Joining the New York Road Runners Club to Ring in the New Year
I had a number of friends set to meet me in New York City as we headed north on I-95 about 4:00 pm on New Year's Eve. Our goal was to run the New York Road Runners Club Midnight Run in Central Park. With Denise "Hotfoot" Knickman driving, using Dan Mendelsohn's EZPass, we zipped right through all the tolls and arrived in NYC equaling her 2002 marathon times and a new driving PR for Dan on the Baltimore to NYC trip with a nice 2:59.

While we were picking up our race packets at the NYRRC HQ, a couple approached us and asked if we knew of a place that they could hang out waiting for the run to start. I invited them to come along with us and we took them to our runner's rendezvous party on 78th Street.

As always, it was great hooking up with runners from other races in the past and meeting new ones. About 11:00 pm we headed over to Central Park for the race/run, and caught the end of the costume parade.

There was music playing and people dancing in the park over by the bandshell. The rest of my out-of-town rendezvous plans went awry, since the entire left side of the bandshell was inundated with revelers, some there for the run and some just looking for an excuse, any excuse, to party.

The Midnight Run is billed as an untimed "Fun Run," but it features course records and cash for the top three times as well as other goodies, certainly enough to attract a fast crowd at the front.

The start began when the crowd counted down from ten to zero, and we were off as fireworks burst high in the air over our heads. I had lined up at the 5 minute mile mark, fudging a little, but there were numerous walkers and recreational fitness joggers lined up in front of me. Denise reported that a fellow with the numeral "10" ran up just before the start of the event and asked a rather portly gentleman if he was a seeded runner. The man answered "No", whereon #10 requested to start in front of him. The answer was a growling, "Get behind me."

Anyway, I worked my way through the crowd for a hundred yards or so until the wheat began to separate from the chaff. About that time I saw Dan getting passed by two petite girls wearing wings, glitter, and mini-skirts. Playing off his ego, I yelled at him not to let those fairies fly away from him. But they kept getting farther away, so I sped up and closed in on them.

First mile passed in 6:30 and one of the girls began coming back to me, then I passed her. Then I passed Tinker Bell, or Madam Butterfly, or the Queen Bee, or whoever she was.

I thought that was it, a couple of schoolgirls out for a lark sprinting through the first mile then fading, but lo and behold the girl with orange wings passed me again. Even worse, every time she saw a crowd of people she would jump and skip and wave and shout "Happy New Year." They were shouting back, 'Ninth woman!'

After awhile it occurred to me that her stride was a bit too smooth, her turnover a bit too pert to indicate that she was going to slow down anytime soon. This was a bit too much for me, so I ran by her side and asked her who she ran for, and in a cheerful voice she said she ran track and cross-country for American University.

One of Matt Centrowitz's proteges. So much for this race, I was done, cooked, toast.

I saw the second mile marker, and my watch said "6:11." I began noticeably slowing down.

Somewhere in this area we ran up the infamous Cat Hill. I don't know where the uphills began, and wasn't really aware that we were always going up, but apparently we were. A fellow from California was complaining about all the hills. I was laboring, but thought it was because I had just been scorched by the fast early pacing.

Mile three in 6:47, and hit the finish line in 26:04, so the last mile was about 6:36 with rounding figured in. But that last mile was all downhill too, so don't let the perceived increase fool anyone, it was all hard work given my level of fitness. And given the length of the descent, it is only apparent that we climbed quite a bit in the first three miles of the race.

Denise reported that she ran 24:00 for sixth overall and that the Tinker Bell/Butterfly girl passed her with a half-mile left for fifth, so it is a good thing I didn't try to stay with her or I surely would have imploded.

The only bit of redemption I had was that I was carrying one of those cheap Kodak cameras with me. Every time someone passed me in the latter miles I would take a picture of the runner or the crowds so it would seem like I was just out for a lark and not really an old man getting crushed by the competition in various costumes.

Then back to Dan's for post-race food and socializing, all with good people. Hope to see more of you there next time I make it up to the Big Apple. On the way back to Baltimore we encountered rain and heavy traffic. Dan was driving, and we managed to match his marathon PR on the way back--3:34. What a coincidence!