Over the past few years, the NYRR AirBnB Brooklyn Half Marathon has become the largest half marathon in the world. 27,455 sold out entries were sold out in under a half hour for the privilege of running 13.1 miles in the middle of the borough. Regardless of having to go out to Brooklyn to pick up my bib at the “pre-party,” I was looking forward to running it again.
The weather was cool and overcast, the clouds protecting us from the potential sun. The race started with a crowded half mile run south on Washington Avenue before turning right onto Flatbush Avenue for an out and back that looped around Grand Army Plaza and back down to Ocean Avenue. Making a right onto Parkside Avenue around the edge of Prospect Park brought us to the three mile and 5k markers. At the 3.5 mile point we turned into the park and made a 3.5 mile loop around the park. From there it was a quick run onto Ocean Parkway and a 5 mile run straight down towards Coney Island. A quick run on Surf Avenue led to the ramp onto the boardwalk and a 400 meter run to the finish line.
After 2:12:36, I was able to complete my trek through Brooklyn to complete my sixth NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon. I was thankful the rain held off until I finished running and was waiting for my Nathan’s hot dog. Now I have four 9+1 races done so far and no long races (half marathon or longer) for the foreseeable future for the first time in a long time.
