The NYC Running Blog

Over 9,500 runners crossed the finish line for the 2009 Brooklyn Half Marathon, over 60% more than last year’s Brooklyn Half.  Brooklyn Running has a lot of great coverage of the event.

• rundangerously race report, photos
• The Adventures of Cowboy Hazel
• Live to Run – Run to Live race report
• The Running Laminator race report
• Brandon’s Marathon race report
• Mozzer Confessionals race report
• movingdogward race report
• eastcoastwestcoast race report
• Sica Here race report
• Enjoy Patrick Responsibly race report
• Hangry Pants race report
• Runnin’ Down a Dream race report
• Runner, Knitter, MTA Rider +250mg Sarcastic Humor
• New York Barefoot Runner race report
• scoops the blog race report
• What You Do Not Know Because You Are Not Me race report
• futurebird’s race report
• One Runners World race report with photos
• Julia and Will in Brooklyn, NY race photos
• The Long Road to the 2009 NYC Marathon race report
  
• mostly about running race report
• My Amazing Race race report
• Elevene race report
• Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn race coverage

Feedback on the new course:

“even factoring in the crowded park at the start, the general consensus was the revised course was great!” – rundangerously

“I’d assumed the park would be hell, to tell the truth. Hills are hard, of course, and now we’d have overlapping runners for two full laps and a few hundred yards of a third, plus all the regular park-goers crossing the road. Turns out, it wasn’t too bad.” – Live to Run – Run to Live

“we had a steady downhill slope to the beach, rather than the steady uphill – - excellent improvement!” -eastcoastwestcoast

“I really like half marathons and the run TO Coney Island, albeit a bit dull along Ocean Blvd., was a much better course than the other way around.” -Elevene

The National Weather Service is forecasting a somewhat warm weekend for running in New York City, but luckily it looks like the Brooklyn Half won’t be a wet one.

Saturday:

• NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Brooklyn: It appears that registration is still open for the Brooklyn Half.  Registration and number pickup start today at the Liederkranz Club (6 East 87th Street).  NYRR has posted a heat advisory for this race.
• Reebok Grand Prix in Icahn Stadium

Sunday:

• Japan Day @ Central Park 4M in Central Park: This race is sold out.
• Keep Bravo Running 5K Run [PDF] in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn:  This race benefits Bravo Volunteer Ambulance Service.

View all upcoming races…

NYRR has updated their website indicating that Sunday’s Japan Day 4 Mile has sold out.  However, as of Wednesday morning, Saturday’s  Brooklyn Half Marathon, is still open for in-person registration.

In an update to their website, NYRR has announced that the Brooklyn Half Marathon is nearing registration capacity.  This was previously announced on May 8th, but the announcement was removed from NYRR.org until today.  Runners who want to run this race should register soon.

NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Brooklyn is expected to have a record number of finishers—perhaps almost double—according to a press release from the Brooklyn Borough President’s office:

Registration numbers are expected to reach an all-time record high and race officials anticipate almost double the 2008 finisher total of 5,832.

The full press release, after the jump:
(more…)

With a new race course ending in Coney Island, the Brooklyn Half Marathon is developing into a day-long celebration along the boardwalk.  Not only will over a dozen local businesses offer discounts, but there will also be a post-race festival on the beach and a kids’ race in KeySpan Park.

NYRR has also posted the full course map [PDF] and a revised description to their website.

The Healthy Kidney 10K (5/16) and the Brooklyn Half Marathon (5/30) are nearing registration capacity.

UPDATE: NYRR has removed any mention of the Brooklyn Half Marathon reaching registration capacity from their website.

UPDATE 2: The Japan Day 4 miler is also reaching registration capacity.

NYRR has updated the Brooklyn Half Marathon race page with a course description.  As previously reported, the race starts in Prospect Park and ends in Coney Island, and is approximately the reverse of the previous course.

(via Brooklyn Running)

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