The AirBNB Brooklyn Half Marathon is organized by the NYRR and they do a fantastic job. It's the world's largest half with over 26,000 finishers. After signing up in January, I still couldn't figure out logistics of getting my bib, getting to the race etc. The NYRR site has plenty of suggestions and of course I listened to none of them.. You must pick up your bib in Brooklyn at their pre-race party expo which is fantastic but a pain in the ass to get to.
Race day, they said there is NO PARKING near the start at Prospect Park and they are right... zero parking, street or otherwise and I left my house at 4:45a for a 6a corral and a 7a start.
Next year I'll park in NYC and subway out to the park. I ended up jogging about 1.5 miles to the start after parking so far away, bag check was 1/2 a mile away from the start, security check then into the corral.
Each corral held about 1000 runners, luckily I was Wave 1 and in the 2nd corral (thanks to registering early)
Port-a-pottys were lined up for a mile and there was still lines 30 deep. Get there early people!!
Once I took care of THAT business, I grabbed a piece of the tape at the front of the corral and waited for 30 minutes for the start. They then collapsed the corrals and we walked to the actual start 100m or so. Slight chaos with people rushing to the front... A few speeches and then the air horn. It took about 40 seconds to cross the start. Not too bad.
The first mile is jockeying for position and trying not to get tripped up. You then find yourself in Prospect park for some loopy miles. Water stations are well laid out and easy to access. There aren't really any hills on the entire course so it's easy to fly through the first 5-6 miles.
After exiting the park around mile 6, you find yourself on Ocean Parkway for a straight shot to Coney Island. It's kinda awesome and yet kinda like you'll never ever get to the finish line mirage. When you make it to the pier and you know the finish isn't far off. It's a quick turn and its about 300m to the finish line.
They have a long chute with medals, fruit, water/gatorade people ready to apply medical. You just keep stumbling through and you are dumped into a huge parking lot with your baggage on the other side.
Baggage is a bit more mayhem. About 1000 bags per truck, and everyone at your truck shows up simultaneously. It's like getting the last bits of bread at a communist market. Everyone is screaming their bib # and pushing, shoving. Just what you need at the end of 13.1 It's about 20 minutes of that non-sense and you're done.
If you can muster the energy, you can join the post-race festivities or head out to the boardwalk and get a beer. Which is what I did.
Overall I'd say this is a great race for those that want to accomplish their first 13.1 or even set a PB. It's an event for sure.
The medal is very nice and the New Balance Tech T is maybe the best I've ever gotten at a race.