It's big, it's loud, and it's a blast. What a great way to see the city! This course is an excellent way to utilize the point-to-point strategy and I loved being able to run through all 5 boroughs. The fan support here rivals Boston with each borough trying to one-up its neighbor; it's pretty much loud the whole way. The bridges can be challenging, but I think the route, overall, is excellent. Finishing in Central Park, on a nice day in the fall, is a memorable experience I'll never forget. I will say counting down the blocks until you enter Central Park is a psychological beat down that late in the race, but it also facilitates the creation of small goals. The volunteer support throughout the course is terrific, and the finishing walk to leave the race (which is quite a substantial distance) is lined with cheering volunteers. Loved it!

The race isn't perfect, however. The start area is fine, although there's a fair amount of waiting around. That didn't bother me as much as the fact that you have to get into the corrals super early (close to an hour before the start, if I remember correctly). Then, it's a walk to the start, but it's really a free-for-all, and people in the slower corrals moved their way up into A. What a mess! As a result, we were dodging significantly slower runners, and even some walkers, who somehow made their way to the front. This lead to a frustratingly slow first mile. But what a cool view flying down the bridge with the city in the background!

While it's not a particularly pretty course, as far as nature is concerned, I'll emphasize again how cool it was that it managed to make it's way through different parts of the city while still ending in beautiful Central Park.

This wasn't my fastest race, but it's one of my favorites. Hands down.