Race Recap: Kostas Tsigaridis at Ted Corbitt

Who would have thought of this, 10 years ago. Or even more. But yet, here I am, drafting a blog post about a 15K race, as a proud member of my favorite community in New York City: North Brooklyn Runners. This race, among many others in the past, and hopefully in the future, serves as the stepping stone towards my first marathon, scheduled initially for 2020, and now rescheduled for 2022. Unless you were on another planet during the last couple years, I don’t have to explain why the 2020 marathon did not actually happen.

I was born in Greece, a little less than a half century ago, and throughout my childhood I had three major dreams, one of which was running-related: I wanted to finish the marathon. Being Greek back then meant that the only form of exercise is soccer, so running was not a thing. Even more, the only marathon that even exists in Greeks’ minds is the classic one, from the town of Marathon to the center of Athens. How little I knew!

Long story short, I moved in New York in 2008, and a little less than a decade ago I made my move out of Manhattan and landed to Greenpoint. Soon thereafter I joined NBR, as a rookie runner that has never ran more than a mile in his life without panting like a dog. There was no marathon in the plan, I simply knew that I absolutely loved running and wanted to get better at it. Busy as most of us are I was not able to be a very active member, but tried to join the group runs and plyo now and then, while running on my own semi-consistently. With patience and work, as well as some (inevitable?) minor injuries, I am now a proud middle-of-the-pack runner that has a story to say.

NYRR Ted Corbitt 15K, 2021. There is nothing special to say about my training. It has been mostly random over the years, and at times with a plan. I have a plan these days, which helps a whole lot. Like most people probably, I too have a ritual to perform before any race: pick up my bib, try to take it easy the few days before the race, eat my pasta the day before, wake up early on race day, and show up on time. Also, I always plan ahead of a race strategy and then never follow it, and this race was no exception. The plan to run 3x5K at a progressive pace was not even attempted.

So for the 2021 Ted Corbitt 15K, I jogged over Pulaski bridge, took the subway, landed in Central Park, jogged a little more there, and was in my D corral on time. Sigh, so crowded! Better mask up. After the standard formalities from NYRR officials, and an anthem without singing (why??), the horn blows, and off we go! Let’s keep the mask on until it gets less crowded. The weather is perfect, so a minor inconvenience is no big deal.

The race starts flat and quickly goes downhill, and then immediately hits the worst slope of the park (if you ask me), right next to the boathouse. I don’t love the Harlem hill, nobody does, but I think it is not as hard as this one, go figure why. Knowing that we’ll be back here after mile 5, I felt like going up really slowly, and then catch up on my time in the downhill behind it. THAT was the time I won the race. Right there, half a mile in. Other than boosting my confidence, it was a great thing to do, and then repeat it during every other Central Park hill.

With the weather being perfect, probably on the cool side, the number of layers on me being the right number, and some good training the couple months before, I was surprised to notice that I was hitting 8mm pace, instead of 8:15-8:30 that was my goal. My pulse was low, I was not feeling tired at all, and so decided to keep going like this. Why slow down when you can do that later, if needed? I was not aiming for a PR, I wasn’t ready for it, so I only had to enjoy myself and do my best. I thought to myself, as long as I feel I am running just a tad faster than a conversational pace, I should keep going, without caring what my watch was saying.

A few miles down, maybe right before looping and turning south, I passed by Jen. I always enjoy cheering at NBR runners, but even more when I actually know the person by name, and it is not just a random NBR singlet! Speaking of which, an anonymous NBRior overtook me soon after that. Never saw him again, disappeared ahead, well done! It felt a little lonely compared to other races, few NBR runners, at least around my pace. Probably low participation, who knows. Anyway, hill after hill, I kept on my spontaneous race strategy of taking easy the hills and accelerating downhill, and even enhanced it by keeping the fast pace when flat. Don’t think of any major pacing differences, slow was probably 8:30mm or faster and fast was 7:30 at most.

One of the things I love in races is the random signs that people carry with them. The more humorous, the better. Right at the corner of 72nd street on the west side, where on loop 2 we were to turn left to the finish line, I saw a great one: “I like to watch”. To my astonishment, it was a fellow NBR runner, Shawn, cheering on me! Yay! If you ever thought that cheering for a race simply damages your voice, you couldn’t be more wrong. The adrenaline boost runners get during a race from people around is enormous, and it multiples 10-fold when you are being addressed, personally. Shawn yelled something like “see you later”, or “see you on the second loop”, or something like that. I kid you not, that made me look forward to it, and I had it in my mind for the remaining of the race. And boy I needed that!

I was not feeling tired yet, but fatigue was accumulating. The promised Gatorade on mile 3 was inaccurate (it was on mile 5.5 instead) and water was not refreshing enough. The second time of the boathouse hill was harder. It was then that my random idea to accelerate in the last 5K was abandoned. I had counted 3 hills on the west side, the third one being the toughest, so decided to speed up right after it. I believe I succeeded on that. And then it was the sharp left before the finish line. I was actively looking for Shawn, and there she is, in a new spot, cheering on me again! I gave her a big smile, and she shouted back something like “yes, keep smiling!”. That did it.

The last 300m of the race were a clean 7mm pace. I was speaking to myself, cheering on me, until I crossed the 15K line. I had never accelerated in a race in the past when the finish line was in front of my eyes, I never had the energy to do so, but this time was different. And here I am, with an official time of 1:13:59, a more than 1.5 minutes PR. What a pleasant surprise! The cherry on top? I was 3rd place in Men’s Masters for NBR, first time in the podium. OK, we were only four competing for the three positions, but hey, does it even matter? Podium it is, the victory is complete.

It was not my best race ever when combining performance and feel, the Brooklyn Half of 2019 is hard to be championed, but it was certainly top 3, with a Washington Heights 5K one being the third of my favorites. With my eyes and mind fixed on the first Sunday of November 2022, I now plan to keep improving, and cross that marathon line for the first time. No matter whether you will be running, volunteering, or cheering, I will be looking for you. I will be needing you. Before that time comes, I’ll be seeing you at the bins!

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Race Recap: Liz Shea at CIM 2021

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December Runner of the Month: Caroline Linder McNeill