A clear brisk 40° NYC metropolis race to the NYC Marathon Finish Line inside Central Park. I held my speed back at start and ran a faster 7:52 min/mile official pace for a 5k PR!

Well attended, 7000 runners came to run the last leg of next day's NYC Marathon course.  This event certainly draws upon marathon fever, giving short course participants a glimpse of the NYCM celebration.  It is particularly nice to finish in central park running by flags from all over the word.  You get a feel for the scope and draw of the world’s most desirable running event.

I made a special effort to start the 5k at a conservative 8 minute per mile pace.  Pace management race time is always a challenge.  The event excitement itself easily draws you right into race pace, if not an overzealous effort.  By the 2nd mile I improved my pace 30 seconds per mile and had enough reserve to conclude the race with no substantial pace degradation.  I finished strong.  While I can’t be sure if it was more about my pace strategy or overall conditioning, but I achieved another PR and delivered a sub 8 minute per mile 5k race pace.

It is worthy to note that the weather was cool but pleasant for racing.  I also ran 2 miles pre-race for warmup, if not for transportation logistics. What’s more I ran another two miles post race to make my NYCM volunteer check-in just after the 5k race finish.  4 hours after that, I made my final dash to Penn station, for a total of 8.5 miles on the day. I guess I confess I like to pack a busy schedule; the ways to run, live long and be fit!