you, but I kept telling myself that I would catch up with plenty of them later on in the race.
My A goal was to run a 1:59:59. My B goal was to do a 2:01 (matching my last half), and my C goal was to finish at all. To stick to my A plan, the goal was:
First 3 miles at 9:30 pace.
Next 7 miles at 9:00 pace.
Last 5K at 8:45-8:55 pace.
So for the first 3 miles, that’s what I did -- stuck to 9:30 as close as I could get. Sometimes I ran a little fast, other times a little slow, but it was working. The miles were fun and easy this early on in the race, so I did my best to enjoy it, focused on my form, checked in with my body, and got these early miles out of the way!
MILES 4-6
There was a drum-line playing on Flatbush Ave which was amazing!! I honestly wished I could have stopped and listened to them play for a while, because I’m a sucker for a drum-line. There were about 20 players, and the energy was fantastic, but obviously I came here to race, so I kept on moving!
The mile leading up to the bridge was spectacular but daunting. You see the steady incline ahead, and how far you’re going to have to climb. The bridge looms large in the sky. I was amping myself up and getting myself prepared that I nearly missed my friend on the side cheering me on as I got onto the onramp (so happy she was there, because I really needed that boost!).
The 5th mile is mostly on Manhattan bridge, and it was my absolute slowest mile. Climbing that thing was rough for many reasons: 1) The incline is not too steep but it is *long* 2) The road is crowded with thousands of other runners, so you have to keep your situational awareness high, and 3) The road is not even or flat, and is heavily beat up. You have to watch your footing here, because the seams in the bridge can throw your foot landings off, and worse can trip you if you hit a pothole.
I took it easy up and down the bridge, and then flew through some turns in Manhattan that went by so fast. The energy here was spectacular coming off the bridge, which was awesome because it would help boost you before you enter the FDR...
MILES 7-10
These felt like the sad and lonely miles of the Brooklyn Half on Ocean Parkway. You’re away from virtually all crowds, save for a few awesome people who line the side of the highway or the walking bridges over the highway and cheer for you. The wind is unblocked, so you get random gusts that come your way. On your left is the southbound car traffic which was at least somewhat interesting because sometimes cars would honk excitedly for you as you ran north!
The goal here was to lock into your pace and keep at it. Don’t get distracted, don’t get discouraged, and keep your legs moving. I honestly didn’t notice the minor hills, which was perfect—it felt much more like a mental challenge to keep yourself moving forward vs any physical challenge.
The race beacon here is the UN building which marks when you turn off the highway and head on 42nd street towards Times Square. The issue though is that you can see the building long before you’re anywhere near it -- so it’s easy to discourage yourself as you keep looking up at it and seeing how far you still have to run. When that happens, I do my best to shrink the course. Rather than focus on reaching the UN building, I focused on hitting the next mile marker. Mile by mile, step by step.
MILES 10-12
This is hands down the most fun I’ve ever had running a NYRR race. These miles are pure energy! Running on 42nd street means you not only get the benefit of the local crowds that come out to cheer you, but you also get the benefit of tourists who are in town that cheer you on. The energy is HIGH, the atmosphere is electric, and it will help you knock out these miles easily!
Take in the city, take in the crowds, take in the signs, the noise, everything. At this point in the race, I was exactly on pace to hit my A goal so I let myself run a bit freely here. I started to push 830-845 average pace, and was enjoying every second.
Running through Times Square is magical. It’s only the second time of the year that NYC closes it down to car traffic (the other time being New Years Eve), and it’s truly something special to run through it and see it all at this pace with the streets cleared.
I was feeling the moment so much that I tried something that I see professional athletes do all the time -- they point to the crowd and the crowd will cheer them on. I thought: maybe that works for a regular runner too? So I found a crowd behind a barricade, pointed to them and smiled, and they cheered back in response. It was awesome, and I get chills just thinking about it again!
MILE 12-13.1
At this point in the race, it’s all about draining the gas tank. I asked my wife to be around this marker because I knew that I would need it, and I was not wrong. I was so grateful to see her, and as an added bonus, she shouted out my official estimated race finish time and encouraged me to run "about 1 minute faster!! It’s estimating 2:00:40!!" It was amazing to have her coach me, and I’ll never forget it! I was so excited to have come this far, and be so close to reaching my goal.
My body, however, was exhausted. It’s this crazy mental thing that happens this far into a race when you’ve pushed for 95% of it. Your brain starts to tell you: you’ve gone this far, it’s okay to take it easy. You’re tired. You should rest. You’ve done a great job, just stop already.
You must override that voice and tell it to kindly “eff off”. Yes, you’ve pushed 95% of the time, but that’s all the reason to keep pushing for 5% more. Dig deep. I cranked my music up and eliminated my negative self-talk. Mile 12 is all in Central Park, which I am deeply familiar with, so I focused on that. I kept telling myself: I’ve run this before. I’ve run this before. Keep going. I’ve run this before.
I stopped at the last water station (which is right as you enter the park), threw some water on my neck (and had a little bit myself), and got right back out onto the field to finish.
I was giving everything I had. My mind was screaming to stop but I was refusing, I had come so close and knew I would regret it forever if I had let myself lose my A goal now.
On the 72nd street transverse, I would later learn that my best friend was here cheering me on and I didn’t see her! I told her that I could feel her energy though (I’m sure I could), because my pace picked up the last 400 meters. I thought I had longer to go once I turned south onto the west drive, but I saw the glorious “200m to go” sign, and started sprinting. Granted, this was sprinting in the context of having just run a half marathon, so it wasn’t super fast, but I knew every second would count, so I pushed.
THE FINISH
I crossed the finish, and the flood of texts came in, and I guessed I had done it. I checked my phone and my wife had texted my official time to me, and I also saw it pop up from my NYRR tracking app, too. 1:59:22. I started to burst out laughing, and then almost started sobbing. It was a huge emotional release, and I was in disbelief that I did it. I had wanted to run a sub-2 half marathon for years, and certainly since my first one last year in January (when I ran a 2:04:56). A sub-2 half marathon!! I did it!
I’m still in disbelief, and I am amazed at how much work goes into these races. You have to be keyed in to yourself and your training and your body and breathing and every detail to finish a race and complete your A goal. It’s an incredible feeling, and I’m so grateful to everyone who supported me going into the race, and who cheered for me while I was out there (friends, family, and strangers, too).
This race was easily one of my best ones I’ve ever run! It’s my favorite half marathon course without a doubt in NYC, and I can’t wait to run it again next year. My friend asked me what my next goal was -- for now, honestly, I’m so happy having completed this one that I want to sit in it for a while longer. But I know deep down my next goal is a 1:55 half. Until then, this was an absolute blast, a personal triumph, and one that I’m going to be proud of for a while.
Head up, heart full.