2009 terry ryan memorial 10k: race report

the 8th annual terry memorial 10k race was my second race of the day, on the heels of the nyrr cross country championships 5k in van cortlandt park that morning. emmy and i had an easy drive from van cortlandt park to hastings and met rob when we reached the high school. last year the three of us car pooled to the race, but rob skipped the trip into the city for the 5k this time around. tom also made the trip from van cortlandt and then ran the 5k in hastings.

before the race, i met my old wtc teammates, gregg and mark, and my current trrc teammate, tom, all of whom were in the 5k. then i ran into ned in street clothes, who wasn't in either race. he was there to cheer on his hometown event and then had to go to work. ned ran the 5k last year - and who i recently ran into at the athlete's village on staten island earlier this month at the nyc marathon. hard to believe there was actually a race with that much socializing :D

the 10k course is a double loop of the 5k. there is one notable hill (long climb is more precise) which follows the portion of the yonkers marathon course. the marathoners run down the hill (north) while we climb it (south). there are some good views of the hudson river along this stretch. however, the most notable moment along this road wasn't the incline - but the pair of deer that ran across my path during the second loop!! that sighting fit van cortlandt park more easily than the roads of hastings (even as bucolic as they are)!

i ran the first 5k in 21:50, almost 30 seconds slower than it took me to run the same loop last year (21:17). i had no particular time goal in mind, but though i could finish the race in about 43 minutes. i ran the second loop in 21:06, roughly 40 seconds slower than 2008 (20:25), and finished in 43:06 - well off my 2008 41:42. as i pointed out in last year's race report, the 10k course is short (closer to 6 miles instead of a full 6.2 miles) - because it doesn't retrace the entire 5k loop a second time.

all in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon!

here are my race photos.

here are some 2008 race photos.