After work, I made my way over to LAX to catch an evening JetBlue flight over to JFK airport. Several airlines had been swapping terminals, so JetBlue was now in Terminal 5 instead of 3. After getting through the TSA security check, I walked through the terminal to look at my dinner options. I eventually settled with getting a turkey sandwich over in the Farmers Market. It was pretty good. However it was pricey which was to be expected for airport food.
Turkey sandwich
Once I boarded the plane and got settled into my window seat, I browsed the movie list. I wasn't too tired yet, so I decided to watch one movie first before I go to sleep. I decided to watch The Founder mostly because it was about McDonald's and how it grew from 1 restaurant into becoming a national fast food chain and eventually becoming a worldwide presence. It was a true story about persistence.
"Nothing in this world can take the place of good old persistence. Talent won't. Nothing's more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius won't. Unrecognized genius is practically a cliché. Education won't. Why the world is full of educated fools. Persistence and determination alone are all powerful." - Ray KrocThe movie showed that in business, things can get ugly, cruel, and unfair even if you have contracts to protect your interests. Also if you get in the way of progress, you will eventually get run over!
The Founder
Friday 5/19
I was able to get some shuteye and the plane landed at JFK Airport at about 6:30 am local time. I made my way over to catch the AirTrain. I took the one that headed over to Jamaica Station. I didn't have enough money on my old MTA card to pay for the AirTrain ride, so I ended up purchasing a new card since it was going to expire soon. I then headed over to catch the E train into Manhattan.
Once I got into Times Square, I made my way over to Connolly's Pub & Restaurant to get some breakfast. Along the way there I noticed that there was a lot of media setting up. I wonder what had happened to warrant such media presence. I ordered my usual meal, their traditional Irish breakfast and coffee. I was able to catch the news on TV while eating my breakfast and I saw what had happened yesterday. Some crazy guy drove through Times Squares injuring 22 and killing 1 person before crashing into some protective bollards. So sad. :( You can read about it here.
Coffee
Full Irish Breakfast
I had time to pass before the race expo would open, so I took the subway (B train) up to the Upper West Side and took the 85th St Transverse over to 5th Ave to go visit the Fred Lebow statue. I haven't seen the statue in person, so I thought this was a good time as any. He was a bit hidden in the bushes and trees. There were many people outside walking, jogging, and biking. Central Park looked like a great spot to exercise or just to hang out and enjoy the scenery.
Fred Lebow
After visiting Fred, I started heading over to the expo. I took the 4-5 train down to Fulton St Station and switched over to A-C train getting off at High Street - Brooklyn Bridge Station. I then walked over to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1. The weather was quite warm and I was carrying my bags, so I was pretty hot and sweaty by the time I got to the park. I stopped to get a lemonade at a Lizzmonade stand to cool off a bit. There was a pretty good view of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan from there.
Nice view of the Brooklyn Bridge
Ice cold classic lemonade from Lizzmonade
Lizz. Laugh. Love.
After getting my lemonade, I walked over to the expo over at pier 2. The expo didn't open until noon, so I found a shady spot to sit down and finish off my lemonade. Not only was this the venue where we pick up our race packet, but it was also for the pre-party where there was music, food, and drinks as well. When the expo opened, we were instructed to get into any line. They scanned my QR code and assign me a bib. They'll also stick a corral sticker on my bib based on my recent NYRR event results. I think more races should do use this method of bib distribution. That way, the race would only need to issue out bibs for people that show up and participants can go to whichever line was shorter. After getting my bib, I got my shirt and looked at some of the official merchandise.
Expo time
Beats, bites, beer, and bibs!
This way
Fun and games
I was pretty tired, so I didn't stick around for the pre-party. I continued south on the park trail and turned east onto Joralemon St. It was a nice looking area where most of the buildings were made of bricks. From there I made my way over to the Court St station on Montague St. Before heading down to take the subway, I stopped in at the CVS at that corner to pick up some drinks.
Drinks
I took the R train from the Court St station down to Bay Ridge. I got off at the 86th St station and walked over to the Best Western Gregory hotel. This wasn't my original hotel as the first place that I booked at was much closer to the start of the race. However about a month or so out, that hotel called me and told me that they were closing so they were refunding my money. Thankfully this place still had rooms available. Anyways I got to the hotel at about 2 pm. I checked with the lady at the front desk to see if my room was ready. She informed me that it wasn't ready, so I told her it wasn't a problem. I'll just wait in the lobby until check-in time. I only waited about 30 minutes before she was able to put me in a room.
Deuces wild!
View from my room
After unpacking, I went through my race packet and laid out my flat runner to make sure that I had everything with me. There wasn't much freebies given out at the expo, but I do like the race shirt.
Race shirt
Flat runner
I took a shower and relaxed for a few hours while watching a bunch of TV. Then I walked down to the nearby McDonald's to pick up a quick dinner. I didn't find any good deals on my McDonald's app, so I just got the usual Quarter Pounder with cheese meal.
Dinner from McDonald's
Saturday 5/20
Per the usual, I got up early and got ready for the race. I took the R train over to Atlantic Ave-Barclay Center station, then switched over to the 2-3 train which I took over to Franklin Ave. The subway station exited right at the entrance of the wave 1 corrals. I got there at about 5:30 am and security check was really easy since I didn't check a bag and not a whole lot of people had shown up yet. I was assigned corral J which was the 3rd from the last corral as it went out to corral L. Since the corrals were empty, it was the perfect time to take care of pre-race business.
Corral J
Never seen one with a white seat!
Afterwards, I walked around to pass time. I walked all the way up to the first corral at Washington Ave, but I was turned around by people setting up. They told me that only runners with AA corral bibs were allowed past that point. So I turned around and walked back to my corral. Just outside of each corral where tables with cups and big water jugs. I drank some water and rinsed off my hands.
Later my friend and her brother showed up. They met me at my corral and hung out with me there. It even started to rain as we waited in line for the portapotties. After we were done, they left to go to their corrals as they were starting up front ahead of me.
Jen
Corrals behind
Corrals ahead
Team Bad Ass Academy
The race started at 7 am, but I didn't cross the line until about 15 minutes later. It took a while to get up to the starting line which was adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum. The first half mile was a quick one since it was downhill down Washington Ave. Then it was an uphill out and back up Flatbush Ave to the Grand Army Plaza. Then it was down Ocean Ave before heading west on Parkside Ave. Then it was a counterclockwise loop of Prospect Park. The course peaked at about mile 5.5 with most of it being downhill to the finish line. I really enjoyed the loop through Prospect Park. It was a very beautiful park. At about mile 7 the course exited the park and headed towards and turned south on Ocean Parkway. It would then be a very straight course down to Coney Island. Unfortunately I ran out of gas as I approached mile 10. The next 5k was a grind. Getting up to the boardwalk was a very narrow uphill ramp off of W 10th St. The final stretch along the boardwalk was pretty cool even though I was running on fumes.
Free race photos!
Finish: 1:55:05
Click here for my Garmin data.
As soon as I crossed the finish line, there was a huge wall of finishers ahead of me to greet me. It was the largest half marathon in the country with 27,440 total finishers. I didn't realize that this race was that big! They kept us moving until further down we were given our finisher medal. Even further down the boardwalk, we were given a bag of post race snacks and drinks. More races should learn from this method of distribution to prevent inconsiderate participants from hoarding all of the post-race food. I caught up to my friend, a local New Yorker, who was pacing the 1:55 group.
Finish line
Medal
Coney Island Boardwalk
Post race drinks and snacks
After saying bye to my friend, I started heading out to catch the subway back to my hotel. It was tough getting out of the post race area. We had to funnel out of a fenced area where it would only fit 2 or 3 people wide. Once outside it was much easier to walk. Originally I was going to take the N train, but that wasn't operating, so I ended up on the Q train. I didn't really care which line I took, I just went with the flow of foot traffic. The train was packed. Fortunately I was able to have a seat which I gave up as I got closer to Atlantic Ave-Barclay Center station. From there I switched over to the R train which took me back to my hotel.
For lunch, I had a hankering for some katsu curry at Go Go Curry. So I hopped on the subway and headed over to Manhattan. I decided to visit their Financial District location because it was closer than their W 38th St location where I normally visit. It was just a short walk from the Cortlandt St station. I got a glimpse of the Freedom Tower along the way. I ordered the usual Grand Slam curry and added the natto side. I found it weird that they served my food in to-go containers. Unfortunately I found the food to be not as good as the food at their other location.
Freedom Tower
Grand Slam plus natto
For dinner, I walked over to the nearby Thai restaurant called, Top Thai. This was a hole in the wall type of restaurant. The dining area was really small inside. I love fried rice and duck meat, so it was a no-brainer that I ordered their spicy basil fried rice with duck meat. It was pretty flavorful, but it was not spicy at all. I hate to ask for extra spicy at a Thai restaurant as that could end up scorching your mouth and your stomach! :) The duck meat was a bit on the dry side, but it still tasted pretty good. Keep in mind that duck meat was the most expensive out of the choices.
Spicy basil fried rice with duck
Sunday 5/21
I got up early, packed up bags, checked out of my room, and headed for the subway station for my trip home. I took the R train up to Jay St MetroTech station and switched over to the A train headed for the Howard Beach station. The AirTrain wasn't running there, so I got on the bus that would take us over to the JFK Airport loop. I took the AirTrain over to terminal 4 to catch my Virgin America flight home. Once I got through TSA security check, I got in line to get breakfast at McDonald's. I used the McDonald's app on my phone for their buy 1, get 1 free deal to get 2 Sausage Egg McMuffin sandwiches for the price of one.
Sausage Egg McMuffin
The plane landed safely at a little after 12 pm. I waited upstairs for the Parking Lot C shuttles back to retrieve my car. I like catching the shuttle up here instead as it's not as crazy as catching it downstairs on the arrival floor.
Landed at LAX
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