So today my husband, brother and I ran the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll 10k in NYC.First, I want to say that the weather couldn't have been any better. It was cool but not too cool.

EXPO Packet Pickup

Swag Bag Contents

So before I get into the race I want to talk about packet pick-up yesterday. Packet pick-up took place at Super Runners on 7th ave at 12pm to 7pm. When we arrived (12:30ish), there was a long line outside.The line moved pretty fast, and once we were inside it was easy sailing. We were asked if we had our printed confirmation emails. We didn't have them, because at that point we hadn't received the confirmation email (which we got 2:30 that day). So we had to fill out our paperwork. We got our numbers and were directed to shirt and bag pickup. Unfortunately, there were only medium and large shirts available. I was irritated by this because I had ordered an extra small, but it was a blessing in disguise because I love how the medium fits. The bags also had one free Gu packet for the race and we were given a free gift coupon to redeem during out next purchase. Overall, the staff was friendly and informative.

Race Day

We started our day at 5:00am (race start at 7:30). We were out the door by 6:00. Estimated travel time was suppose to be 22 minutes. With that in mind, we thought we would have ample time to find parking and get to bag check and our corrals before the wave start. Well, we ran into huge problems starting as soon as we walked out the door. First we were out of gas and at 6:00 gas stations aren't usually open. After finding a station and filling up we got on the road. We were doing pretty well until we hit a major traffic jam going into Brooklyn. There was construction for over 3 miles, three lanes cut down to one. Traffic wasn't moving, we sat there for 40 minutes. At this point it was 7:00am. Only 30 minutes until the start. We finally got to the park but couldn't find any parking! For 40 minutes we searched, finally we found a parking garage (which wasn't busy because everyone was already running the race). We got out of the car (deciding to leave our check bags in the trunk to save some time) and booked it to the race. When we got to the start, all the corrals were already waved through. We were told by the staff that we could still run the race so we headed out of the starting line. I was just praying to finish before others and not get swept.
**On a side note, I guess public transit was worse because of the re-routed Q train which was one of the main routes to the park.

The race course was beautiful. The park was perfect this time of year. We ran the inner lap of prospect park twice to gain distance. I would have preferred a route that wasn't repetitive, but it wasn't that big of a setback. Since it was Saturday morning the park was full of dog walkers and equestrians. At mile 3, two equestrians decided that they were tired of waiting to cross the race path and just stepped out in front of us. Running around the horses wasn't the only distraction these large animals contributed. There were times during the run that I had to dodge around some horse poo. Just some minor hiccups in the race.

The course was mapped to have 3 water stops (mile 1.5, 3.5, and 5.5). During our run there were only two (mile 3.5 didn't have water). The mile 5.5 water stop also had Gu (but I passed b/c I wasn't sure what Gu they were giving out and it sometimes messes with me).

The course also provided DJ entertainment at miles 1, 2, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 (these weren't individual DJ's at each because of the loop, each DJ covered 2 separate spots). They were a great addition except that one DJ at mile 3.5/start was slightly rude. My husband had told me that there were two heavier set women running by and the DJ asked where they were from. They replied Texas. The DJ proceeded to say, "Well I guess everything is bigger in Texas". MORTIFYING!

The course allowed for easy spectator viewing throughout. And there were a lot of cheer squads, who by the way, cheered for everyone. I love that, it's always a great boost of motivation.

The finish was smooth, I ran right through and was given a medal and water right away. They were also handing out cold Zico water, banana's, bagels, and power-aid. There seemed to be more than enough left over (even after seeing people grabbing more than their fare share). After I met up with my husband we headed over to the photo section (taken by Bright Room) and had a bunch of pictures taken (I will post them when I get them back). After we finished with pictures, we decided not to stay for the party because we wanted to get back to our son and spend the rest of the day enjoying the weather as a family.

I really don't have any complaints about the race. Many of the problems we ran into (traffic, parking, and horse poo) were not within the control of the organization. I did hear that people were having problems with bag pickup, but since we left our bags in the car I can't comment. I also overheard that the race had a late start, but we also were late and didn't participate in the official start so I can't say much about that.

Overall, the race was pretty good and I look forward to running it again next year.

My Race Gear