Before the race: the cold drove away the butterflies

Actually, not bad running weather. The starting corals were in the sun and, tightly packed, most people were sheltered from the wind. However, not knowing this, the logistics of timing your bag drop/paring down, and getting to the corals before the start was a mystery. By the time I got to my section, it was packed. Even though I was in the first coral, it took 23 seconds to cross the starting line. Not a problem because the race was scored on chip time, you say. I say the pack was moving so slowly beyond the starting line due to my starting positon, that I lost a significant amount of time due to runner density. On a 4 mile race, 4 seconds means one second off your pace. 40 seconds is a 10 second pace difference. OTOH, if you are prone to go out too fast, this scenario might be just what the doctor ordered.

Oh well, the bright winter sun was never in the runners' eyes as we never ran to the east. I hadn't run in Central Park since the marathon finish. Every time I race here I am impressed how lucky we are to have this resource.