I woke up bright and early to drag the Husband to Washington Heights for the most fun race I’ve ran in many years.
The Coogan’s Salsa, Blues and Shamrock 5k did not disappoint in any form or fashion. There were bands along the course, a scenic view of the cloisters and nice challenging hills.
Any chance you noticed that my bib is red and not yellow? That means for this race I was promoted into the red corral (For those of you that don’t know all NYRR races use a corral system based on your fastest time for any race 4 miles or longer).
Let’s be honest, the red corral scares me! I hung out in the back of the red corral until the red and yellow corral were merged into one. I then fell into a more intimidating spot beside a speedy 8 year old.
If there’s one thing you need to know about NYC runners is that they are fast. Back in the day when I ran road races in Nashville, I often placed in my age group. I will NEVER place in my age group in NYC unless I’m still running when I’m 80.
Speaking of my 1st 5k, I rocked this race old school style by not wearing a watch or looking at any of the clocks along the course. I really had no expectation other than to have fun.
After the gun went off there was a nice crowd to slow things down. My fear of starting out too quickly with the fast runners was demolished immediately. Surprisingly, my legs still felt loose from my warm-up.
The course was an out and back. I love being able to watch the winners pass by and also looking for friends along the way. It’s really the best distraction.
After the turning point it was uphill for the next 1.5 miles. Luckily the last .1 was a slight downhill. I was feeling good at the end and decided to go for an infamous all out sprint. It felt good to run that fast.
I crossed the finish line in 23:22. Considering I wasn’t pushing the pace until the end, I’m happy with that time. When I saw the green bagels at the finish line I knew I had to grab one for the Husband who was patiently waiting.
Reason enough to have kids: Kids Races!!! (Don’t get any ideas)
We didn’t stick around for the Kids Races, but did walk up to Coogan’s to check out the line for free Guinness.
Needless to say we didn’t wait in line.
Okay, kids this is the longest 5k recap ever so I’ll wrap it up by saying that I met Mari today! So fun to finally meet a fellow NYC blogger.
Congrats on the race 😀 I’m seriously impressed that an 8 year old ran it.
I can’t decide if the green bagels are really cool…or a little weird lol
Looks like an awesome race. I love St. Patricks Day stuff- I think I’d love green bagels, just cuz I like green 🙂 You are definitely fast if you don’ think 23 minutes is fast haha.
This race was so amazing! I had so much fun…I think I will run this one again and again and AGAIN!
it’s funny cause when I saw you warming up, I was like “heeeeeey that’s JESS” ha and you heard me =)
Incase I have not said it enough….THANK YOU! =)
Mari – that is funny! I too will run this one again! Can’t believe I’ve never ran it before! Oh well, now I know.
Great job on the race, especially if you weren’t pushing your pace. Yep, back in the day I used to win my age group…. not so much lately. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. My mom is the winner most times for her age group though!
Shit, you’re fast! Great job with the run.
Fast kids piss me off, purely because of my jealousy and insecurity. I just want to yell, “You can’t beat me, my legs are twice as long!”
Samantha, my only issue is that my legs aren’t twice as long as their’s. =)
Wow! What a great time! I would love to see your time when you are pushing yourself!
Any race with green bagels at the end must be a fun race to run!
You rock, girlfriend! Sounds like you had a blast!
Glad you had a great race. I think I would have stuck on the sidelines eating green bagels and drinking green beer! 🙂
Sounds like a great race and fun! I agree, I’d like to see what you run a 5k in when you’re not relaxing 😉 Love the green bagels!
Congrats on the race! The green bagels look so fun!
great time! i agree that it was a beautiful day for a race and will run that one again. nice work on getting into red too! i also enjoyed the green bagels. some people were scared of them.
Such a fun recap…looks like it was a great event to be a part of. Any race with green bagels and guinness is ok with me. And I love your cute pink racing shirt/sassy pony tail. Rock it!
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing
Great job! Looks like you had great weather for the run too!
What a fun race! I love the green bagels haha
Congrats on your time! I wish I could race without a watch, but I think I’m too anal about my time 🙂
That’s a WONDERFUL time! Good job!! I love the green bagel!!! : )
you look great in your pink top! how awesome…..we all had good races yesterday!
love the green bagels 🙂
That race looks like so much fun, I definitely want to get into doing some more races for the spring and summer. I love those green bagels!
That genuinely looks like it was such a FUN race. And 23 minutes? Girl, that is *awesome.* Way to go!! xoxo
congrats on the race, that’s a bangin time ;)! hope you had a happy monday!
Nice work on the run! My favorite part of races are the free guilt free bagels!
Great race! I loved seeing the picture recap. And that green bagel looks strangely delicious!
Have a great night!
first of all you are gorgeous! and what a fun race, congrats!
Green bagels!!! I would be so intimidated to run in NYC. To give you an idea of what it’s like here, I placed fourth in my age group at a 5K in which I walked some of it and finished in like 33:20. And I’m not in my 70s. I’m 25!
Granted, that was my worst race ever — maybe a lot of other people had mental blocks, too!