Race Report: My Pretend 5K in NYC

Last weekend I ran and blogged about running my first "Virtual 5K."  This weekend, I ran what I've decided must have been a "Pretend 5K," as in, not quite a 5K at all. 

The official title of this race was the "EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women," and, now that I just revisited the website, I'm noticing that the course map does indeed say the race is a distance of "approximately 5K."  Approximately is the key word here, because this race was definitely not a 5K distance.  At the most, it was 2.5 miles.  Also, I would be hard-pressed to call it a "race."  It was more of a leisurely 2+ mile stroll with some brief moments of jogging thrown in whenever possible.

This was the first time I had ever participated in a run/walk event, and also the first time I'd ever done a strictly charity "race" event.  (Although admittedly, I'm not 100% sure how that line is drawn.  I know a lot of major marathons and half marathons donate a significant portion of their earnings to a charity, but that's not the main focus of the event.  Also, if one is interested in raising money for charity, there are ample "teams" that help runners fundraise,  but this event was clearly a different affair.)  Fundraisiers far outweighed runners and individuals.  I'm sure of this because every group who had a name got a sign with their name on it, my favorite of which was the "Dairy Heirs," although I'm not sure what that has to do exactly with women's health.... :)

A close girlfriend of mine lives in Brooklyn and has said for years that I should come up to NYC to run this race with her.  She has run it in past years and said it is always a good time because the course goers through Times Square and Central Park, and also there were lots of celebrities.  And there was confetti at the start. Win-win-win. It sounded like fun, not to mention a fantastic and convenient excuse to head to NYC for the weekend, so this year I finally registered for it.  And, it WAS really fun!  It was a nice, if very brief and crowded, event.  And, besides the race, it felt great to get away for a weekend, since last week was a hectic tangle of stress and emotional turmoil (mostly job-related, but getting away was warranted, just the same.)

Although I had left my downtown DC office at 3:00pm in order to catch the 3:30pm bus out of the city, I did not get into NYC until almost 10pm.  It took me another 20 minutes or so to get into Brooklyn, so I had only had time for a quick glass of wine and a shower before crashing into bed. ( I had been at a work-function late on Thursday evening and had to be up early for the Royal Wedding on Friday, so I was exhausted!)

At 7:00am, my girlfriend, her roommate and I all headed downtown to the start.  We met two more girls down there, one of whom was a close friend from college who I hadn't seen in years!  It was fantastic to see her.  Foolishly, I packed my workout clothes as if it was July rather than April.  I was very excited about my new nike tee shirt, so I think I was hoping for much better weather.  The sky was overcast, there was a brisk wind, and the temperature was only about 50 degrees.  I ended up having to wear my race-day tee over my cute shirt and I was still shivering like crazy....I don't know what I was thinking--I didn't even pack a long sleeve t-shirt!

The start line was fun--right in Times Square, which always inspires a tremendous and distinct energy. And the celebs did turn out as promised to kick off the race--Jessica Biel, Keysha Cole and Jimmy Falon were all there.  Also, as promised was plenty of confetti at the start of the race---definitely a plus!

 

Anyway, as I mentioned, I had a hunch that I wasn't going to be doing a lot of running when the man in front of me was wearing jeans and a sports jacket.  (There were actually a lot of participants in jeans.)  But I didn't mind too much.  Aside from the fact that I wanted to run/move fast to warm up my chilly  and poorly-dressed body, I was content to move with the crowd for the most part and enjoy the scenery. 

We finished the race in 36 minutes, a feat I was surprised by considering we had walked the first half of the race--very slowly.  One of my girlfriends commented that she was surprised that her last "mile" took only six minutes, and we all concurred that the race could not possibly have been a 5K distance. 

Nonetheless, we all got pretty nice gold medals for finishing.  (They are actually nice and not chintzy, although they say "Toyota" on one side....sponsors gotta get paid too.)

I'm the dummy who wore shorts. Chilly!

Medals! For a Not-quite-5K! who knew?

We putzed about in Central Park for a little bit, collecting freebees from various sponsors.  The sun had come out of the overcast sky and, although it was still pretty cold and breezy, it was turning from a gray morning to a lovely day! 

we then headed to brunch.  Fortunately for me, I was able to coordinate with Laura, who writes Absolut(ly)Fit and lives in NYC to come join us for brunch.  I was excited--1.) because I am a big fan of her blog, and 2.) because this was the first blog-related person I was ever going to meet.  Ever!
A bit unfortunately, when I had invited Laura, I had thought it was just going to be my one girlfriend and I heading to brunch, but it turned out to be our larger group of friends--none of whom knew I actually wrote a blog until about two minutes before we left the park.  So, Laura and I didn't get as much one-on-one time as I was hoping and I didn't get to pick her brain about blogging or running too much.  Also, I felt a little bad overwhelming her with a group of five strangers for brunch.  But, she seemed right at home with everyone and handled the strange situation with tremendous aplomb. (Sorry, Laura!) 

The rest of the weekend was a wonderful--if very unhealthy--time shopping, eating and catching up with old friends.  I got to see two friends from my sorority that I hardly ever get to see, and I was happy to know that we can easily catch up where we leave off, even if we haven't spoken for months.  I also got to see "Harry Potter: The Exhibition,"  which even if you're not a diehard Harry Potter fan is very impressive!

I had a great weekend.  I don't think I would "run" this race again anytime soon, but I still had a good time participating.  It actually made me even more eager to run the ING-NYC Marathon in the fall.  I will be entering the lottery for 2012.  Cross your fingers I can get in on my first try!