Race Report: Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run 4M (Copy)

DATE: June 25, 2022; 8:30 am (my birthday)

DISTANCE: 4 MI

PLACE: Manhattan (Central Park), NY

WEATHER: 71 DEGREES, 76% HUMIDITY, CALM WIND

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: Who cares? / who cares

FINISHERS: 7,202

SWAG: Tank top, rainbow bagels, rainbow popsicles

Quick Stats:

Courtesy of NYRR

Summary:

Who's got PRIDE? We've got pride. I guess this really is not an actual report, but more of a brief summary.

 
 

Another year, another Pride Run 4 mi (it used to be 5 mi) - a race sponsored by NYRR and Front Runners NY (FRNY, one my running groups). This was going to be a simple race just to get back into the flow of things before starting my NYC Marathon training program on Monday.

 
 

While the expo was nice and pretty straight to the point, it gave me a chance to check out Industry City, which has been described as a creative workspace where folks can eat, drink, shop, and explore. After I picked up my race stuff, I figured that I would check out all (or most of) what Industry City had to offer.

Overall, I went into the race without any real goals or major accomplishments to achieve since this was my first race since April. My mental state for this race was to run/jog/walk for the sake of having fun. I will say that it did feel nice to kinda-sorta race. In fact, I woke up extra early (y'all know that's rare for me on race days) so I could walk and jog to the start. For the actual race, I cycled between running and walking 0.5 mi.

A couple of things that make you go hmmmmm:

When technology fails

Has this happened to anyone with an Apple watch? For Saturday's race, I decided to do a very easy jog from a local park in my neighborhood to the race's start (about 4 miles). I started my watch at W120 street, but it did not start registering my mileage until E 96th Street. The distance between these two points is about 1.5 miles. I hope that might watch is not on the fritz; I wonder if it means it's time to upgrade to a new Apple Watch. Perhaps, that could be a birthday gift to me.

My LGBT+ running group

Not sure if this is snow or snot.

As part of the FRNY Pride Run tradition, we take a team photo after the race (below).

 
 

In addition to the large group photo, the club takes pictures of the smaller subgroups within the club (eg the various subcommittees, gay Asians, gay Latinos, women, non-binary, etc.). So someone asked me if I was going to do the Black gays photo. To which, I was like which Blacks? Is it just going to be me in the photo? I later learned that there were about 8 Black members in the Black team member photo. Before you ask why I was not in that photo, I did not near the president announce our photo because I was on the phone with a couple of folks who were wishing me a happy birthday. Eh next time . . . I guess. While this sounds like a rant, which I do not mean to do. I will say the group has been working on its DEI efforts.

A little post-race fun:

While waiting for the husband to meet me at a local spot for brunch, I treated myself to a refreshing screwmosa (vodka + mimosa).

In terms of birthday celebrations, it was pretty chill . . . just like I wanted it to be. After brunch, we went to a wine bar, watched Jurassic World: Dominion, went to a friend's wedding reception in Brooklyn Park, then had dinner. Oh, we went home and continued my Jaws marathon. Random trivia: Every year around my birthday, I watch Jaws and its sequels. Oh (part II), I was a bit disappointed with Jurassic World, and I hope this is the last one. Also, in this day in age, no action movie needs to be longer than two hours.

Pride Run Playlist: