It was a whirlwind of emotions throughout the weekend into this current week. And what a weekend it was. Some disappointment, some soreness, but mostly gratitude. Thankful to be alive, not injured, and to have completed the task at hand.
I've said this before, but this weekend could not have been a better example. Training does not equal race day. Race day is out of your control. This will sound harsh. This year's Brooklyn Half was probably the worst race I have ever run across any distance, location, or year. Yes, even more painful then both full NYC Marathons.
The biggest factor at play was quite simple - the weather. The Brooklyn Half has had notoriously bad weather for the past few years. This was my 4th time running it and it has gotten worse each time.
Regardless of experience level, most runners (in the Northeast anyway) have been training in winter or mild temps. Similar to the NYC Marathon, most runners are doing the bulk of their training early morning - not mimicking the later start time of this race. On top of this, climate change has accelerated temperature increases. We've had a few unusually hot days already this spring. Lastly, the historical Brooklyn course is not favorable. The humidity in Prospect Park has runners in a chokehold for the first half of the race and the blazing sun upon black pavement on Ocean Parkway offers no relief for the second half of the race.
And the strange part is - I didn't even see any of this coming. Though I should have. I was beyond well-trained. Mostly well-rested. Nutrition on point. And in good spirits at the start. I studied my pacing plan well to hit my PR goal of sub 2:10 (hoping for 2:07).
My wave and corral also felt like a big disadvantage. As wave 3, I had a later start than others. Then I experienced a big bottleneck of runners through mile 1 - crowded and extra hot. Though I was immediately suffering, I WAS on my target pace for miles 2-4. In the park, there's a sizeable hill to climb between miles 5-6 where there happens to be the most foliage and tree coverage (extra humid). That's where my pace took went off the rails going from a 9:21 to 10:49. I didn't panic yet, knowing the hill was going to be hard and that I had built in extra buffer time for this. But by the time I exited the park around mile 7...I knew there was no saving it. My pace then continued to plummet - 10:41, 11:13, 11:19. Then I received an alert on my watch from NYRR that a 'dangerous course' advisory has been issued (Ok, well at least I wasn't crazy).
I had to make a mental choice on how to handle the disappointment. I decided to "give up" and start having fun. I danced to spectators' music, I high-fived little kids, I smacked "power up" Super Mario signs, I took a sip of Drew's beer. I used the water stations as little 20-second walking pit-stops to recharge and say thank you to the volunteers. Brooklyn vibes were on point this year. While the race was the worst one I had ever run, the crowd support was inspiring. Strangers, taking time of their day. Celebrating their neighborhood and different cultures.
That was A LOT about me. I wasn't alone! There were over 20,000+ runners with me. Big and small. Black, white, brown, and everything in between. Old and young. Experienced and just getting started. Slow and fast. My people - just like me. With this burning, unexplainable calling. We are never satisfied.
Rob ran as well (and happy to report that he also suffered, at least I can find solace in my competitive nature). I also tricked (I mean pushed) two newbies to enter the lottery this year on the premise that they'll "never get in". "Oops I did it again" - they got in. My coworker Caroline and my good friend Rebekah tackled their first official Half. While I ran my own race, I found joy in sharing parts of the experience with them, and proud of their accomplishment. There was also a few members of the Milltown crew!
Lastly, in addition to the crowd support, I had some pit crew help along the miles. While I didn't need any supplies this year (wow...I'm experienced now!), I certainly needed the support. And the beer at the end. Don't forget the beer. After, we all celebrated together in Coney Island with hot dogs, oysters, and clams.
Later in the day, I found out about some of the suffering of my people. Similar to past Brooklyn Halfs, there was an extremely tragic death of a young man. Bad news continued to pour in about several ambulances, cardiac issues, collapses, dehydration, and a mental breakdown.
With an official 2025 finish time of 2:18:30 (vs. my PR of 2:10:59 in 2024), I've come to the reality that I'm probably never going to PR this course again. The first thing that popped into my head when I finished was exactly that: I'm no longer going to chase a PR on this course. I'm simply "done". This will always be my favorite race, but I think I'm going to start enjoying it from mile 1 in the future. And simply run in gratitude.
