road racing

Hi all, Race 27 was the Queens Half Marathon. It was a new course for the Queens Half (not to mention a new time of year – it’s usually in April or May) and you know what that means – guaranteed course PR!

Hi all,

Race 9 was the NYRR 8k (my 8th marathon qualifier). Due to the late winter storm that passed through NYC (dumping 5.5 inches of snow in Central Park), the NYRR postponed the Men’s Championship 8k to Sunday and changed the NYRR 8k race to a fun run. Anyone who registered for the race received credit towards the 2008 NYC marathon, whether or not they showed up. The course was the same – we started on the West Side at about 70th and ran clockwise around the Park, crossing at the 102nd Street Transverse and running all the way down around the bottom of the Park to finish at Tavern on the Green.

Hi all,

Race 7 was the Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5k (my 6th marathon qualifier). We ran from 168th Street up Fort Washington Avenue to the turnaround in Fort Tryon Park and then back to the start.

Goals: to keep running between water stations, to run 3 sub-9 miles, and to set a new PR (under 28:34 – a 9:12 pace). I would have set a 5k PR in Prospect Park last year, but NYRR had set the course wrong and we ran 3.2, not 3.1. My pace for the race was 9:07, so I really wanted to beat a 9:07 pace, too. The chocolate rule is still in effect. There aren't very many 5ks in NYC, so it's been a while for me and I wasn't sure how I'd do, but I was planning to give it my best (and not just for the chocolate, as I hope you all know).

British road runners are to get their own national organization by July 2008, reports Athletics Weekly.

The move is recogniton that road racing is booming in the UK, in comparison with track and field. "Applications for entries for the Flora London Marathon increased from 68,000 in 1996 to 131,000 in 2005, while about 30,000 took part in the Nike Run London 10km this year, a relatively new event, even though certain traditional events struggle to attract the numbers of yesteryear", said Athletics Weekly.

"The sport’s largest section is to benefit from being given its own organisation by July 2008