The NYC Running Blog

NYRR has changed the name of the Park to Park race to the NYRR Dash & Splash.  This 10K race is taking place on June 13th and concludes with a dip in Lasker Pool in Central Park.

The NYRR Team Championships has been moved to Saturday August 8th on the New York Road Runners calendar.  As previously reported, this change was made to accomodate the NYC Half Marathon, which was moved to August 16th, the same weekend that the Team Championships was previously scheduled.

Here are four races taking place this weekend in New York City:

• Saturday (4/18): Concern for Hunger 4-mile Fun Run/Walk in Central Park
• Sunday (4/19): 2nd Annual Lend-A-Hand India 5K Run/Walk at Riverside Park & 116th Street
• Sunday (4/19): JFK Runway Run 5K at JFK Airport in Queens
• Sunday (4/19): NYRR’s Seventh Annual Run as One Presented by JPMorgan Chase 4 miler in Central Park (registration is still open for this NYC Marathon qualifier)

And just outside the city:

• Saturday (4/18): Hudson County Improvement Authority’s Earth Day 2009 5K Run/Walk at Libery State Park (PDF Application & Race Details, Active.com Registration)

In a tweet from NYRR:

The NYC Half is ON. August 16. Mark your calendar for May 1 though—registration will open in early May, first come, first served.

The NYRR calendar now reflects this date, but the Team Championships are still listed as taking place on August 15th.

UPDATE 4/15/09: It has been confirmed that registration will open Friday, May 1st and will be open on a first come, first served basis:

More NYC Half news! Registration will be available on May 1 and is confirmed first come, first served.

In an e-mail to running team leaders on Thursday, Mary Wittenberg wrote that the Club Team Championships would be moved up one week to Saturday, August 8th to accommodate the NYC Half Marathon, which will be taking place Sunday, August 16th.  According to the e-mail, August 16th “is the date that works for the City” for the NYC Half Marathon.

7,603 runners finished the Homecoming Scotland Run 10K this morning. Below is a round up of race reports and forum threads.  Please leave a comment if you have a race report you’d like to see included in the list.

• NYRR official results
• RunWestchester
• Mrs. Duffy’s Marathon Blog
• The Adventures of Cowboy Hazel
• Photos from Donald Bowers
• movingdogward
• Facebook discussion
• Runner’s World forum discussion
• Running NYC and Beyond
• News 12 Blog
• Will Run for Change
• Run, Matt Boy, Run
• Message from Mzungo
• Brandon’s Marathon

The Brooklyn Paper is reporting that the Brooklyn Half Marathon will indeed start in Prospect Park and end in Coney Island, giving the area a much-needed “shot in the arm:”

For the first time, the Brooklyn Half Marathon will end, rather than begin, at the famed Boardwalk in attempt to “stimulate the economic impact in the area” that has fallen on tough times, said Meghan Chisholm, a spokeswoman for the New York Road Runners Club.

Mary Wittenberg posted a message the following message to the New York Road Runners Facebook group:

It is complicated this year due to the construction on the board walk. stay tuned but the idea is to start in prospect park and end at coney island. idea is a better runner course – hills out of the way early and to drive traffic to coney island. hoping it will be lots of fun for people and families and friends can join post race. and, next year, with a reconstructed board walk, the course should be that much better.
Thanks for your patience and thanks to our event team and our city partners who all worked hard on this. the course changes and date changes required extensive coordination, but full sign off is near enough for us to post registration. we think it will be worth the wait. very best, mary

Universal Sports has an interesting interview with the race directors of the three U.S. marathons that are a part of the World Marathon Majors. Included in that group is Mary Wittenberg, race director of the New York City Marathon. In the interview, she discusses promoting elite athletes, rising entry fees, appearance fees and prize money.

Last night on the NYRR Facebook group, Mary Wittenberg wrote that the capacity for the 2009 New York City Marathon might be higher than last year. She said that the “current plan is slightly higher than last year at approximately 42,000.”