This race is about 10 minutes from where I live. It's in Flushing Meadow Park. And while the race cost is cheap, the shirt was great and the medal is awesome (every medal should also open bottles), this race has some issues.

This isn't necessarily an issue, but there are no corrals for this race. Sometimes that works out better, sometimes it doesn't. You have to just kind of guestimate where belong at the start.

If you're looking to do a race in Queens, specifically Flushing Meadow Park, there are other, better options to choose from. This race is 2 laps around the park, which is not my issue. And with the exception of the occasional overpass, the course is flat. If you're looking for a race to do and just get it over with, this is it.

However, if you're looking for a race to enjoy, this is NOT it. For starters, the race is in March. In March, nothing is Flushing Meadow Park is in bloom. It's dismal and depressing. All the plant life is asleep and so you have nothing to look at. Nothing. (Again, I've run here in the spring, such a difference in your surroundings.)

Aside from the lack of aesthetics, there's a lack of safety. The park has plenty of roads that take you around, yet, for some reason, a significant number of times on the course, they have you run up and down over curbs to cut across corners of these roads. If you're running and not careful (or accident prone like me), you could easily hurt yourself. Not to mention, the condition of the roads isn't always spot on. Unlike NYRR which had volunteers and/or cones to indicate potholes in the roads to avoid injury, there was no one there to help you.

Overall, this race is lacking. It's cheap, so it's not so bad, but there's nothing to look at, which works out well since you need to spend the entire race looking at the ground to make sure you don't hurt yourself. This isn't the worst race, but there are better races at this location.