Less than 4,800 finishers in this year's race, which was closed to entrants several weeks ago. Hot day, though thankfully less humid (think what if this was *last* weekend)
Brooklyn's Miriam Beyer (racing for Athena New York) was top female with a 1:29:14, edging out Brooklyn's Sarah Foster. In fact, five of the top finishers in Queens were from Brooklyn.
Brooklyn's Armando Ramirez (WSX) finished third overall among the men with a 1:17:33.
Showing posts with label Queens Half. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Queens Half. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 26, 2010
Queens vs Brooklyn
Wow. Guess they didn't need to worry about race overcrowding at Queens. (Wonder what would happens if they ran the race in the spring or the fall?). Heard reasonably good things about the course, nothing good about the weather.
The heat was a big factor - one wonders how many people simply stayed away. At the same time, the race date switch may have also caused people to change plans.
Some numbers to compare between Queens and Brooklyn in this year's half marathons
Weather:
-- Queens: 86 degrees, 63% humidity, wind 12 mph
-- Brooklyn: 58 Deg. 86% hum. wind 6 mph
Finishers
-- Queens: 3,668
-- Brooklyn: 7,015
(When was the last time a NYRR half had this few finishers? I'm thinking there's a Manhattan Half on this list.)
# of finishers who broke 1:30
-- Queens: 67 (only two women)
-- Brooklyn: 280 (23 women)
Top Brooklyn male:
-- Queens: Jacob Cooper, 1:19:46
-- Brooklyn: Dirk Muench, 1:12:43
(For comparison: Cooper ran a 1:13:45 in Manhattan this year)
Top Brooklyn female:
-- Queens: Beth St. John, 1:35:07
-- Brooklyn: Kelly Chin, 1:19:51
Congrats to everyone who struggled through the sweatbath (my contribution on the day was to run 4 miles on the Brooklyn Bridge, and to die mightily in the final mile, so I got a small taste of who you all felt).
Did you run? Comment away ...
The heat was a big factor - one wonders how many people simply stayed away. At the same time, the race date switch may have also caused people to change plans.
Some numbers to compare between Queens and Brooklyn in this year's half marathons
Weather:
-- Queens: 86 degrees, 63% humidity, wind 12 mph
-- Brooklyn: 58 Deg. 86% hum. wind 6 mph
Finishers
-- Queens: 3,668
-- Brooklyn: 7,015
(When was the last time a NYRR half had this few finishers? I'm thinking there's a Manhattan Half on this list.)
# of finishers who broke 1:30
-- Queens: 67 (only two women)
-- Brooklyn: 280 (23 women)
Top Brooklyn male:
-- Queens: Jacob Cooper, 1:19:46
-- Brooklyn: Dirk Muench, 1:12:43
(For comparison: Cooper ran a 1:13:45 in Manhattan this year)
Top Brooklyn female:
-- Queens: Beth St. John, 1:35:07
-- Brooklyn: Kelly Chin, 1:19:51
Congrats to everyone who struggled through the sweatbath (my contribution on the day was to run 4 miles on the Brooklyn Bridge, and to die mightily in the final mile, so I got a small taste of who you all felt).
Did you run? Comment away ...
Friday, July 23, 2010
Race of the Weekend: Queens Half
Unlike Brooklyn, which closed in record time, Queens has plenty of spots open - in fact you can sign up on race day for the 7 a.m. start. I suspect its less to do with the fact our Queens brethren are less committed to a local half than the timing - July 24, on what may turn out to be one of the hottest weekends of the year.
Temps will hit the mid-80s by 9 a.m., as many of you are finishing up, and the day promises to one of the humid-blech days better spent soaking yourself in the waters off Coney Island or the Jersey Shore (I think I'm going to search for a nice mountain stream). It's not a day for a PR, most likely - so make sure you're listening to your body and staying hydrated.
Other options this weekend? Nothing really local, though it you have wheels, a short trip to CT, NJ or upstate gives you some choices.
Temps will hit the mid-80s by 9 a.m., as many of you are finishing up, and the day promises to one of the humid-blech days better spent soaking yourself in the waters off Coney Island or the Jersey Shore (I think I'm going to search for a nice mountain stream). It's not a day for a PR, most likely - so make sure you're listening to your body and staying hydrated.
Other options this weekend? Nothing really local, though it you have wheels, a short trip to CT, NJ or upstate gives you some choices.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Queens Half Course Posted
Lot of turns, though there are places, particularly in the first five miles, where you get a chance to see how the runners ahead and behind you are doing
Friday, June 4, 2010
Queens Half Moved to July 24
So... this may come as good news or bad news: You pick.
Just noticed this, but NYRR has pulled the Queens Half out of its September 2009 slot and scheduled it for July 24. (If there was a note out there, and I missed it - humble apologies). If you recall, it's been in August in the past. It had been scheduled for Sept. 12 this year.
So, now you get to run through both the Bronx *and* Queens in the middle of the hottest months of the year (you might think the NYRR doesn't like those boroughs, though I have to admit I have soft spot for running on the Grand Concourse in the middle of August).
Last year's race change to September came with a snafu, of course.
What's new? A new course that starts at Flushing Meadows (easily accessible by public transportation, the site notes, though obviously no one who wrote that has tried to go from Brooklyn to Queens early on a weekend morning in the midst of subway-work hell. I know this from experience ... hopefully there's a let up.) Blech.
Yes, the race starts at 7 a.m. So if you don't have a car ... double-blech.
It does add a summer half marathon into a relative void (a ton of halfs in Sept. and Oct., which I'll eventually get to). It does mean, however, you only have 7 weeks to train for it.
No course map yet, though if it has half as many turns as past Queens races, it will be welcome.
So what happened in the Sept. calendar? I didn't take copious notes, but it looks like they just removed it from Sept. 12 (according to the cached search I did on Google). No replacement race, if one is even being considered.
The huge downside: I'm not sure when the move was made, since I haven't been monitoring the race schedule closely. For those of you aiming to run all 5 halfs, and had already scheduled a vacation out-of-town in July ... triple-blech.
One final thought: A lot of local runners like focusing on their local halfs (Manhattan, I'd guess being an exception, though if running two-plus loops of Central Park is your game, no problem). By shifting the dates around at the last moment (as has happened with Brooklyn, etc.), it keeps runners from focusing on what, for many, is their "destination" race. Given the fact that the NYC Half has already been set in stone for March 20 next year, why not do the same for the local halfs?
Just noticed this, but NYRR has pulled the Queens Half out of its September 2009 slot and scheduled it for July 24. (If there was a note out there, and I missed it - humble apologies). If you recall, it's been in August in the past. It had been scheduled for Sept. 12 this year.
So, now you get to run through both the Bronx *and* Queens in the middle of the hottest months of the year (you might think the NYRR doesn't like those boroughs, though I have to admit I have soft spot for running on the Grand Concourse in the middle of August).
Last year's race change to September came with a snafu, of course.
What's new? A new course that starts at Flushing Meadows (easily accessible by public transportation, the site notes, though obviously no one who wrote that has tried to go from Brooklyn to Queens early on a weekend morning in the midst of subway-work hell. I know this from experience ... hopefully there's a let up.) Blech.
Yes, the race starts at 7 a.m. So if you don't have a car ... double-blech.
It does add a summer half marathon into a relative void (a ton of halfs in Sept. and Oct., which I'll eventually get to). It does mean, however, you only have 7 weeks to train for it.
No course map yet, though if it has half as many turns as past Queens races, it will be welcome.
So what happened in the Sept. calendar? I didn't take copious notes, but it looks like they just removed it from Sept. 12 (according to the cached search I did on Google). No replacement race, if one is even being considered.
The huge downside: I'm not sure when the move was made, since I haven't been monitoring the race schedule closely. For those of you aiming to run all 5 halfs, and had already scheduled a vacation out-of-town in July ... triple-blech.
One final thought: A lot of local runners like focusing on their local halfs (Manhattan, I'd guess being an exception, though if running two-plus loops of Central Park is your game, no problem). By shifting the dates around at the last moment (as has happened with Brooklyn, etc.), it keeps runners from focusing on what, for many, is their "destination" race. Given the fact that the NYC Half has already been set in stone for March 20 next year, why not do the same for the local halfs?
Friday, March 27, 2009
More Half-Asterisked Moves
I've got good news and bad news.
The good news: the Brooklyn Half is not alone in the calendar shenanigans.
The bad news: More calendar shifts for the half marathons
So, the Queens Half is now scheduled for Sept. 20, the same day as the Fifth Avenue Mile (you may actually be able to do both, depending on your speed and your transportation from Queens). Then again, why?
And the Nike Half? Pulled from the schedule for now (it'll be back - there's too much prestige involved here).
Facebook users pointed out both of these things on Wednesday -- whether or not you're a fan of Facebook, it seems right now that the best information about NYRR is coming from their Facebook group (though no responses yet from NYRR.)
No update yet on the Brooklyn Half. Nine weeks to go before the tentative date of May 30.
There's one possible upside here: While *racing* Queens, Grete and Staten Island on three out of four weekends is a mess, the fact that the second and last long NYRR training run was scheduled for Aug. 1 means that people looking for *training races* will have ample opportunity.
I'm hoping that somewhere, whether it's Facebook or in a local newspaper, NYRR will explain the difficulties it's facing in scheduling these races and why these moves. Just pulling them from the calendar or shifting them around: Not cool.
The good news: the Brooklyn Half is not alone in the calendar shenanigans.
The bad news: More calendar shifts for the half marathons
So, the Queens Half is now scheduled for Sept. 20, the same day as the Fifth Avenue Mile (you may actually be able to do both, depending on your speed and your transportation from Queens). Then again, why?
And the Nike Half? Pulled from the schedule for now (it'll be back - there's too much prestige involved here).
Facebook users pointed out both of these things on Wednesday -- whether or not you're a fan of Facebook, it seems right now that the best information about NYRR is coming from their Facebook group (though no responses yet from NYRR.)
No update yet on the Brooklyn Half. Nine weeks to go before the tentative date of May 30.
There's one possible upside here: While *racing* Queens, Grete and Staten Island on three out of four weekends is a mess, the fact that the second and last long NYRR training run was scheduled for Aug. 1 means that people looking for *training races* will have ample opportunity.
I'm hoping that somewhere, whether it's Facebook or in a local newspaper, NYRR will explain the difficulties it's facing in scheduling these races and why these moves. Just pulling them from the calendar or shifting them around: Not cool.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
What Is the Hardest Half?
This question comes up all the time, in various forms or fashion. Today, being Staten Island, I got the question: Is it harder than Brooklyn? And what's the hardest half?
Being the ultimate equivocator, my response: It depends. I haven't run Queens, so can't comment on that, but Staten Island remains my favorite half. I like the combination of rolling hills and flat parts, I love the volunteer and spectator support.
Is it the hardest half? Well, let's think about weather, elevation, your personal shape, etc. Personally, I think running the Bronx half in the dead of summer has been the most difficult in terms of conditions/course/etc. of my races. Then again, while Brooklyn is "mostly flat,'' try competing in sub-freezing temperatures with a headwind. And we're all familiar with the Central Park hills, esp. those in Harlem (and the familiarity helps a lot - I know how to run Central Park, albeit not always with the best results).
One way to look at it is to consider the number of people who finish under 1:30, and then create a percentage based on the overall finishers. (This method has a *ton* of flaws, not the least that Staten Island, because it's the closest in time to the New York Marathon, loses a lot of runners.)
That said, for illustrative purposes only, let's take a look at how the half marathons stack up:
Staten Island: Oct. 12
Finishers: 3624
Sub-1:30: 182
Percentage: 5.02
Queens: Sept. 14
Finishers: 3,059
Sub-1:30: 81
Percentage: 2.65
Brooklyn: May 3
Finishers: 5,832
Sub-1:30: 351
Percentage: 6.02
Bronx: Feb. 14
Finishers: 3,265
Sub-1:30: 164
Percentage: 5.02
Manhattan: Jan. 27
Finishers: 4,994
Sub-1:30: 272
Percentage: 5.45
So based on this, one could argue that the Queens Half was the hardest this year, and Brooklyn was the easiest (or put another way: You had a lot better chance running a faster time at Brooklyn than Queens this year).
Knowing from colleagues about the number of turns on the course, and recalling the weather: 73 degrees, 87 percent humidity, according to the Web site ... Queens this year definitely has an argument for the being the toughest. (And Brooklyn racing conditions were pretty sweet).
As mentioned above, there are tons of holes in this methodology - you'd need to take a look over time, use runners that had the same level of physical fitness, compensate for weather, etc.
It's open for debate, as always. And congrats to everyone who completed at least one of this year's Half Marathon Grand Prix (once a list surfaces for the Brooklyn residents who knocked out all five, I'll post it).
Being the ultimate equivocator, my response: It depends. I haven't run Queens, so can't comment on that, but Staten Island remains my favorite half. I like the combination of rolling hills and flat parts, I love the volunteer and spectator support.
Is it the hardest half? Well, let's think about weather, elevation, your personal shape, etc. Personally, I think running the Bronx half in the dead of summer has been the most difficult in terms of conditions/course/etc. of my races. Then again, while Brooklyn is "mostly flat,'' try competing in sub-freezing temperatures with a headwind. And we're all familiar with the Central Park hills, esp. those in Harlem (and the familiarity helps a lot - I know how to run Central Park, albeit not always with the best results).
One way to look at it is to consider the number of people who finish under 1:30, and then create a percentage based on the overall finishers. (This method has a *ton* of flaws, not the least that Staten Island, because it's the closest in time to the New York Marathon, loses a lot of runners.)
That said, for illustrative purposes only, let's take a look at how the half marathons stack up:
Staten Island: Oct. 12
Finishers: 3624
Sub-1:30: 182
Percentage: 5.02
Queens: Sept. 14
Finishers: 3,059
Sub-1:30: 81
Percentage: 2.65
Brooklyn: May 3
Finishers: 5,832
Sub-1:30: 351
Percentage: 6.02
Bronx: Feb. 14
Finishers: 3,265
Sub-1:30: 164
Percentage: 5.02
Manhattan: Jan. 27
Finishers: 4,994
Sub-1:30: 272
Percentage: 5.45
So based on this, one could argue that the Queens Half was the hardest this year, and Brooklyn was the easiest (or put another way: You had a lot better chance running a faster time at Brooklyn than Queens this year).
Knowing from colleagues about the number of turns on the course, and recalling the weather: 73 degrees, 87 percent humidity, according to the Web site ... Queens this year definitely has an argument for the being the toughest. (And Brooklyn racing conditions were pretty sweet).
As mentioned above, there are tons of holes in this methodology - you'd need to take a look over time, use runners that had the same level of physical fitness, compensate for weather, etc.
It's open for debate, as always. And congrats to everyone who completed at least one of this year's Half Marathon Grand Prix (once a list surfaces for the Brooklyn residents who knocked out all five, I'll post it).
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Queens Half Results are In
A random comment about today’s Queens Half:
82 people broke 1:30 for the half.
Why? Check out these brutal conditions at race start for
In comparison, 351 people ran faster than 1:30 in the Brooklyn Half back in May, when it was 48 degrees and 93% humidity.
Ahh, but how do these compare to the Bronx Half’s, when they were run in the summer (and I confess, I miss the death march down the Grand Concourse):
2005
2004
Running sub-1:30 in any conditions is great. Running it in today’s humid morass (what happened to fall?) is awesome.
Results from today’s race can be found here.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Largest Half Marathons
The August issue of Runners' World contains an ad from Skins that purportedly lists the top half-marathons in the U.S. over the coming year.
Not surprisingly, the ones sponsored by New York Runners appear on the lists - Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Grete's Gallop, More and the Nike Half. One omission is the Queens Half, which had 3,589 finishers last year. It's possible it didn't make the cut - it's also possible that because NYRR has been messing around with the date, Skins didn't immediately see it on the schedule.
Not surprisingly, the ones sponsored by New York Runners appear on the lists - Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Grete's Gallop, More and the Nike Half. One omission is the Queens Half, which had 3,589 finishers last year. It's possible it didn't make the cut - it's also possible that because NYRR has been messing around with the date, Skins didn't immediately see it on the schedule.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Queens Half Scheduled
With minimal fanfare, the Queens Half has been added to the NYRR scheduled - it now takes place on Sept. 14, the same weekend as the scheduled NYRR Long Distance training run.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Staten Island Half Schedule Change?
Again, this may have happened a while ago, though I'm just noticing this now. Was planning my fall race schedule and happened to go to the NYRR Calendar site to reconfirm the date of the Staten Island Half.
Lo and behold, the date has been moved and, rather than the weekend of Sept. 14, it's now the weekend of Oct. 12 (where it has usually been run). The Queens Half, which was tentatively on the schedule for August, isn't on the schedule right now.
Right now, that means it's the same weekend as the Westchester Half and Marathon, the Hartford Marathon and the Albany Marathon, giving runners plenty of options.
Lo and behold, the date has been moved and, rather than the weekend of Sept. 14, it's now the weekend of Oct. 12 (where it has usually been run). The Queens Half, which was tentatively on the schedule for August, isn't on the schedule right now.
Right now, that means it's the same weekend as the Westchester Half and Marathon, the Hartford Marathon and the Albany Marathon, giving runners plenty of options.
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