Sunday, April 18, 2010

2010 JFK 5k "3.10 mil) Run (29:57 min)


Lets begin by saying; "Today was tough and disappointing" How? Well, the run is NOT called JFK 5k Run. It is called JFK Runway Run. Why? because it is held at a JFK Airport Runway. For a few days before the race, their website has been displaying "Due to airport security, changes to the route have been made. Details at registration on race day" I called the # when I saw this and asked what type of changes were made or if the date had been changed. They refused to give any information over the phone. All they said was "All information will be giving to all participants on race day"All they could tell me was that the date was still the same.

When we got to JFK, we saw that the finish line was right at the entrance of building 14. Joyce asked me if I knew anything about it, I said nope.. lol. As we were waiting for the the race to start, we over heard a lady ask the official with the speaker... "Why is the finish line here?" the guy said "Oh, the FAA closed the runway 20 min ago so we had to reroute the route. Bullshit.. they knew days ahead and for fear of people not showing up and demanding a refund they didn't say anything till the very last minute. They knew if people would have asked for a refund, they were in the right to do so since they were not delivering what they had promised. The lady who asked said "Oh no,, I came from NJ to register today thinking I was going to run on the runway" the guy said.. "Oh, I know, but you will have a flat course just like the runway".



The new route took all runners through the local road at JFK giving only view to the cargo buildings, cars passing by on the Van Wyck Expressway and airport personnel on their coffee break. I get a better scenery by my house than that. The entire run went by and I did not see a single airplane. I don't understand why if they knew the runway was closed days ahead, they didn't simply postponed the race. People would have been more understanding about this than make a unethical change like this to keep their $$$.

The route was so tight that for the first half of the first mile, you could not move anywhere. People were trying to make way by running through grass, sidewalk and going the against incoming traffic. Oh yeah, they did not close the entire street. Only one lane out of the two way two lane road. Like I said, it was so tight and with over 1000 runners, it took a while before you got some breathing room. The other thing that didn't seem right was that all runners, and walkers were mixed in, so you had to work your way around the walkers as well.


I was keeping it slow but on the upper 8s to lower 9 to make sure I didn't kill the ankle. My ankle started to give me some trouble on the small hill before mile 1, but I thought, maybe once it warms up. Mile 1 came and my right calf began to get tight in addition to the ankle, and I had to stop cold. My calf got loosen and the ankle felt a bit better so I resumed running. Upon getting to mile 2 I began to feel the same thing but a bit harder.. to the point of feeling a cramp coming on my right calf.. I had to stop again and stretch it and kinda massage it. I resume running and 2 min late my left foot and began to feel numb.. The ankle brace I was wearing apparently began to feel too tight and was cutting blood flow to my foot, and without realizing I was putting more pressure on my right leg causing the cramp like feeling.. I loosen the strap and felt instant relief.. My left foot felt better but not my right calf. I was able to pick up my pace within the last mile, but too late to get a personal PR. I did manage to come in under 30 min on my Garmin. However the official clock marked 30 something.. Weird.. i started my Garmin as soon as I heard the gun go off and It took me a good minute to cross the starting line. Oh well.

Oh.. did I mention that I was giving the wrong Bib #? LOL I received Bib #226. While still at the race site, I checked the results and could not find myself. So I figured, it will be posted later tonight. The results were posted by the time I got home. When I checked my bib #, the name under that bib was some one else's. Joyce's # was 233 and my dad was 234, so I tried searching in that range. I found out my bib was supposed to be 232 and showed as if I did not run. Yes "THE CHERRY ON TOP" lol So I called and got a hold of Rudy about it who said to email him all the info and he will have it fixed. This is the same thing that Joyce was told last year and never heard back from them since the email was sent and was never corrected. Lets see if Rudy will keep his word.

Not completely disappointed with my time. I was originally shooting for a slow run, but even with my stops and problems, I managed to come in under 30 min, and still get a new PR on this race. so Woohoo.. LOL.

6 comments:

  1. I heard that the runways were closed because of all the planes that were grounded due to the volcano in Iceland.

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  2. I figured as much. However, since they knew ahead of time, I think they should have notified the runners of such change and not wait 'till the very last minute.

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  3. I disagree and don't believe the Iceland volcano excuse one bit. My gut tells me that they did not have the organization, bus capacity and security in place ahead of time for the number of registered applicants to use the runway. I ran this last year it was less then half the number of runners. Remember you have to be bused to the start line on the runway. My huch tells me they did not plan ahead for the turnout or were too cheap to pay for more security and buses once they saw the increase. They normally have to re-route traffic and close this particular runway. Wouldn't the fact that most runways were not running at or near normal capacity make using the runway easier???

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  4. what ever the case was. They were in obligation to let people know about the change and what the change was going to be ahead of time. Like I mentioned before, I think people would have been more than OK if the race had to be rescheduled. It was not morally right what they did at all.

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  5. I agree. What bothers me is how they scamed everyone by sending out an email the day before the race that stated, "the race course has changed we have a special surprise course for everyone".

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  6. Special surprise? i missed that part.. man, how could I? you would have read on the news today "JFK Runway Run Gone Wrong" or "what drove a Guatemalan to madness at the JFK Runway Run" lol seriously.. the Hunts Point 5k in the Bronx last year had a better view than what we ran on Sunday..

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