NYRR Run for the Parks AKA Run for Boston

Yesterday I participated in my first race since the Boston Marathon bombing.  I had no qualms or hesitations going into the race.  I was happy that NYRR planned to honor Boston with "I run for Boston" back pins, a black ribbon, t-shirts, and a moment of silence before hand.  I  and countless other runners will not fear stop us from doing what we love.   NYRR made changes of course in how the race would be set up.  No longer can we check any kind of bag.  We had to pack our belongings in a clear plastic bag with a label affixed with our bib numbers.   There were new security check points through which your bags were searched.  I made sure to arrive early on race day so that I would not encounter any delays.  While waiting in front of baggage check a reporter from 1010 Wins came up to us and asked our opinions about the added security measures.  I told her I welcomed them, and that I had no apprehensions coming into the race.

 Baggage check was in Rumsey play field and was painless.  The woman for sung the National Anthem was a Bostonian, she broke down crying near the end which broke tears to my eyes.  The race began to "Sweet Caroline" playing on the speakers.  There were tons of runners present for the race "Grey and brown bibs" were used.   Knowing this I planned to run according to flow of the runners. I was in the purple corral and was not going go dodging in and out of people.  Surprisingly things flowed well.   I only went around people who slowed down directly in front of me.  Thankfully I didn't get any elbows like at Coogan's.   I felt good and kept a nice sub 10:00 pace.   I was just under my personal best 5 K pace.  I finished in 38:20 for overall pace of 9:35.   I had originally planned to run an additional 4 miles after to keep with my long run total for day of 8 miles but it was cold so I went straight home.  I planned to do 4 miles later on in Prospect Park at an easy pace (which I did do).    One week to the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington D.C.   I am excited and hoping that the weather will be great.  A lot of the course is the same as the Cherry Blossom so I will enjoy this again.