I moved to New York City back in June and as soon as my bags were unpacked, I started looking for a fall race to register for. I wanted something more challenging than a 5K but not as time-consuming to train for as a half marathon. When I found the Bronx 10 Mile race on the New York Road Runners website, I immediately tried to sign up but regular registration was full. But I saw that I could sign up with Team for Kids, fundraise for the non-profit and get to participate in the race all while supporting a great cause. Team for Kids raises money for youth running programs in low-income schools across the country, not just in New York.
On my way to the race, a lovely young lady introduced herself to me on the subway platform by exclaiming, “Oh, hey! Team for Kids – me too!” and motioned to our matching neon green singlets. We chatted through the quick commute from East Harlem to the Bronx and parted ways when she went to catch up with the 5K start. Fortunately, I was able to catch the rest of the Team for Kids runners and be jump into a team photo for the New York Times.
The group dispersed after the photo op, but one runner, Suzanne, introduced herself and walked with me to our corral since we were in the same one. Suzanne told me about TFK’s training programs – which I didn’t even know existed – and I’m excited to sign up for my next race with TFK to take advantage of the awesome coaches, track workouts and group runs they provide.
The race had a staggered start, so I didn’t cross the starting line until almost a half an hour after the official 8 am starting time. The staggered start really eliminated the typical bottleneck of the first few miles of a race and I found myself done with the 5K portion much faster than I thought!
The race course was a nice variation of an out-and-back and went through a few neighborhoods in the Bronx and almost out to the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Gardens. The elevation looked non-existent in the online course map, but in reality it was full of rolling hills. Only one was terribly steep and compared to the hill on 96th & 2nd I’d been training on – it was easy enough to get through.
My awesome roommates came up to the finish line to cheer me on and snapped some of the best action running pictures anyone’s taken of me.
The official race photographers also snapped a few great pictures near the finish line AND they were free to download!
Receiving this race medal meant a lot to me. All of the race medals I earned over the years were lost in the mail during my move to New York. For someone who never played sports, the medals represented pretty major accomplishments and incredible memories; my first 5K with two of my best friends, a race through EverBank Field where I PR’d, an insane 200 mile relay race from Miami to Key West, 3 years of 55K relays the benefitted a local children’s hospital, and more. But now, I’m starting the medal collection over – starting with this beauty!