Following a test run of the Philadelphia Marathon course last week, I have produced a more detailed commentary of the course from what I posted previously. It is really a very exciting course but not, as sometimes suggested by the organizers, flat. See my revised and expanded description at www.funonfoot.com/resources.html
I shall be giving a presentation on the Philadelphia Marathon course at the Expo at 12:00 noon on Saturday, November 20, touching on history, scenery, and tips for runners.
Nola and I shall also have a booth at the Philadelphia Marathon Expo on November 19-20 to sign books and chat with runners. If you are running Philly, I hope you will drop by.
Philadelphia Marathon Route – More Detail
November 8th, 2010Philadelphia Marathon and Half Routes
October 26th, 2010The Philadelphia Marathon and Half Marathon are on November 21, 2010. Both races are now full. For runners who have not done these events before, here is a little commentary on the courses. Read the rest of this entry »
Staten Island Half Marathon 2010
October 12th, 2010From Guest Blogger Nola Ford
On Sunday, I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon. It was the final race in the 2010 NYC Half Marathon Series. The day was cool, sunny and crisp. It was a perfect day to run. (Warwick did not run this race, focusing on long runs between his two marathons.)
The race started and finished close to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The ferry operates hourly early Sunday mornings, so a huge crowd of runners boarded the 7:30 am ferry. The biggest pre-race problem for runners was the huge lineup for restrooms on the ferry, at the ferry terminal, and in the race start area. Many of the 7,000 runners would have started late.
The course headed west, along Bay Street, through the Fort Wadsworth area, and then south along the beaches. At South Beach there was a turnaround with runners essentially retracing the route back to the ferry. There are detailed maps of this part of Staten Island in our book Fun on Foot in New York.
There were several hills and varying grades everywhere except for the beach section. There were plenty of water and Gatorade stations plus porta-potties throughout.
The route provided runners with a great view of Manhattan across the way and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. On a crisp sunny day, the Staten Island Half was most enjoyable with Staten Island locals encouraging the runners along the route. I recommend this race to all runners next year.
Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2010
September 30th, 2010
On Sunday I ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and Nola ran the simultaneous half marathon. Toronto is a special place for us, having lived there in our college days. Furthermore, our daughter and her family live there now.
It was an excellent marathon, on a flat and scenic course, with a large and enthusiastic crowd of supporters. There were roughly 4,000 marathon runners and 10,000 half marathoners and the weather conditions were perfect for running.
In general the organization was excellent, with ample water stations, restrooms, and entertainment. The start logistics were a little tricky, because of the large number of people crammed into a tight part of downtown. Traffic in that part of downtown was a total disaster – no surprise to anyone who knows the city. Nola and I averted all problems by staying overnight in a hotel very near the start and I would recommend that to any out-of-towners running this event in the future.
For US runners, note that all signage along the route is in kilometers – nothing in miles. This should not be a problem except my runner’s watch failed along the route. Therefore my mind spent much of the route doing kilometer-mile-pace conversions (not a bad way to keep it busy, actually).
We would highly recommend this event to anyone seeking an early fall marathon in the future – they do not come any better!
Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Rocks
September 21st, 2010Nola and I both ran this half marathon (formerly known as the Philadelphia Distance Run) on Sunday. I must say it was one of the most pleasant halfs I have ever encountered. It was an enormous event, with over 22,000 finishers. The course is dead flat. It starts and finishes near the Museum of Art and has two parts – the first a loop through Center City and the second a loop up the Schuylkill River. The second part, in particular, is very attractive with considerable shade. You will find more details of the route in our book Philadelphia Running and Walking: A Guide for Athletes and Fitness Seekers.
Despite the size of the field, I was amazed to find that in no part of the course was there any congestion. This was aided by the wave start in which each of the 20-plus corrals had its own start time, separated by one minute from the corral in front.
The organization was excellent. Bands performing along the route added to the enjoyable atmosphere. The basics were also good, including baggage check and other facilities at the start and snacks and drinks at the finish. A post-finish festival rounded out the event nicely.
Logistics for city visitors were also comparatively stress-free, since many of Philadelphia’s major center city hotels are within a convenient walking distance of the start and finish.
Congratulations to the Competitor Group for their excellent organization. If you ever get a chance to participate in this event in the future, I can highly recommend it.
Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon Coming Up
September 9th, 2010The Philadelphia Distance Run, arguably Philadelphia’s most prestigious annual running event, has this year morphed into the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon. Not much has changed from past years, except for the addition of a little pizzazz and general fun. The race is on Sunday, September 19, starting and finishing near the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Nola and I are both entered to run the race. We shall also be at the Expo at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday and Saturday, September 17-18. We shall be autographing books there for all-comers, and the event is open to the public at no charge. We hope to meet many of our running colleagues and readers there.
The bad news is that the race is already full so it is too late to register now. However, all information you might need about the event is at: http://philadelphia.competitor.com
Queens Half Marathon 2010 – A Brutal Affair
July 24th, 2010This morning was the Queens Half, on a brand new course, centered around Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Establishing a new course this year was an excellent idea. At last year’s Queens Half, centered at College Point, it was so difficult to get to the start and home from the finish that many runners had their starts severely delayed and their day’s plans seriously disrupted.
The new course is really excellent. You get to the start/finish area via the 7 train. The runner passes all the interesting sights in the Flushing Meadows vicinity. It is also a pleasantly flat course, ideal for fast times and PRs on a normal day.
But today was no normal day. The race (thankfully) started at 7:00 am. However, the official race temperature was 86 degrees and humidity was 63%.
I ran my worst time ever in a half marathon (and I am not particularly out of condition). Compare that with last year’s Queens Half (run in September) where I ran my personal best. Every other runner I spoke to had similar thoughts – this was really a brutal run.
NYRR and their volunteers did an amazing job in supporting the event. There were water stations (almost all with Gatorade as well) at almost every mile. Problems today were definitely not attributable to the race organizers.
NYC weather is surprisingly nasty this summer. Keep cool, runners!
Registering for the Boston Half
July 14th, 2010Today at 9:00 am was your opportunity to register online for the October Boston Half Marathon, limited to 5,000 registrants. Like so many others, I duly went to the website precisely at 9:00 am, filled in the form with the enormous number of details required, and felt good when it accepted the form and offered me the waiver page. I then hit SUBMIT. The result, a minute or two later, was that my browser advised that the website had an error.
Since I had a long run scheduled today, I did not have the time to fight BAA’s faulty website any more. After my run, no surprise, the registration had closed.
This is typical of BAA, who have no ability (maybe no desire?) to conduct a real community event. Compare with NYRR, who go to such lengthy measures to ensure that all the NYC community have a fair chance to participate in their events.
I look forward to comments from others…
A Long Hot Running Week in New York
June 27th, 2010Today Sunday ended a very intense few days of city running activities. Last Sunday was the 5-mile Fathers Day run. Thursday evening was the American Heart Association 3-mile Wall Street run, Saturday was the Pride 5-Mile Run in Central Park, and today was the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5-Mile Run in Central Park. All four of these races were qualifying races for the 2011 New York City Marathon so all were popular for that reason in addition to the fundamental support causes of each event.
Having just moved back to New York for the season, Nola and I were no exceptions to the involvement. We both ran the Wall Street and Pride runs and volunteered to work the Achilles run. All were fun but all suffered from one negative factor – heat and humidity far higher than we runners like.
What impressed me most was the unrelenting strength of most runners in failing to let the heat and humidity dampen their spirits. If you run a little (or a lot) slower on hot humid days than on runner-perfect days, that is just normal. Perform as well as you can under the circumstances, and feel satisfied with your result. Your performance will undoubtedly add to your longer term strength and stamina building.
Brooklyn Half Marathon – Not Easy but Not to Be Missed
May 24th, 2010This past Saturday I ran my second Brooklyn Half Marathon. This is a popular New York City event with a character of its own. It starts in Prospect Park where runners are subjected to a quite hilly seven-mile double loop of the park, followed by a six-mile flat run along Ocean Parkway to Coney Island where it finishes on the boardwalk.
This year the weather was warm and very humid but not excessively hot. Nevertheless I struggled immensely in the last few miles of the event and was far from satisfied with my final time. I could put that down to my own form not being up to scratch coupled with the stress of waking at 4:00 am with a 3-hour time zone shift (that meant it was 1:00 am to my body) to get the subway to Brooklyn for a 7:00 am start. However, I was surprised to learn at the finish how many other runners were equally dissatisfied with their performances.
Despite those feelings, I was delighted to link up with my old running club (the Reservoir Dogs) and the partying that followed at Coney Island immediately after the race, involving not just my club but apparently most of the 7,000 finishers, made everyone quickly forget their times and feel good. There is something about this event that makes it one not to be missed!
(c) Warwick Ford, 2010