After failing to take much notice of the race history behing the previous NYRR race I entered I was determined to be a little less oblivious this time around - Although it was pretty easy to figure out why we running this time it did take me a while to figure out the older guys in the race with the orange dots on their bibs were cancer survivors - I spoke to a really nice gentleman as I waited at the 10mm pace marker at the start - it was his first race - he was sporting the orange dot - we wished each other luck as the crowd started moving and off we went.

As I got going I started to read some of the signs people wore saying who they were running for - Some just said Dad some had names of people who had passed and some had names of survivors - So I silently acknowledged the guys I love - my Dad, my brothers and my friends

I don`t know if it was the TV cameras or this particular route but the course seemed way more crowded that usual - within a few minutes of starting I was almost tripped by a kid running all over the course completely out of control - his Mom ( I assume ) caught him and I passed by - within a few seconds she let him go and he had belted away abd was back in front almost tripping people again - who ever that kid belonged to - he is NOT mature enough to be allowed to run in this kind of event - in fact he was in no uncertain terms a danger to himself and others

I spent the first mile weaving in and out of various walkers ... I have to wonder why the walkers are not lining up by the sign that says .. well ... walkers .. is it such a shame to line up at the pace you are going to run .. or walk ? There are always people who started at the wrong pace marker but it seemed much worse at this race which in turn caused the people who were trying to run to spill out of the race lanes to get passed - again this always happens to some extent but was MUCH worse this time - which in turn caused the race organisers to nearly have a melt down trying to keep people where they should be. I`m still wondering what happened to that wave start .. would have helped a lot here I think ... I also wonder if the people blindly running outside of the race route realize that it`s only going to take 1 accident for someone to call for a cap on the number of people who can enter these races and then everyone suffers

At about the 1 mile mark I passed a young man racing the course on crutches - it was very humbling and at the point I stopped my mental grumbling about the walkers in the wrong place , the out of control kids and the ipod users weaving all over the place as they change tracks and focused on the running.

I felt like I was dragging on this race - it was hot and humid but no more so that last week - but this just felt worse - it turns out my pace was little faster but it felt like I was running through mud - In hindsite I attributed this to not enough sleep, not eating the right foods the evening before and to the 10 mile long run I did on Thurs. I`m getting closer to my first marathon and pushing the long runs - I`m really beginning to feel more fatigued in general. I also think that not having my usual running buddy to chat to for the first mile or so had an effect to.

I seem to learn a couple of vital lessons every race - this one - check the water table locations before the race - I passed the water at niles 1 and 2 assuming there would be some at mile 3 ... WRONG ! - the next table was close to mile 4 - by the time I got there I just wanted it to be over - I grabbed a cup - drank and set back off.

The crowd had thinned out by this point but many runners were still needlessly running outside of the marked course - while I understand the frustration at the start it`s just not necessary to leave the running lanes once the pack has spread out.

The finish banner finally appeared and I managed to find a little extra energy to pick up the pace a teeny bit for my grand finish !

At the water tables I saw the lovely Mercury Masters lady in the purple sparkly hat who had put me to shame in the 10K last week by bounding past me at mile 2 - I spoke to her briefly - so charming - I can`t wait to turn 50 so I can join them !!

In the end the race didn`t feel that great but the result - 54:44 ( 10:32 pace ) given the heat and crowds was much better than I thought. More lessons learned - one step closer to my first half marathon !