The UAE 10k race was a pretty tough and unpleasant run for me but I chose it as one of my qualifying races. It takes place in the end of May, which is hit or miss temperature-wise. Race day ended up being ridiculously hot and humid.

The bf picked up the bib for me at NYRR; he said it was pretty quick but that it was just bare bones as usual. The t-shirts are tech (woohoo) but uni-sex (boo) and is a dark green color that is not very appealing.

I had no problems with getting to Central Park on race day via MTA. The start line was on the West Side and the course made its way up the park and around to the east side. I think this route is hillier than starting on the east side, but that's just according to my calves. Aside from the rolling hills of Central Park causing me trouble, the race started at 9:00am. This would normally be awesome for runners that like sleeping in, except for the fact it was extremely hot and humid already at this time. This made for a difficult run. There were plenty of aid stations though to rehydrate and two greatly appreciated water hydrants spraying water to cool down.

I wasn't expecting a finisher medal for this run and was surprised to receive one. Post run refreshments included hard pretzels and apples.