Lincoln Tunnel 5K Race Recap!

Lincoln Tunnel 5K Challenge
April 25, 2010
No Garmin because it didn't work inside the tunnel!

Official Time: 20:16 (Chip Time: 20:13)
Pace: 6:31
In a Word (phrase): Thank God for the tunnel!

Stats:
59th Overall
5/943 Females
3rd Place Age Group

Weather:
*46 degrees and down pouring

This was my 3rd time running the Lincoln Tunnel Challenge. Every time I tell someone (usually a non-runner) that the run goes through the tunnel they look at me in shock and ask how you breathe down there. The race is actually really fun (and yes you can breathe completely fine!). They close one tube of the tunnel down and break the group into two heats. When you register you indicate if you plan to run under 25 minutes. These people are in the first heat.

The race started at 8am so my dad picked me up at 6:30 and we planned to stop at Panera for bagels, but they were closed! I started to worry because I hadn't eaten anything, knowing we were going to stop, I just had coffee. Luckily, my dad had a couple of GUs in his bag so we each had one of those. Not the most nutritious breakfasts ever but at least it was energy.

The bad news about this race was that the weather was horrible. Cold, rainy, all around miserable. The good thing was the race itself was through the tunnel. Of all races for it to rain, this was definitely the one I would choose. I was so thankful that we got beautiful weather for Saturday's race and the crappy weather this one! Unfortunately, even though we didn't really warm up much, we still had to stand around before the race started and were soaked by the time the gun went off. People were troopers though. A little more than 2,000 people finished the race in all. I think last year closer to 3,000 ran.

The mile splits were not marked in the tunnel, but I started my watch for time and lapped it at the halfway point (the NY side of the tunnel) and again when I saw a sign that said one mile to finish. It was obviously a pretty fast course with the start going down under the river and back up again about halfway through and of course the reverse going back. I beat last year's time by 6 seconds so I was happy.

After the race the rain felt great for about 5 minutes and then it was just cold. We each grabbed a banana and some water and headed to the car to change, planning on going back for the awards ceremony. Once we got to my warm, heated car I did not want to walk back up to the awards site. We still had to wait for the second heat to finish and I kept remembering last year how they took foreverrrr to do awards and I convinced my dad I didn't have to stay. At this point I didn't even know if I won anything and at that point a shower = much more rewarding. When the results were posted a few hours later I saw that I did place 3rd in my age group. Oh well, I stand by my decision :) I usually love hanging out after races but I just can't take the cold rain. Overall, it was a great race, for a great cause and I had a blast.

Here are some pics:

Warming up in the car after the race
Dad's Stats:
22:47
7:20 pace
7th Age group

My bib...I swear I have shorts on

Cute shirt, but very similar to the last couple of years...

I hope you like race reports because I am scheduled to race every weekend in May except for one!