Typically, I try to avoid the end of the year races because I hate running in cold weather. Unfortunately, I always screw up during year and I have to run this race to qualify for my 9+1 entry into the the NYC Marathon.

In this race, you will take two loops through Central Park - 4 miles for the first loop and 5.2 miles for the second loop. This year there was a chance that the race was going to be cancelled due to a snow storm, but the NYRR was very diligent in updating the runners by 5:30 am (three hours before the start of the race). I secretly wanted to the race to be cancelled and just get the 9+1 credit but that was not the case. There were a little under five thousand finishers this year and the cold weather definitely made for some PRs. The first two miles of the race were a little annoying, because the pack was very congested. Like normal, I believe some runners were in the wrong corrals. I do not know why people do not go to higher corrals if they are injured or know that they will walk most of the race.

The post race was the typical sort - bagels, apples, water, and a see you next year. Oh, this year, finishers were provided with heating sheets, which I never can wrap properly. Since this race is a 15K, it is a great way to gauge where you are and what training you need to do for the NYRR Fred Lebow Manhattan Half in January or the United Airlines NYC Half in March

I will state a few pros and cons with this Half. Granted that these cons may be issues with the Rock n Roll organization rather the race's location.

Pros:

1) It's laid back, compared to the multiple security checks associated with the NYC marathon.
2) The course is mostly flat (except for a few hills near the end) and you get to run through places that most tourists don't visit.
3) The post-race goodie bag was amazing - two apples, juice, some version of Gatorade, water, tomato juice (yuck), and yogurt.
4) The bands, singers, and dancing groups along the course were pretty awesome.

Cons:

1) The corral assignments were a mess. This could be due to people putting in incorrect finish times in their registration. Many people were walking within the first mile for the half, yet their corral numbers were lower than mine. I was supposed to be in corral 4.
2) You don't see too much of the city for the half, because most of the race is the two islands, Iles Sainte-Helene and Notre Dame.
3) Baggage pick up was a mess. It took about 50 minutes to get my bag.
4) I kind of wished that the post-race festival started earlier. I guess the main party/music fest started after the full marathon, but I wanted to hear some music...It is a Rock n Roll event.

Race report:

Miles 0-4:

This portion mainly took us around Île Sainte-Hélène with notable sites being a Six Flags park (La Ronde) and the Biosphère. The crowd was pretty slim during this part, but most of the runners were excited about the run. Plus, there were some awesome bands along the route. It's interesting that the bands and singers were from Montreal but most of them were singing English rock songs from the States. I was expecting to hear more French-Canadian rock music during the race.

Miles 5-9:

Islands #2 and #3. This portion of the race took us through the second and third islands, île Notre Dame and Montreal itself (yes, Montreal is an island). I will say that this probably was the most boring part of the race because there were hardly any spectaculars during this portion. On Île Notre Dame, there were nice views of Montreal and Île Saine Hèléne ... I think that we passed a casino. Getting into Montreal was a bit of a struggle because the main bridge, Pont de la Concorde, was not completely shut down for the race. This meant that we were squeezed into a small space across the bridge, so it was a little hard to maintain your pace. Plus, there were spectators and a couple of injured runners on the bridge and that made it a little difficult to navigate. I hope the injured folks did not get trampled.

It was at this point when I realized that I could do a sub-2-hour Half even with my ankle injury.  I was a little sad that there were not massive crowds to cheer us on once we hit Montreal. I was expecting something like the crowds in NYC's marathon when you cross the Queensboro Bridge and enter Manhattan. It was kind of nice to run through the outskirts of the Old Montreal, but there was not too much interesting scenery.

Miles 10 - 13.1

This is where things got a little interesting and tough. This portion pretty much brought us through the village (Le Village) to the finish, Parc La Fontaine. It is funny how right at mile 10, we made a left and BAM a big ass hill. Okay, I guess it was not that big but it was annoying. This is where the race became a little fun because we got to see different neighborhoods, it was a little more festive than the first 2/3rds of the race. Plus the pink "stones" in the gay village were kind of cool.

The finish was a little tricky because after mile 12 most races will have half or quarter mile markers. Yes, everyone has Garmins, Fitbits, and Apple Watches but my Fitbit overcompensates my mileage by 1/4-1/2 of a mile. Basically, I did not know when to do my final push. However, I was not too upset about it.

OMG, if I were doing the full marathon, I would be so upset to see this. Basically, you know that you still have another 13.1 miles (and more hills) to go but the half-marathoners are almost done.

The finish was pretty congested and a little disorganized but "traffic" was flowing. I mentioned the issues that I had with baggage claim.