In April I ran the MORE/FITNESS/SHAPE Women's Half-Marathon. I'm thinking they should shorten the name for next year - it's a mouthful! This is an awesome race because it's only for women. Over 7,000 women ran the race and I have to say, it was really amazing to watch women cheering on other women during the race. There were also tons of men on the sidelines cheering on the women in their lives - it was so sweet :) One awesome guy that stood out was holding a sign that said "I Love Fast Women!" (this is totally my humor, LOL). The weather was absolutely PERFECT! Sunny skies, not a lot of wind and only 54 degrees.

I got a bit of a late start to the race. I actually started the race after the walkers crossed the finish line so I felt like I was playing a game of Frogger for the first 3 miles. I was really flustered by having to start late so I didn't remember to start my GPS watch, so that sucked. I'm pretty sure I went out way too fast for the first 3 miles but I was just trying to get into a good rhythm.

The coolest thing during the entire race happened around mile 3. The race is two loops around Central Park so chances are you will see the elites/faster runners pass you at some point during the race. The volunteers on the course told us to move to the left to make room for the elites on the right. I turned my head and who do I see... Deena Kastor! It was surreal and so amazing to witness her running in person. The look of determination on her face was pretty cool. I wish I could have gotten a photo but she was moving way too fast! She ended up winning the race with an awesome time (of course!)

As with every race in Central Park, the rolling hills are no joke. Once you hit a downhill, it seems like another little hill pops up! There is one really long hill as well. I'm always able to run all the hills on the first loop but by the second loop I run out of energy.

This race was put on by NYRR and they always have very well organized races. All of the volunteers were so friendly and helpful. Great post-race spread as well - bagels, apples, water, pretzels, etc. I think there were more food options over by the bandshell in Central Park but I didn't walk over to that section.

My only complaint with this race is the timing chip issue. As I said earlier, I got a late start so the time showing on the website is the actual start time, not my chip time. I've contacted NYRR and they are unable to change it. I don't 100% agree with this, especially if I was wearing a bib and both my feet hit the starting mat. The system should have recognized my bib and therefore give an accurate finish time. Considering I didn't use my watch, I'm just guessing that my time is about 20 minutes less than what is on the website, but it would be great to have a more accurate number. Not a huge deal by any means, but just annoying.

I also think the price of this race is a little too high considering they eliminated the expo.

The swag for the race was great - Awesome fitted cotton t-shirt and the medal was gorgeous. I would do this race again.