Race Recap: Who Run the World? GIRLS!
4/21/2020
After my successful PR for a 10k on the GW Bridge Challenge, I wondered how I would fare less than a week later on another race of that distance. My first NYRR race, and first in Central Park, was the Mini 10k on June 8, 2019. I didn’t know at the time why it was called the “Mini” 10k; how can a distance be miniature? Wouldn’t a mini anything be smaller, like a 5k? It turns out that it was short for “Miniskirt” and an all-female race. Back when running for fun wasn’t a common extracurricular activity, the original Mini 10k was created as a “miniature marathon” to give women a chance to race each other in a long distance in Central Park. It was just a tad bit sexist to assume these ladies couldn’t run farther than 10k and to assume they’d be wearing skirts, but at least it was progress in the sport in the early 1970s.
I was really nervous for this race. I wasn’t sure how many people there would be or how many corrals existed since, according to my sticker on my bib, I was Corral E. I just made sure I got there really early and warmed up close to the porta potties because I didn’t want to have to wait in a line and miss my start. Unlike the GWB Challenge charity race, this fun run also had an official race for the elite athletes, and I recognized marathoner Jordan Hasay running past me in a stylish tracksuit. The sad part for me was that her warmup was faster than I know I can sprint, and she made it look effortless like a gazelle. She just seemed to float in the air, barely skimming the ground with the bottom of her feet. There was no WAY I would get close to winning my age group, so I told myself to just do my best. I luckily saw one of my friends that I didn’t know was racing and got to catch up with her before lining up. Kat had the festive tutu skirt to match the theme, and I loved it!
As I was waiting in my corral during the National Anthem, I noticed my music was taking forever to load. Internally, I was panicking a little bit because I knew I needed something to distract me for this distance. My MapMyRun was also terribly slow at picking up where I was, likely due to the amount of people around me using GPS devices, but I had to make a mental note to update my phone soon so that this wouldn’t happen on Marathon Day.
The elites had their own start, then it was our turn to get going at the gun and the empowering beats of Beyonce’s “Who Run the World” blasting from the start line speakers. With the amount of people lined up, it took a good minute or two before my awkward jog-in-place became a decent effort on the first stretch of the course, which went from Columbus Circle to the top of Central Park West. My music wasn’t working very well and I had to rely on the cheers from the crowd (mostly women’s husbands and their kids) as I weaved around many people to try to find an empty pocket. I stuck mostly to the park side near the curb and kept as neutral of an expression as I could muster while photographers snapped candid shots of the event. I’m anxious inside, holding onto my water bottle in one hand, and my phone in the other because it still wasn’t playing my songs. After more than a mile, it finally came to life and I could relax a little bit.
I’d barely run around Central Park before this race, but I heard that Harlem Hill would be really tough, so I took my time climbing the seemingly endless mountain road, knowing there HAD to be a downhill at some point. I mostly held onto my water bottle for later in the race, but I seriously struggled in the art of drinking water from the paper cups without spilling it all over myself like the “drinking problem” scene in the movie Airplane. It was really hot and humid that day, so I just felt drenched and wondered what kind of blisters I would have on my feet after this was over. Between my GPS being off and my lack of experience on the course, I had no idea where I was and what amount of effort I should put into the different undulating hills in the road. Do I speed up now? When was the last mile marker? Stop breathing so hard!
When I saw the finish line in sight, I did what I do best and gunned it, passing other ladies that seemed to be slowing down. I never understood that, and perhaps it’s because of my athletic conditioning back in high school that always made me give it my all in the last few seconds of the game. I wanted to leave nothing left to spare, and I did. I was breathing heavily as I collected my medal, bagel, water, and banana from the volunteers.
After I found a spot to be seen, I texted the Running Mermaids group that I was meeting up for brunch. I only knew Habby, so I took a selfie and sent it so that they could find me among all the other ladies sporting the cute bluish purple Mini 10k tank top. Luckily my cosmic pants were easy to spot and I walked with everyone to The Smith on the Upper West Side for a delicious brunch with some new friends.
There were 8800 finishers, so I obviously didn’t win anything this time around. My pace was not nearly as fast at 8:09 and finishing at 50:33, but I was proud of conquering the course and being surrounded by so many awesome women. I started setting new mini goals in preparation for the marathon thanks to the Mini 10k. In fact, the next day I signed up for 9 more NYRR races to conquer over the summer and volunteered for one. I thought that if I love the NYC Marathon so much, I’m going to want to do it again, and the NYRR 9 + 1 program would guarantee me entry next year. It was quite the charge on my credit card, but it would all be worth it. Who run the world? CYNTHIA.
The cute Mini 10k tank top matched my leggings! I shared this on my Instagram.