NYCRuns Spring Fling 10K 2016

Edison and I signed up for the NYCRuns Spring Fling 10K on Roosevelt Island. This would be my third race on the island, but my first actual finish. The night before, I received texts from Edison and an old party friend that they were hanging out. I got a little concerned that he was not going to show up the next morning. Lucky for him, he did (heh heh).

How I pictured Edison until I actually saw

him the next morning with my own two eyes.

I parked on the Astoria side of the Roosevelt Island Bridge and then ran over to the starting area at Fireman's Field. It was exactly one mile. The temperature was in the high 30s at 9am. There was a nice size crowd of runners milling about. I did not see Edison who was coming from New Jersey. He texted to say he was on a very long line for the bathroom in the local Starbucks. No problem. The announcer began directing the 10k runners to the starting line at 9:20. 9:25 still no Edison. Finally, 9:30 I see him walking toward me with all of his gear. Seriously? Thankfully, he was able to check it in quickly and make it to the delayed start on time. The race began and Edison and I took our time at the back of the pack. This race was all about Edison preparing for his first marathon. He said he averages around 15 minutes per mile on his training runs, so I expected this to be a nice, leisurely jog.

Random runners doing their "pre-race

stuff" before the start in Fireman's Field.

The course is two loops around the island. Some people forgot this tidbit because after only 20 minutes I heard a girl point to a mile marker and say to her friend, "See! We're at Mile 4." Not quite. More like Mile 2. The views of New York City from the tony island are spectacular. In fact, the island itself is pretty adorable. Quiet and quaint, you would never believe you're in New York City. I'm not sure what the rent is, but I'm betting "too damn high". The course is right on the waterfront and the river looked like glass. No wind at all. We finished our first loop in around 34 minutes which felt like forever. I can't remember the last time I ran 3 miles in more than 30 minutes. It was fun, though because Edison and I got to catch up. We hadn't seen each other since Halloween. As we chatted about my new favorite mini-series on FX, The People Vs. OJ Simpson, a fellow runner joined in on the conversation We agreed the acting was superb and the storyline, gripping, despite already knowing the outcome and having lived through it in real time. Pretty soon we were back at the Start/Finish again. Edison wanted to sprint it out which he did surprisingly fast. We held hands across the finish. The clock read 1:04:34, a 10:25 pace. I was pretty proud of Edison. This was a decent time for his first 10k considering his training paces.

Edison before he had his "lighthouse"

surgically removed from his head.

Me looking pretty awful.

Finish photo courtesy of

NYCRuns. Me loves a race

that gives you free photos!