Ted Metellus: This is Becs' and Ted's excellent adventure. We're going to
Ted Metellus: go through and run this race together. Shall we talk
Ted Metellus: about race day, and specifically one small modification that we've
Ted Metellus: made to the start?
Becs Gentry: Welcome to Set the Pace, the official podcast of New York Road
Becs Gentry: Runners presented by Peloton. I'm your host, Becs Gentry, and
Becs Gentry: my New York co- host, Rob Simmelkjaer, is off this
Becs Gentry: week. Filling in for him, I am honored to be
Becs Gentry: joined by New York Road Runners' chief event production officer
Becs Gentry: and race director, Mr. Ted Metellus. Hello, Ted.
Ted Metellus: Becs, how are you? Listeners, how are you?
Becs Gentry: Good. It's so good to see you.
Ted Metellus: I know. It's been awhile.
Becs Gentry: I feel like we go through seasons of seeing each other all the
Becs Gentry: time, and then it gets cold and I disappear.
Ted Metellus: I think everyone is hibernating. And if they're not hibernating,
Ted Metellus: they are bundled up a lot as they're out there
Ted Metellus: on a run.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh, that's me. With my glasses on, hat
Becs Gentry: on, gloves on, snooed up to my nose. I'm in
Becs Gentry: disguise in the runs. But mostly on my tread, let's
Becs Gentry: be quite honest about that. Ted, it has been one
Becs Gentry: heck of a season for New York Road Runners. There
Becs Gentry: has been a lot of interruptions, which we'll talk about
Becs Gentry: shortly. But first and foremost, I want to hear about
Becs Gentry: your most recent trip to the running, I call it
Becs Gentry: paradise. Some people might call it the mecca. I don't
Becs Gentry: know. What would you call it? You're the one who's
Becs Gentry: just gotten back from the most incredible trip.
Ted Metellus: Yes. Yeah. Becs, you're talking about the team's trip to Kenya,
Ted Metellus: where we spent a little bit of time in Nairobi,
Ted Metellus: Eldoret, and Iten. And it was an incredible trip. The team's done
Ted Metellus: a phenomenal job of storytelling through our various channels. I
Ted Metellus: highly recommend folks to go on and take a look
Ted Metellus: at our various platforms. For those who I have a
Ted Metellus: personal and professional relationship with, I posted something on LinkedIn
Ted Metellus: as well to talk about the experience. But it was
Ted Metellus: amazing. That's one short word to describe being able to
Ted Metellus: go to the place that has produced the most champions
Ted Metellus: of the TCS New York City Marathon. I said this
Ted Metellus: while we were there, these runners are not just leading
Ted Metellus: our races, but they're leading their communities, they're leading their
Ted Metellus: country. And they're front facing and some of the warmest,
Ted Metellus: kindest people in the world. We only interact with our
Ted Metellus: runners on the elite side very quickly. They're in, they're
Ted Metellus: out. They're there on business. And we went and spent
Ted Metellus: quality time with them in their homes, and they were
Ted Metellus: beyond excited about it. But it wasn't just about meeting
Ted Metellus: and connecting with some of our champions, we also spent
Ted Metellus: some quality time with our charity partners, Shoes for Africa,
Ted Metellus: and saw their facility there. They have a beautiful Children's
Ted Metellus: Hospital that we spent some time with some of the
Ted Metellus: patients, the young people there, family, friends, and the staff,
Ted Metellus: as well as the team that's working so hard in the
Ted Metellus: Tirop's Angels program where they're working to raise awareness and
Ted Metellus: end gender- based violence for women, children, and the like.
Ted Metellus: It was a powerful, powerful trip to be there. I
Ted Metellus: think my only regret is that I did not get a chance
Ted Metellus: to lace up the kicks and go for a run.
Becs Gentry: You didn't. I would've been so intimidated to even try and
Becs Gentry: step out at my fastest pace is probably their most
Becs Gentry: easy pace. But I know you guys... I was messaging
Becs Gentry: with Sam on your team. Well, he posted a video
Becs Gentry: of some of the men just running together. And I
Becs Gentry: just said to him, " What a privilege to be able
Becs Gentry: to witness that for real." To see that motion, that
Becs Gentry: camaraderie, that unity. And they just look so in sync
Becs Gentry: and perfect. And it's a training run. How?
Ted Metellus: Yeah. Yeah. And it's poetry and emotion is basically what
Ted Metellus: it was to watch that. We had the opportunity to see
Ted Metellus: Viola Lagat and Sharon Lokedi run together, and it was
Ted Metellus: beautiful. It was conversational pace, like you and I are
Ted Metellus: chatting right now. They're moving at a sub six, sub
Ted Metellus: five minute mile.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh.
Ted Metellus: But it was truly an incredible experience. It reminded me a
Ted Metellus: lot of my family's home and family's country in Haiti.
Ted Metellus: Was a simpler space, but people take such pride in
Ted Metellus: their home, vibrant colors, vibrant sounds, so much welcoming, so
Ted Metellus: much arm opening. And it opened up our eyes to
Ted Metellus: see how much our impact as an organization is globally.
Becs Gentry: Amazing. And we want more of that and we want
Becs Gentry: more people to know about it, and more people to partake in
Becs Gentry: it. As Ted said, if you are interested in finding
Becs Gentry: out really what happened, check out on the socials, on
Becs Gentry: Ted's and on New York Road Runners. And from there, you'll
Becs Gentry: probably go down a rabbit hole of everybody who works
Becs Gentry: a New York Road Runners and then be on their Instagrams,
Becs Gentry: which I was all the trip. Well, thank you for
Becs Gentry: sharing that. And honestly, it is super cool to see
Becs Gentry: how the elite runners live their lives. They live, eat,
Becs Gentry: breathe, running. And they do it together in such a
Becs Gentry: beautiful way in each of the communities that you mentioned
Becs Gentry: you went to. And it's just to see what work the
Becs Gentry: charities do to support other up and coming runners as
Becs Gentry: well as protection for, as you say, the gender violence,
Becs Gentry: is just such a brilliant give back to a world
Becs Gentry: that really needs a lot of love right now.
Ted Metellus: Yes.
Becs Gentry: Thank you to everybody who supports through New York Road
Becs Gentry: Runners. You're doing a great job, that's for sure.
Ted Metellus: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. We're representing the community
Ted Metellus: near and far.
Becs Gentry: All right. Listen, now let's take you out of that
Becs Gentry: sunshine and dry, warm weather, and bring you back down
Becs Gentry: to home here in New York City. As I mentioned,
Becs Gentry: Road Runners has had quite a winter over the past
Becs Gentry: few weeks. I think everybody listening knows that the East
Becs Gentry: Coast has been inundated with pretty rough winter weather. We've
Becs Gentry: had blizzards, we've had bomb cyclones. We've had, I don't know what
Becs Gentry: other snow. Was it snow thunder we had? I don't know.
Ted Metellus: I don't know. Lions, tigers, bears. Oh my. It all
Ted Metellus: came from the sky. It was something else.
Becs Gentry: It all came from the sky. And it came and it rained down
Becs Gentry: on us and it snowed us in, snowed us out,
Becs Gentry: however you want to call it. It's been a complete
Becs Gentry: 360 change though this past weekend. Because previously race cancellations
Becs Gentry: had, for the safety of not just the runners, but
Becs Gentry: the volunteers and the race setup people who have to be there
Becs Gentry: in freezing cold temperatures that is just not right for
Becs Gentry: anyone to be out in. This weekend, it's been a
Becs Gentry: turnaround. And there were not one, but two races that went off
Becs Gentry: here in New York City. Tell us about this amazing feat.
Ted Metellus: Yeah. Let's take two steps backwards. Yes, three canceled events
Ted Metellus: back to back to back. The last time we had this
Ted Metellus: many cancellations was 2020 during COVID. In my 27 plus years
Ted Metellus: of event production, to have experienced something like this was
Ted Metellus: unprecedented, to say the least. And again, we were following in
Ted Metellus: line with what was going on citywide. We worked in
Ted Metellus: partnership with the mayor's office, special events, parks departments, and
Ted Metellus: the various agencies. And when they put notifications out about
Ted Metellus: it being unsafe for people to be outside, we have
Ted Metellus: to adhere to that. Yes, the safety of our participants,
Ted Metellus: our volunteers, our staff, our partners, the people at large
Ted Metellus: was front of mind with the decisions that were made
Ted Metellus: to cancel those events. We were very, very fortunate to
Ted Metellus: work with Prospect Park Alliance and the team there to
Ted Metellus: be able to squeeze in a little 5K two weeks
Ted Metellus: ago. We had a race at Prospect Park. We had about 1, 600 athletes
Ted Metellus: that showed up and ran, which was really cool. And,
Ted Metellus: well, unfortunately I wasn't there because I was in Kenya.
Ted Metellus: I told the team, " Please be prepared for a unique
Ted Metellus: level of energy at this event, because people are going to be so
Ted Metellus: happy to be with one another again and see one
Ted Metellus: another again, and engage with one another again."
Becs Gentry: Of course.
Ted Metellus: Not that it's been months and months and months like
Ted Metellus: it was for COVID, but it had been long enough that
Ted Metellus: many athletes hadn't seen each other since the Joe K 10K.
Becs Gentry: Wow. Yeah.
Ted Metellus: Yes, we ended up having the cancellations. We were able
Ted Metellus: to get a race off the ground last week, and
Ted Metellus: then this weekend we had double event weekends. We had
Ted Metellus: three back- to- back 5K events.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh.
Ted Metellus: This weekend was awesome, where we had the Al Gordon
Ted Metellus: 5K. First time it was a 5K distance. In the
Ted Metellus: past, it was a four mile. In the past, even longer
Ted Metellus: than that, it was a five miler. Honoring the great Al
Ted Metellus: Gordon, who's a longtime runner and supporter of Road Runners. Passed
Ted Metellus: away at the age 107 years old. Took onto running late in
Ted Metellus: his life. He was a strider before striders was striding. He was out there doing
Ted Metellus: the good work. We were there to be able to host that
Ted Metellus: event, which was great energy. And the park was beautiful.
Ted Metellus: The drives were clear. The park lands themselves were completely
Ted Metellus: covered in snow. And watching that sunrise was magnificent.
Becs Gentry: I'm sure.
Ted Metellus: And again, great energy. And then it followed the next
Ted Metellus: day with the Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K.
Ted Metellus: That's a race that we've been producing for over 25
Ted Metellus: years in this community. And it's a very, very technical
Ted Metellus: course. There's some ups and downs. I don't know if
Ted Metellus: you've ever run this race.
Becs Gentry: I haven't. No.
Ted Metellus: Oh, you got to get it on your calendar.
Becs Gentry: I know.
Ted Metellus: I live in the Heights. It's my neighborhood. I run
Ted Metellus: through many of those streets there. It's a beautiful, beautiful
Ted Metellus: event when you think about some of the sights and
Ted Metellus: sounds in that community. Overlooks to the George Washington Bridge.
Ted Metellus: You run past the highest natural point in Manhattan. You
Ted Metellus: run into beautiful Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters, and then you
Ted Metellus: make your way back down to finish on Fort Washington
Ted Metellus: next to J. Hood Park. But that race was amazing.
Ted Metellus: We had some special guest runners that I think we
Ted Metellus: were chatting about earlier that participated. And back- to- back
Ted Metellus: winners as well, which was pretty amazing. Steph Bruce made
Ted Metellus: her way out and ran the Al Gordon race on
Ted Metellus: Saturday. She won our women's field. We gave her a
Ted Metellus: great little shout out at the start of the race.
Ted Metellus: She posted some great photos there. She finished in 16: 45.
Becs Gentry: Amazing.
Ted Metellus: Our non- binary winner for the Al Gordon Race was
Ted Metellus: Nicholas Dill with 18:31.
Becs Gentry: Brilliant.
Ted Metellus: And then our men's winner was Issame El Jazouli who finished in 14:
Ted Metellus: 57, a member of the United Mexican Runners of New York.
Ted Metellus: And then you might hear Issame's name again because he
Ted Metellus: came back. He's like, " Not only am I going to
Ted Metellus: conquer Brooklyn, I'm going to take it uptown."
Becs Gentry: Right.
Ted Metellus: He won the Washington Highest Race at 14: 46 with a
Ted Metellus: faster pace on a more challenging course. We also want
Ted Metellus: to give a shout- out to Zachary Harris from Front
Ted Metellus: Runners, who won our non- binary at 19:17. And Roberta
Ted Metellus: Groner crushed it out there at 16: 46 with Central Park Track Club.
Becs Gentry: Wow. Those are some astonishing times. It really does show
Becs Gentry: that people were ready to get back on the roads
Becs Gentry: and run.
Ted Metellus: Yes.
Becs Gentry: And, yeah, huge congratulations to Issame for getting both of those
Becs Gentry: wins with a 10- second time difference on... The Al Gordon
Becs Gentry: route wasn't flat necessarily.
Ted Metellus: No. Prospect Park is not flat. We'll be talking about that in a moment.
Becs Gentry: Exactly. There is a pretty gnarly hill. And then, as you said, Washington
Becs Gentry: Heights was not at all easy and cruisey. That is
Becs Gentry: pretty impressive. I'd say he's got a darn good 5K
Becs Gentry: time there. All right.
Ted Metellus: Yeah, it's impressive. And listen, they don't call it the
Ted Metellus: Heights for nothing, so you're definitely going to do some
Ted Metellus: climbing. But that's super fast. I'd be remiss if I
Ted Metellus: didn't say that both races, we took the time out.
Ted Metellus: I got the time out to actually start both of
Ted Metellus: the events. And I took the time out to honor
Ted Metellus: Jeff Galloway. Jeff Galloway, a true pioneer in running. I think
Ted Metellus: I would call him the very, very first running influencer.
Becs Gentry: I would. Yeah, absolutely agree with that.
Ted Metellus: He was a Olympian who transformed running and really opened
Ted Metellus: it up to the general public. If that sounds somewhat
Ted Metellus: familiar, as far as transforming runners, similar to what we
Ted Metellus: do at New York Road Runners with the transformative power
Ted Metellus: of running. He opened it up with this Galloway Method,
Ted Metellus: which is a run/ walk method.
Becs Gentry: Exactly.
Ted Metellus: And many people who were not introduced to this said, "
Ted Metellus: I can never run because I cannot run consistently for,"
Ted Metellus: name that distance. And then the Galloway Method came into play
Ted Metellus: and people were able to run/ walk. Where a lot
Ted Metellus: of folks do that method even still to this day.
Becs Gentry: Exactly.
Ted Metellus: They walk at an aid station, they have their set
Ted Metellus: times, and they are able to continue moving at a
Ted Metellus: solid pace and finish strong. Shouts out to you, Jeff
Ted Metellus: Galloway, thank you so much for your tremendous work and
Ted Metellus: contributions to the sport of running and the community you're
Ted Metellus: running, and growing the sport for the general public.
Becs Gentry: Absolutely. Concur. And big love to all the Galloway family
Becs Gentry: who are working to continue his amazing legacy. And I'm
Becs Gentry: sure there'll be a lot of Magic Mile celebrations in
Becs Gentry: his life. His Magic Mile was his way of getting
Becs Gentry: people to mark how to find your training paces when
Becs Gentry: you feel comfortable to do it. Which I always love, because
Becs Gentry: it makes it not sound so scary when it's a
Becs Gentry: Magic Mile, another time trial or whatever it was. Thank
Becs Gentry: you for saying that, Ted. Yeah, we lost one of
Becs Gentry: the greats in the running world, but his legacy and
Becs Gentry: his method will for sure live on forever.
Ted Metellus: Absolutely. Every mile, every step.
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Becs Gentry: right. Let's work it up to the big one. We've
Becs Gentry: got a pretty... All races are huge. All races are important.
Becs Gentry: But there are a certain few on the New York
Becs Gentry: Road Runners' calendar that really are standout big production events.
Becs Gentry: And we have one coming up on the horizon, Ted.
Becs Gentry: Go for it. What are we talking about?
Ted Metellus: We are talking about the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon,
Ted Metellus: one of the largest half marathons in North America. Back again
Ted Metellus: on March 15th, we're excited to have over close to 30,
Ted Metellus: 000 athletes. As I've mentioned before, and we'll continue to
Ted Metellus: say, this is the springtime equivalent of the marathon.
Becs Gentry: Oh, yes.
Ted Metellus: We have pro athletes, we have broadcasts, we have international
Ted Metellus: athletes, we have a huge charity team, and the masses
Ted Metellus: that'll be out there running as well. It's going to be
Ted Metellus: a great day.
Becs Gentry: Exactly.
Ted Metellus: And the cherry on top, and just the cutest cherry
Ted Metellus: on top, is our youth that will be running out
Ted Metellus: there as part of the Times Square Kids Run. You'll
Ted Metellus: be running past our little people, inspiring them as they
Ted Metellus: inspire you to the finish line.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh. The United Airlines NYC half is happening
Becs Gentry: here in New York next Sunday, March 15th, 2026. And
Becs Gentry: we are going to have thousands of runners from all
Becs Gentry: over the world journeying from Prospect Park to Central Park,
Becs Gentry: crossing over the Brooklyn Bridge, running down the FDR. As Ted
Becs Gentry: said, through Times Square, as they travel 13. 1 miles
Becs Gentry: towards the finish line. The famous finish line at Tavern
Becs Gentry: on the Green. This is the country's largest half marathon, right?
Ted Metellus: Correct.
Becs Gentry: And it is second to the TCS New York City
Becs Gentry: Marathon. The New York Road Runners team spends months planning
Becs Gentry: every inch of every single runner's journey, from the expo
Becs Gentry: to the start line, to the family reunion. What Ted
Becs Gentry: is here today to talk about mainly is basically every
Becs Gentry: single thing. You need to know, you may want to know,
Becs Gentry: that your best friends may want to know. Your parents
Becs Gentry: who might be trying to watch from somewhere else may
Becs Gentry: want to know. It is going to tick every box of
Becs Gentry: the need to, want to know list for the 2026
Becs Gentry: United Airlines NYC half.
Ted Metellus: Yes.
Becs Gentry: Okay? Are you ready to dive in?
Ted Metellus: I am. It's ready, steady, go here. It's really cool to be able to be a part
Ted Metellus: of the podcast and share these stories about what the
Ted Metellus: runners, what the spectators, what the volunteers, what the community
Ted Metellus: at large is going to be expecting on March 15th.
Ted Metellus: Bright and early on Sunday morning as we have participants
Ted Metellus: from literally all over the world and all over our
Ted Metellus: communities come out to venture into Brooklyn to take on
Ted Metellus: this beautiful and iconic event. It's one of the two
Ted Metellus: larger half marathons in North America that New York Road
Ted Metellus: Runners is blessed to be able to produce. This and
Ted Metellus: the RBC Brooklyn Half Marathon in May. Where do we
Ted Metellus: begin, Becs? Should we start from the start and work our
Ted Metellus: way down?
Becs Gentry: Yes. Let's do that.
Ted Metellus: The participant journey, as we like to say here.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Let's start at the start. Let's talk about how
Becs Gentry: the race has grown and evolved over the years, and
Becs Gentry: how it has become one of the most premier half
Becs Gentry: marathons in the whole of the United States.
Ted Metellus: Well, I had the pleasure of chatting with Tom Kelly.
Ted Metellus: Tom has been with the organization for close to 35
Ted Metellus: years. He's our head of timing and competition management. And
Ted Metellus: I was asking Tom, I was like, " Tom, give me
Ted Metellus: the scoop on this event. Many of us have run
Ted Metellus: it, worked it, volunteered at it, participated and engaged in it in
Ted Metellus: some capacity. Give us a quick bit of fun facts
Ted Metellus: about the event." This would be the 21st running of
Ted Metellus: this event in this capacity. 2006 was the first time
Ted Metellus: that we had this in the park, out the park,
Ted Metellus: downtown finish event with the United Airlines New York City
Ted Metellus: Half Marathon. The event has had so many different iterations
Ted Metellus: over the years between just races inside the park, to a
Ted Metellus: race that exited the park, to a race that finished downtown
Ted Metellus: in Lower Manhattan to help revitalize that community there. And
Ted Metellus: now, in 2026, we'll be back again to run this
Ted Metellus: incredible event. And we made a couple of changes for folks to be
Ted Metellus: prepared for.
Becs Gentry: Oh, I love it when Ted says that. There's a
Becs Gentry: couple of changes. You just know that if people haven't
Becs Gentry: heard about this, immediately they have just stopped what they're
Becs Gentry: doing. If they're running.
Ted Metellus: That's it. Exactly.
Becs Gentry: I hear you runners. I hear you. You have just slowed
Becs Gentry: your pace down because you're like, " Yeah, you what now?
Becs Gentry: What are we talking about?"
Ted Metellus: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Before we get there, let's just talk about the change
Becs Gentry: that you mentioned before. I think it was historically so
Becs Gentry: celebrated around the time of running down the West Side Highway.
Ted Metellus: Correct.
Becs Gentry: It was one of the only races that had that iconic
Becs Gentry: New York City route into it. And then from then
Becs Gentry: it got switched over almost, not to the other side
Becs Gentry: of the island, but halfway across. And now people don't
Becs Gentry: love change, but the icon status of it running through
Becs Gentry: Times Square just was amplified so (inaudible) much more.
Becs Gentry: People are like, " Oh, no, we've lost the West Side
Becs Gentry: Highway." But you get to run through Times Square. Super,
Becs Gentry: super cool. That's the change that were before. Are we looking
Becs Gentry: at something as dramatic or just are we doing minor changes here?
Ted Metellus: Minor changes. Minor changes. I think the big surprise that
Ted Metellus: came out of last year's event was when we did
Ted Metellus: not run over the Manhattan Bridge and we ran over
Ted Metellus: the Brooklyn Bridge, and it was a welcomed surprise. I know you said
Ted Metellus: folks don't like change, but change is like Thanos, it's inevitable.
Becs Gentry: Exactly.
Ted Metellus: Change is going to happen, so you have to-
Becs Gentry: It's how we grow.
Ted Metellus: ... be able to learn. Exactly. You have to learn and adapt and adjust to change. And at times you have to welcome change. And we had a very welcomed change with us
Ted Metellus: running over the Brooklyn Bridge.
Becs Gentry: Which was kind of not shocking in a bad way.
Becs Gentry: I don't mean that rudely, but it was shocking because
Becs Gentry: the weather was terrible last year. It was foggy. And so,
Becs Gentry: you couldn't really even see the incredible views. It didn't
Becs Gentry: matter what bridge you were on in many ways, because
Becs Gentry: the weather was just a detriment to the beauty. I
Becs Gentry: love that the feedback was so positive, even though people... It
Becs Gentry: might have been their first time running over a New
Becs Gentry: York bridge and they're like, ooh.
Ted Metellus: Yeah. And we're the only event that has been permitted to run
Ted Metellus: over the Brooklyn Bridge, which add that component to it.
Becs Gentry: So huge.
Ted Metellus: And on race day last year, I didn't think it was terrible, it
Ted Metellus: was eerily beautiful.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Ted Metellus: Now I'm an optimist by nature-
Becs Gentry: Yes, you are.
Ted Metellus: ... so forgive me for that, but it was so cool. I'm in the
Ted Metellus: lead vehicle, I take off at the start and I'm
Ted Metellus: rolling. And I knew it was foggy, so the teams
Ted Metellus: were all taking heightened care to ensure that we had
Ted Metellus: a safe and secure course. And once we got everything
Ted Metellus: off, I hop in the car, I take off on
Ted Metellus: the route and we're driving it. The first half of the
Ted Metellus: course, I know it like the back of my hand.
Ted Metellus: We'll talk about that for a moment. But that one
Ted Metellus: change on Flatbush Avenue when we made the left on Tillary and the right onto
Ted Metellus: the Brooklyn Bridge, that was new and different. And that's
Ted Metellus: where you saw the fog. And it was so like,
Ted Metellus: whoa. It was eerie. It was something out of a movie. And
Ted Metellus: what you will see, whether you've driven on the Brooklyn
Ted Metellus: Bridge making your way over to the FDR drive. Or in the
Ted Metellus: case have run, or will be running, the course then
Ted Metellus: goes up underneath the Brooklyn Bridge to loop around onto
Ted Metellus: the FDR Drive. And that adds another level of eeriness
Ted Metellus: and beauty to it as you're making way over. When
Ted Metellus: you're going and you look over to your right and
Ted Metellus: you see the Manhattan Bridge, or in the case of
Ted Metellus: last year you didn't see the Manhattan Bridge, it was
Ted Metellus: really, really something special there. But I don't want to
Ted Metellus: spoil the course description in a second, but yes, those were
Ted Metellus: some of the things that I think folks walked away
Ted Metellus: from saying, " Wow, that was one of the most iconic
Ted Metellus: half marathons I've ever run, and I can't wait to
Ted Metellus: run again."
Becs Gentry: And we have to remember that everybody got a PR
Becs Gentry: last year.
Ted Metellus: Yes, yes. Brand new course.
Becs Gentry: Brand new course means you have a PR.
Ted Metellus: Exactly.
Becs Gentry: This year might be where you brush it up, or not.
Becs Gentry: But let's take it to the start. Biggest change for
Becs Gentry: 2026 is the new start line. Talk us through that.
Ted Metellus: Yeah. Well, Becs, before I even go there about a
Ted Metellus: big change, again, in the magical world of Ted Metellus and the
Ted Metellus: way I process things in the event space, it is
Ted Metellus: the participant journey. You've run your fair share of races. I've
Ted Metellus: run my fair share races. Where does the journey begin?
Ted Metellus: After registration, after you've trained and gotten yourself ready, you
Ted Metellus: have to go and pick up your (inaudible) .
Becs Gentry: Expo, baby.
Ted Metellus: Yes. Yes, yes. We have a brand new expo and a
Ted Metellus: brand new expo site. Yes, yes, the expo has moved.
Ted Metellus: We are now at the Jacob Javits Center at the
Ted Metellus: River Pavilion, which is the same location that we have
Ted Metellus: the TCS New York City Marathon Expo big pickup. The expo is
Ted Metellus: Thursday, March 12th, Friday, March 13th, and Saturday, March 14th.
Ted Metellus: It is going to be at the Jacob Javits Center
Ted Metellus: on those days. Thursday and Friday, the hours are 10:00 to 8:00.
Ted Metellus: Saturday, the hours are 8: 00 to 6:00. You should have received
Ted Metellus: material and information about the new location, time slots, and
Ted Metellus: info on that. Anything and everything you need will be
Ted Metellus: there at the expo. Our staff will be there to
Ted Metellus: answer any questions, material that you can have as far
Ted Metellus: as what you could share with your family and friends for
Ted Metellus: spectating opportunities at home, as well as where you can
Ted Metellus: watch, stream, and experience the race on this day.
Becs Gentry: Amazing. And you might hear a familiar voice on the (inaudible) .
Ted Metellus: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: If you're not sick of me on the podcast. Okay.
Ted Metellus: When you're good at something, you got to be careful,
Ted Metellus: you get put in that box.
Becs Gentry: Everyone just wants to see me with these Minnie Mouse
Becs Gentry: shrunken ears on at all times. It's fine. It's great.
Becs Gentry: Okay. We're heading to the Javits Center. I love this. This
Becs Gentry: is almost giving people a precursor to the potential full
Becs Gentry: marathon that they may sign up for in their future
Becs Gentry: if they are thinking of progressing from half to full
Becs Gentry: marathon distance. I love that we are bringing our half
Becs Gentry: marathon runners into a marathon expo center. This is just
Becs Gentry: great excitement and motivation if you need it. I love
Becs Gentry: that. Okay. More space, more atmosphere, more hours, I'm guessing too.
Ted Metellus: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just more material, more engagement. We outgrew the
Ted Metellus: space that we were in before and we wanted to really
Ted Metellus: elevate the overall event experience. And there's very few spaces
Ted Metellus: in the New York tri- city area that can accommodate a
Ted Metellus: volume as large as the NYC half, the United Airlines,
Ted Metellus: NYC half. Making that change to the Javits Center was
Ted Metellus: the next best logical decision. We're really excited about having
Ted Metellus: new space. It's beautiful. The River Pavilion is magnificent because
Ted Metellus: it's tons of natural light overlooking the Hudson River there,
Ted Metellus: so it's going to add some really great flare to the experience. To the
Ted Metellus: runners, always, always, always apply the P rule, prior planning
Ted Metellus: prevents poor performance. Plan accordingly as far as what time
Ted Metellus: you're going to get there, what's going on. There's some
Ted Metellus: great restaurants in the area as well over at Hudson
Ted Metellus: Yards and what. Hang out, enjoy, and really experience the
Ted Metellus: glory of this new expo.
Becs Gentry: And stop by Peloton Studios and come and say hi
Becs Gentry: to us all.
Ted Metellus: Yes. Yes.
Becs Gentry: Buy some Peloton apparel maybe for race day. And I'm
Becs Gentry: just going to (inaudible) there.
Ted Metellus: Just a stone's (inaudible) throw away from your office. You can come over and
Ted Metellus: give everybody a wave.
Becs Gentry: Exactly. Right? We'll come and sign shirts and stuff. Throwing all my colleagues
Becs Gentry: here extra work. All right. I'm going to let your
Becs Gentry: brain lead us through, because I'm looking at the list
Becs Gentry: of things and I'm like, I don't know which way
Becs Gentry: Ted's brain's going to go onto the next.
Ted Metellus: We're going to continue on the participant journey. Let's do (inaudible)
Ted Metellus: this dance together. This is Becs' and Ted's excellent adventure.
Ted Metellus: We're going to go through and run this race together.
Ted Metellus: After you've picked up your bib and gotten yourself set
Ted Metellus: and you've seen the material and information that you need
Ted Metellus: to know, you're building yourself up for race day. Shall
Ted Metellus: we talk about race day, and specifically one small modification
Ted Metellus: that we've made to the start? This race, and I'm
Ted Metellus: praying in the seat that I'm in as a chief
Ted Metellus: event production officer, no more changes with this event, please
Ted Metellus: and thank you. For a number of years, the race
Ted Metellus: has started on the southern end of Washington Avenue in
Ted Metellus: Brooklyn. Just south of the Brooklyn Museum, south of the
Ted Metellus: Brooklyn Botanical Gardens is where the start line was. It
Ted Metellus: made for a long narrow corral where we had restrooms
Ted Metellus: and all the facilities that all the participants needed to
Ted Metellus: have. We were looking very closely at this and saying, " Okay,
Ted Metellus: how can we make a slight change to this to
Ted Metellus: allow there to be more runner space for folks? Warmer,
Ted Metellus: more space folks to warm up? And really get engaged
Ted Metellus: and get ready to go?" And we didn't have to
Ted Metellus: think too hard, because all we did was look at
Ted Metellus: what we did successfully with the RBC Brooklyn Half Marathon. The
Ted Metellus: start line is going to mirror the start line of
Ted Metellus: the RBC Brooklyn Half Marathon on Eastern Parkway, adjacent to
Ted Metellus: the Brooklyn Museum. That's your landmark there is where your
Ted Metellus: corrals will be for you to make your way over.
Ted Metellus: You drop your bags on either side. And again, all
Ted Metellus: the material will be given to you as far as
Ted Metellus: which wave you're going. There's four waves for the event.
Ted Metellus: Each wave has a particular side on Eastern Parkway that
Ted Metellus: they'll be entering from. They'll drop their bags. And then once
Ted Metellus: you're inside of the secure start area, restrooms, pre- race
Ted Metellus: water, and all types of amazing amenities will be there,
Ted Metellus: including therapy dogs. I knew that was going to get you.
Becs Gentry: Can they come to the finish line?
Ted Metellus: I don't know. We have medals and all kinds of good stuff
Ted Metellus: at the finish line.
Becs Gentry: I'd prefer a dog.
Ted Metellus: Well, we'll work on that. Let's see if we can get puppies
Ted Metellus: for everybody. Puppies for everyone.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I think we need one in the booth for... Can we have
Becs Gentry: a therapy dog whilst we're doing the broadcast? That would be great.
Ted Metellus: It will make you super mellow, really chill, very zen-
Ted Metellus: like in that moment-
Becs Gentry: Very zen, very happy.
Ted Metellus: ... of a puppy your lap. Yeah. But yes, we have
Ted Metellus: a number of elements there. And that's cool having those things.
Ted Metellus: And credit to the team, particularly our community programming team,
Ted Metellus: our DES team that works really hard to really think about
Ted Metellus: things like sensory location for our runners, lactation location for
Ted Metellus: our runners, pre- raised fluids and resources that are there for
Ted Metellus: our runners, and of course therapy dogs and the like.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh. Oh, it all sounds amazing. Just the dogs, I'll just come
Becs Gentry: start there. Does the new start affect transportation planning for
Becs Gentry: our runners on the morning?
Ted Metellus: No.
Becs Gentry: Nope. Same thing.
Ted Metellus: Transportation is the same. You're still taking the trains to the same locations
Ted Metellus: that you've had. Again, shout out to the MTA on
Ted Metellus: the services that will be running well on race day.
Ted Metellus: But you should always, always, always take a look and
Ted Metellus: see the train lines that are making your way over to
Ted Metellus: either Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn Museum, as those landmarks there
Ted Metellus: for your train transportation to that location. No changes to
Ted Metellus: that at all.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. And we've seen on Reddit, from previous years, that
Becs Gentry: runners have asked a lot about, " How early do I
Becs Gentry: need to arrive? What is a realistic time window, especially
Becs Gentry: with the subway variability?" What would you say is the
Becs Gentry: safest arrival window? Obviously, a duration, because everyone's in different corrals.
Ted Metellus: Yeah. The safest bet is you want to be there...
Ted Metellus: I always tell folks anywhere between a half hour to
Ted Metellus: 45 minutes prior to the start of your race to allow
Ted Metellus: yourself enough time to get yourself situated. It's the United
Ted Metellus: Airlines New York City Half Marathon. Ring a bell. Ted's going to talk
Ted Metellus: about flying. You would never go to an airport five
Ted Metellus: minutes before your flight leaves, because you're going to have
Ted Metellus: to navigate crowds and people showing up, and baggage drop
Ted Metellus: and things like that you need. But if you need to
Ted Metellus: use the restroom, those things come into play.
Becs Gentry: Security as well.
Ted Metellus: Exactly. Security and screening. All of those things tack on
Ted Metellus: time to your start of your event. Half hour to
Ted Metellus: 45 minutes, 45 minutes being a very comfortable amount of
Ted Metellus: time, will allow you from going from rushing and hustling
Ted Metellus: to a nice easy pace that will keep your day
Ted Metellus: mellow. Yes, restrooms, pre-race fluids, a stretching warmup location, announcements
Ted Metellus: and video screens to be there to line the athletes up accordingly,
Ted Metellus: and then you can get yourself off and running on
Ted Metellus: race day.
Becs Gentry: Amazing. Talk us very quickly through, and this is probably
Becs Gentry: just more for our first timers here, the difference between
Becs Gentry: corral closing time and start time for the corral.
Ted Metellus: Correct, correct. Again, I'm going to use the airline analogy
Ted Metellus: again. When your flight is departing, there's a window of
Ted Metellus: time to get everybody loaded in to close and prep
Ted Metellus: for the next group that's there. What I'll tell you
Ted Metellus: quickly here, for folks who knows, is what time this
Ted Metellus: race is starting on race day. Our programs and our
Ted Metellus: events will be starting at 7: 00 AM with our professional
Ted Metellus: wheelchair athletes men's. Women will be following up at 7:
Ted Metellus: 02. We'll have our professional women's division at 7: 08.
Ted Metellus: We'll have our push run and hand cyclists at 7: 15.
Ted Metellus: At 7: 20, professional men's open division, and wave one at 7:
Ted Metellus: 20. Wave two at 7: 45, wave three at 8: 05,
Ted Metellus: and wave four at 8: 30. You want to give
Ted Metellus: yourself ample time to get to those locations there. Because,
Ted Metellus: once again, security, bag drop, facilities, warm up, queue up
Ted Metellus: in your corrals based on your appropriate time. And then they're going
Ted Metellus: to close that up to then start moving the athletes
Ted Metellus: to the start line itself.
Becs Gentry: Wow. Okay, perfect. And last quick question on that is,
Becs Gentry: what happens if somebody does arrive to their corral late
Becs Gentry: and it's closed?
Ted Metellus: Well, unlike an airline where you're stuck now, not able
Ted Metellus: to fly, what will happen is our team on the
Ted Metellus: ground will be able to get you prepped to line
Ted Metellus: up at the next available wave start there. You'll be
Ted Metellus: able to start with them at that point. Please pay close attention
Ted Metellus: to the staff and the teams that are there to
Ted Metellus: be able to line athletes up accordingly to their start
Ted Metellus: time. If you arrive a little later, they'll be able
Ted Metellus: to instruct you on when you can line up to
Ted Metellus: start with the next available wave.
Becs Gentry: Perfect. We love all of that. And obviously, if that happens
Becs Gentry: it is no stress, just breathe it out.
Ted Metellus: Everyone is going to run.
Becs Gentry: Everyone's going to run.
Ted Metellus: Here's the thing, Becs, that's really important. While the race
Ted Metellus: may start at 7: 00 AM, your race starts when you
Ted Metellus: cross that start line. That clock starts at that time.
Becs Gentry: Exactly.
Ted Metellus: Just be mindful of that when you're out there. Just
Ted Metellus: because the race has started at 7:00 AM doesn't mean that you're now X
Ted Metellus: many minutes behind. When your wave is called and your
Ted Metellus: start begins, when you cross that mat, your race has started.
Becs Gentry: That's all they need to know. That is what that bib is for.
Ted Metellus: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Becs Gentry: Okay. Let's talk about course cutoffs and time limits. I
Becs Gentry: know this is a big question that a lot of
Becs Gentry: people have. The nerves and the worry comes over us
Becs Gentry: all when we are towing the line to these races
Becs Gentry: that we've put weeks of preparation into. We have seen
Becs Gentry: a lot of runners asking, " Is there a sweep bus? And
Becs Gentry: if so, does it pick people up? How does it work, et cetera?"
Ted Metellus: Yes, yes, yes. We will have a sweep bus on site
Ted Metellus: for folks, and they'll be following behind the last athlete. One
Ted Metellus: of the critical pieces that is really important for folks
Ted Metellus: to know is where this route runs in relation to
Ted Metellus: our other road races and events. Many of it is
Ted Metellus: where there are sidewalks and open roadways, pedestrian path points. This
Ted Metellus: event has one very unique component, there is no pedestrian
Ted Metellus: path point on the FDR Drive. All participants have to
Ted Metellus: cross the bridge and get onto the bridge at a
Ted Metellus: very specific time to ensure that they can continue along
Ted Metellus: on their race date. If you give me a second,
Ted Metellus: I'll tell you exactly where that time is.
Becs Gentry: But that is such a cool thing to know, because there is not that many
Becs Gentry: places in New York City that you can't run because
Becs Gentry: it's a very pedestrian friendly city. People come here to
Becs Gentry: travel around and walk it and see it. The FDR is
Becs Gentry: one of the most prominent parts of the city. It
Becs Gentry: has one of the most fantastic views that you'll ever
Becs Gentry: see over to Brooklyn, and you cannot walk it. It is
Becs Gentry: only for cars. Me, most of the time, it's bumper
Becs Gentry: to bumper traffic, so you do get to take in
Becs Gentry: the nice view. But it is this one time a year that
Becs Gentry: you get to run on it and be on it
Becs Gentry: on your own two feet. And it is very important,
Becs Gentry: as Ted said, that this partnership with the city of
Becs Gentry: New York is a collaborative one, and that is why
Becs Gentry: we need runners to be over the bridge at a
Becs Gentry: certain time so the city can reopen. The FDR is a
Becs Gentry: huge artery of traffic for this city. What's the time, Ted?
Ted Metellus: That is the agreement. You hit it on the head
Ted Metellus: there, Becs. And if you keep talking this talk, we're
Ted Metellus: going to pull you into the events department and you start
Ted Metellus: working alongside us. We have an agreement with the city
Ted Metellus: to ensure that certain sections of the route are open
Ted Metellus: at a particular time. They're based on our first athlete
Ted Metellus: and our last athlete. And, yes, our races are walker
Ted Metellus: friendly for folks moving at anywhere between a 16 minute
Ted Metellus: per mile to 18 minute per mile pace to get
Ted Metellus: them crossed over to the finish line there. That's a
Ted Metellus: key thing. The other thing too that you noted, which
Ted Metellus: was really key, is sections of the course that are
Ted Metellus: not closed to the public all the time. You mentioned
Ted Metellus: earlier, Times Square is not closed to the public all
Ted Metellus: the time. There's vehicle traffic, there's movement and all type
Ted Metellus: of things. There's two times a year that Times Square
Ted Metellus: is closed. Once is for New Year's Eve, and the
Ted Metellus: second time is for the NYC Half, United Airlines NYC Half.
Ted Metellus: Those are really, really cool components. Same thing applies for
Ted Metellus: the Brooklyn Bridge and the FDR Drive as it relates
Ted Metellus: to there being a time that bridge is closed to
Ted Metellus: the public and the roadway is closed to the public.
Ted Metellus: All runners need to be to the bridge by 10:20
Ted Metellus: AM. All runners need to be to the bridge by
Ted Metellus: 10:20 AM. Once they've made that point, they'll be able
Ted Metellus: to continue on to the FDR Drive to make their way
Ted Metellus: on the rest of the route. Any athletes that are
Ted Metellus: behind that point along the route will be asked to
Ted Metellus: get on a sweep vehicle to the finish line.
Becs Gentry: Okay. Amazing. They get popped onto the vehicle and you
Becs Gentry: do get taken to the finish line. You can have
Becs Gentry: reunion spots and everything will be as you had planned.
Becs Gentry: But yeah, it is that keeping the city of New
Becs Gentry: York running and happy as well.
Ted Metellus: Yes. Yes. All information about cutoffs are on our event
Ted Metellus: website, so you can see where the course cutoffs are
Ted Metellus: and the course diversions are there, but 10:20 is the time that
Ted Metellus: you want to focus on there. The start of the
Ted Metellus: last wave, as I mentioned before, will allow everyone to
Ted Metellus: be able to get there safely on the pace that
Ted Metellus: they have. Last wave again, as I mentioned, wave four starts
Ted Metellus: at 8: 30 AM.
Becs Gentry: Amazing. Great. Okay. Hopefully that has instilled some confidence into
Becs Gentry: some of our listeners out there for that. And last,
Becs Gentry: I would say real housekeeping, is baggage and all of
Becs Gentry: that. I personally am somebody who would advise all runners
Becs Gentry: to bring as minimal stuff as physically possible. Now, I
Becs Gentry: know we've had really topsy- turvy weather. We literally do
Becs Gentry: not know what is happening. One day it is below
Becs Gentry: freezing and then the weather people are saying that next
Becs Gentry: week it's going to feel like 80 degrees. It's absurd.
Becs Gentry: We don't understand. One thing I will say though, as
Becs Gentry: a very experienced runner, is I have a section of
Becs Gentry: my closet which is my race day donations. And even
Becs Gentry: if I don't have a race planned, I know I'm
Becs Gentry: always going to end up jumping into one at some
Becs Gentry: point. And I have this folded up section of sweatpants and
Becs Gentry: sweatshirts and beanies and gloves that I just know were
Becs Gentry: going to go to the donations bin. And I just
Becs Gentry: pulled them out, put them aside and were like, they
Becs Gentry: are my race day donations. If I could give you
Becs Gentry: all any advice, it would be to bring those layers,
Becs Gentry: stay as warm as possible before the race starts, knowing
Becs Gentry: full well that you are donating to people who have
Becs Gentry: less and need more. And you're doing a good thing
Becs Gentry: by leaving that there. Ted has already explained that there
Becs Gentry: is fluids and chill out areas. And there are amenities
Becs Gentry: for you at the start, so you don't need to
Becs Gentry: bring the kitchen sink with you. And hopefully, fueling- wise,
Becs Gentry: you're not going to be there too, too long before
Becs Gentry: that you need to have too much extra fuel to
Becs Gentry: sustain you for that race. If you can manage to
Becs Gentry: condense your race day morning kit to have what you
Becs Gentry: need and remove a run, I say that is key.
Becs Gentry: Obviously, there are exceptions. People have medical needs, they have
Becs Gentry: extra things that they do need to have right at
Becs Gentry: the finish. Let's talk through that baggage check- in, no
Becs Gentry: bag check- in process.
Ted Metellus: Yes. Yes. Unlike the TCS New York City Marathon, there is
Ted Metellus: no pre- event baggage requirement here. If you are planning
Ted Metellus: to have a bag, you'll be dropping your bag based
Ted Metellus: on your assigned wave location on either side of Eastern
Ted Metellus: Parkway. That's there and set and ready to go. You were mentioning
Ted Metellus: bringing things, throwaway clothes, things of that nature. We will
Ted Metellus: have teams that will be there to help collect all
Ted Metellus: the clothing that then gets recycled and reused and provided
Ted Metellus: for other people in the community. My recommendation, fly light,
Ted Metellus: fly right. You want to take as little as you
Ted Metellus: can and what you need based on how you physically
Ted Metellus: feel. For our first time runners, you've been training in
Ted Metellus: weather that's been up and down over these last couple
Ted Metellus: of months. It's been more down than up. This weekend,
Ted Metellus: as you mentioned here in the Northeast, we're expecting warmer temps
Ted Metellus: for the weekend here. You know if you are a
Ted Metellus: warm runner, or if you run warm or you run
Ted Metellus: cool. Base that on what you're going to bring with
Ted Metellus: you. Yes, during the start of the event will be a
Ted Metellus: little cooler because you're standing still and stagnant, but once
Ted Metellus: you start getting moving, you want to shed accordingly based
Ted Metellus: on that. But yes, baggage will be there and available for
Ted Metellus: participants to drop their bags off prior to them starting
Ted Metellus: their waves, and we will transport their baggage and it'll be
Ted Metellus: waiting for them on Central Park West adjacent to the
Ted Metellus: finish line area just outside of Central Park on Central
Ted Metellus: Park West there is where the athletes would be able to
Ted Metellus: get their gear.
Becs Gentry: Perfect. We love that. I love that. Fly light, fly
Becs Gentry: right. I'm taking that with me. That's going to be
Becs Gentry: in a class soon, quoted by Ted.
Ted Metellus: Yes.
Becs Gentry: Okay. We've talked a little bit about the course, but
Becs Gentry: let's just go through the big points. The big sellers,
Becs Gentry: let's say, about we've heard a few people speculating that, "
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh, is the Brooklyn Bridge going to be
Becs Gentry: crowded? Is it going to be windy?" All of the
Becs Gentry: what ifs and maybes. Which is fine, we do that.
Becs Gentry: We think about things we can't control because that's the
Becs Gentry: easiest thing to stress about. Let's just talk about the,
Becs Gentry: A, that element, the Brooklyn Bridge side of things, being
Becs Gentry: that it's only the second year that it's happening. And
Becs Gentry: then also, after that, go straight into that amazing ramp
Becs Gentry: off the bridge and onto what seasoned runners of this race
Becs Gentry: who have run along the FDR a couple of times
Becs Gentry: say is the toughest part, is that slog along the FDR.
Ted Metellus: Yeah. The course, you want to break it up into pieces here, and then we'll run through this quickly for both our
Ted Metellus: advanced runners and our novice runners that are coming out
Ted Metellus: to experience this for the first time. First part of
Ted Metellus: the course is you start off on Washington just south of
Ted Metellus: Eastern Parkway and making your way south, making a turn onto
Ted Metellus: Empire. Up Flatbush Avenue for an out and back and
Ted Metellus: then into Prospect Park. Remember, earlier we were talking about
Ted Metellus: the climbs in Prospect Park. You are going to be
Ted Metellus: doing a climb going into Prosper Park, exiting out of the
Ted Metellus: park and through Grand Army Plaza. Flatbush Avenue is a
Ted Metellus: climb. It's a slight climb heading up towards Tillary, then
Ted Metellus: Tillary to the Brooklyn Bridge. Again, a slight climb. What's
Ted Metellus: interesting, and not surprising that we had a course record
Ted Metellus: last year, is it is not as high a climb
Ted Metellus: as the Manhattan Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is fairly flat. There's
Ted Metellus: a chance of wind and weather. Fun fact, can't control
Ted Metellus: the weather, you just have to be prepared for-
Becs Gentry: It's going to happen.
Ted Metellus: ... it as best you can. Exactly. Wind is minimal there,
Ted Metellus: but you are out in the elements. You don't have
Ted Metellus: wind coming from your left and right more than likely,
Ted Metellus: because one side is blocked off because that's where the
Ted Metellus: vehicle traffic is flowing through. Okay? On that lower section
Ted Metellus: of Brooklyn Bridge. The FDR Drive is your second section
Ted Metellus: of the course there, that's when you have to toughen
Ted Metellus: up. It's a downhill swoop onto the FDR drive and
Ted Metellus: now you're counting the miles, you're counting the kilometers as
Ted Metellus: you're making your way through. It is a beautiful section of
Ted Metellus: town to look over again to your right side and
Ted Metellus: you see the water at the East River, and see
Ted Metellus: the sights and sounds of that neck of the woods
Ted Metellus: there. We do have tons of entertainment on the route, and of
Ted Metellus: course our incredible volunteers and staff that'll be out there
Ted Metellus: as well for you. The next section of the course
Ted Metellus: is when you get off the FDR drive and make
Ted Metellus: the turn on 42nd Street to cruise off. That is
Ted Metellus: incredible. 42nd Street is just for you. You're running down
Ted Metellus: there, and which is usually very busy thoroughfare with cars
Ted Metellus: and people and everything, and now it's just the pitter
Ted Metellus: patter of feet as they make their way past our
Ted Metellus: little ones that are there on the course for the
Ted Metellus: Kids Times Square Run. You'll be running past them. Make
Ted Metellus: that turn onto Seventh Avenue. And again, this will be
Ted Metellus: a climb. You'll be climbing up Seventh Avenue to enter
Ted Metellus: into the park at Grand Army Plaza there, making the
Ted Metellus: turnaround on the east side of the park to then
Ted Metellus: loop around and finish at the finish line on 67th
Ted Metellus: Street in Central Park. Breaking the course down into chunks
Ted Metellus: is very helpful. Know that there are going to be
Ted Metellus: eight water stations on the course, including a gel station
Ted Metellus: on the route as well.
Becs Gentry: Great.
Ted Metellus: We'll have seven medical stations on the course as well
Ted Metellus: to provide support for athletes, and entertainment posts throughout the
Ted Metellus: route in 10 different locations. That's not counting-
Becs Gentry: Wow. That's (inaudible) .
Ted Metellus: Yeah, exactly. And not to mention the six cheer zones that we have out there
Ted Metellus: as well. There's sights, there's sounds, but there's services as well.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh, we love that. Carry your fuel that
Becs Gentry: you have run with and trained with. And if you
Becs Gentry: do need more, there is that one spot for gels,
Becs Gentry: but hydration throughout. My advice, take hydration at every station,
Becs Gentry: whether you need it or not. It's better to try
Becs Gentry: it than need it later on. That's for sure.
Ted Metellus: Absolutely. Absolutely. And Becs, definitely, you mentioned it about the weather.
Ted Metellus: Pay attention to the weather. The team here at New
Ted Metellus: York Road Runners will be able to push information out
Ted Metellus: to the athletes to let them know what to expect.
Ted Metellus: If the weather is any extreme and either way, if
Ted Metellus: it's looking to be warmer, how to be prepared for
Ted Metellus: a warmer race. If it's going to be cooler, how
Ted Metellus: to be prepared for a cooler race. Definitely pay attention
Ted Metellus: to that. Because then it's on you to know, well, I
Ted Metellus: need those gloves. Am I running with shorts? Am I
Ted Metellus: wearing tights? What do I need to do? And then
Ted Metellus: lastly, one of the things that I highly recommend many
Ted Metellus: runners to do, and more and more runners are being
Ted Metellus: ecologically responsible by bringing their own hydration with them. Because
Ted Metellus: your pace of hydration may vary from the locations of
Ted Metellus: the aid station. Each aid station will have the ability
Ted Metellus: to fill bottles for you if need be, but definitely
Ted Metellus: bringing those components with you. And thank you to our incredible
Ted Metellus: partners at Morton, where we have a Morton Gel Zone
Ted Metellus: there along the route for folks as well. And there'll
Ted Metellus: be product at the expo that you can pick up
Ted Metellus: prior to race day.
Becs Gentry: Great. But don't try anything new the day before.
Ted Metellus: Nothing new. Correct.
Becs Gentry: All right. Our runners have completed their 13. 1 miles
Becs Gentry: through the incredible city and on this awesome route. Talk
Becs Gentry: us through the post- race family reunion finish line joy.
Ted Metellus: Yeah. This is it. You have now completed one of
Ted Metellus: the most iconic events in New York, the United Airlines
Ted Metellus: New York City Half Marathon. Made your way up Seventh Avenue, Central
Ted Metellus: Park South, entered in on the park on the east
Ted Metellus: side, made your way loop across 72nd Street and then finished
Ted Metellus: down by the iconic Tavern on the Green on 67th Street. And then
Ted Metellus: your post- race walk off begins where you'll receive your
Ted Metellus: beautiful metal, post race fluids and amenities, food, drink that
Ted Metellus: you'll need, and you make your way into the southern
Ted Metellus: end of the park where you'll exit out. All the participants,
Ted Metellus: upon exiting out on the southern end of the park,
Ted Metellus: will be directed again to make an immediate right turn
Ted Metellus: and then head up where they can exit out of
Ted Metellus: the park on either 62nd Street, 63rd Street. They can
Ted Metellus: exit out or they'll be receiving their baggage. Baggage will
Ted Metellus: start on Central Park West at 61st Street, and they
Ted Metellus: can exit out there. Family reunion will be along that
Ted Metellus: section as well. You can meet your loved ones, family
Ted Metellus: or friends on Central Park West there on the Southern
Ted Metellus: End. Or what I highly recommend, this is a cheat
Ted Metellus: code, ring a bell. This is what you need to do is right now... I thought
Ted Metellus: about this this morning when I was on my run. Make
Ted Metellus: your brunch plans now.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Look it up.
Ted Metellus: Your post- event celebration with family, friends, teammates, club mates
Ted Metellus: and the like. Plan that out now. Find a venue
Ted Metellus: or a site that you can have a large people,
Ted Metellus: make the arrangements, lock that in and then have folks
Ted Metellus: meet you there to celebrate this iconic moment.
Becs Gentry: Yes.
Ted Metellus: It's also St. Patty's Day weekend, so luck of the
Ted Metellus: Irish to you. Wear some green (inaudible) and celebrate.
Becs Gentry: Yes. I love that. That's such a good idea. And
Becs Gentry: I just will add for our first timers, you will
Becs Gentry: not be finishing in the same direction as the TCS
Becs Gentry: New York City Marathon. As Ted said, you're coming in
Becs Gentry: on 72nd and you are coming from north to south, whereas the
Becs Gentry: TCS New York City Marathon goes from south to north.
Becs Gentry: If anyone, I know people have superstitions about running through
Becs Gentry: a finish line, et cetera. Don't worry, there's nothing. There's
Becs Gentry: no bad juju here for you if you're thinking about
Becs Gentry: running the TCS and New York City Marathon in your future.
Ted Metellus: Yes.
Becs Gentry: All right. And then just quickly, the final bow here
Becs Gentry: on this gift is the spectators. How can people watch
Becs Gentry: in the city and at home?
Ted Metellus: Yeah. We will be on ESPN2, so folks can watch
Ted Metellus: the... Yes, and see Becs there. You might see me
Ted Metellus: do a quick wave as I keep going there.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I'm sure we will.
Ted Metellus: We'll be streaming there as well so you can go
Ted Metellus: online and watch the race and be part of this
Ted Metellus: race experience. I don't get to watch the race, I
Ted Metellus: get to be part of the race on race day, but I
Ted Metellus: love watching the event afterwards. And then, one, I'm paying
Ted Metellus: attention to things and taking note and critique and making
Ted Metellus: plans for the following year's event, but also really soaking
Ted Metellus: in on what the beauty of this race is all
Ted Metellus: about. And hopefully inspiring future runners to come out and
Ted Metellus: participate in this event. But, yes, check out the app,
Ted Metellus: download it. If you don't have it, it's our New
Ted Metellus: York Road Runners running app. It's a year round app
Ted Metellus: that tells you all kinds of great information about the
Ted Metellus: programs and events that New York Road Runners has, as well
Ted Metellus: as the ability to track loved ones, family, or friends, and
Ted Metellus: check out the event.
Becs Gentry: Oh, we love that. And of course, if you're in New
Becs Gentry: York City and you are not up to much on
Becs Gentry: that Sunday, step out onto the streets and get that
Becs Gentry: loud voice going. Our runners will appreciate every bit of motivation.
Ted Metellus: The rule is this, if you're not running, you're cheering.
Becs Gentry: Exactly.
Ted Metellus: If you're not running, you are cheering.
Becs Gentry: Yep. And just also if you are not running, not
Becs Gentry: cheering, but living in the city and listening to this,
Becs Gentry: there will be road closures. Don't get grumpy about it,
Becs Gentry: the city will reopen after everyone's had a great morning.
Becs Gentry: Join us for the fun.
Ted Metellus: Yes, yes. Plan accordingly if you're listening to this in the New York tri-
Ted Metellus: city area. Again, working very closely with our partners in
Ted Metellus: the mayor's office of special events. They push out notification information.
Ted Metellus: We put information out on Waze and TomTom, that way your
Ted Metellus: driving ability is get around to let you know how
Ted Metellus: you can get around the city around the route there. But
Ted Metellus: yes, we're very conscious of the fact that we are in one of the most populous cities in
Ted Metellus: the world with one of the largest half marathons in the world happening.
Becs Gentry: Exactly. And then, after the race, Ted, how are our
Becs Gentry: runners encouraged to celebrate when they've had their brunch, reunited
Becs Gentry: with their family and friends? Is there an official after
Becs Gentry: party or party or activation, or anything to know about?
Ted Metellus: Yeah. We have programs that'll be going on around the
Ted Metellus: city, particularly for those that are traveling in from overseas
Ted Metellus: or outside of the New York tri- city area. It's
Ted Metellus: beyond the finish line programs where you can see some
Ted Metellus: of the cultural programs and events. Definitely check out the
Ted Metellus: different programs and events that will be going on in
Ted Metellus: partnership with New York Road Runners and the United Airlines
Ted Metellus: NYC Half.
Becs Gentry: Amazing. Anything else you want to add to this year's race?
Ted Metellus: Yeah. Just in closing, first, a huge thank you to
Ted Metellus: our partners from the city of New York and all
Ted Metellus: the agencies that work very closely with us, the amazing
Ted Metellus: staff and team that do that. The hat says it
Ted Metellus: all, be the light, be the brightest thing in your
Ted Metellus: community, be the brightest thing in your neighborhood. You are
Ted Metellus: really going to be inspiring folks that's out there. Please,
Ted Metellus: please, please, as we stated earlier, the P rule. Prior
Ted Metellus: planning prevents poor performance. Please be prepared for what you're
Ted Metellus: going to see. Look at where those aid stations are.
Ted Metellus: Look at the map, study and understand it. It may
Ted Metellus: be foreign if you're not from that area, but we
Ted Metellus: broke down that course for you so you know when
Ted Metellus: the time's to climb, when to pace yourself, when to lay
Ted Metellus: that hammer. Go and see our coaches at the coaches
Ted Metellus: area at the expo. They'll have great information for you.
Ted Metellus: Pacer, wristbands. They'll do a course preview and they'll walk you
Ted Metellus: through where the resources are and services as far as
Ted Metellus: Morton gel, Gatorade product, water and the like that's out
Ted Metellus: there. And again, biggest, biggest, biggest thing. Becs, biggest thing.
Ted Metellus: See a volunteer. Thank a volunteer.
Becs Gentry: Please, and thank you. Thank you, Ted. That was so
Becs Gentry: thorough as always, and so wonderful. I don't think any
Becs Gentry: of our runners will be leaving this episode with a
Becs Gentry: question about the race other than... Can't wait to do
Becs Gentry: it again. Where can I sign up for my next
Becs Gentry: new Road Runners race?
Ted Metellus: Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Just the season. The springtime running season is here.
Ted Metellus: Like we said, we had two races go off this past weekend.
Ted Metellus: The Tokyo Marathon was on Sunday. Now folks are getting
Ted Metellus: out there and running. The weather's slowly going to be breaking here,
Ted Metellus: so welcome to spring.
Becs Gentry: Yay. Amazing. Well, thank you, Ted, and we can't wait
Becs Gentry: to see you out there on Sunday the 15th.
Ted Metellus: Yes. Can't wait. Happy St. Patrick's to everybody. Be safe
Ted Metellus: out there. Have a great, great time. Becs, thank you so much.
Ted Metellus: Can't wait to see you and give you a big
Ted Metellus: hug. We have to talk about what your running season's going
Ted Metellus: to be. What are you running this year? What goals
Ted Metellus: you may have. I can share with you, I'm getting ready
Ted Metellus: to run my 50th half marathon this month.
Becs Gentry: Oh, my gosh.
Ted Metellus: Yeah, I'll be going to Berlin. I'm going to international
Ted Metellus: to run my first international race, which would be my
Ted Metellus: 50th half marathon. Send me some good vibes to everybody
Ted Metellus: that's running on the 15th.
Becs Gentry: Oh, I will. Oh, my gosh. We have so much
Becs Gentry: to talk about (inaudible) .
Ted Metellus: Yes, yes, yes. For sure, for sure. But thank you
Ted Metellus: so very much for having me on and sharing what
Ted Metellus: we do and planning and preparation for the United Airlines
Ted Metellus: NYC Half Marathon. Can't wait to see everyone out there.
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Becs Gentry: Well, that does it for another episode of Set the
Becs Gentry: Pace. Thank you so much to my guest host today,
Becs Gentry: Ted Metellus, and his incredibly thorough breakdown of the United
Becs Gentry: Airlines NYC Half. As Ted said, there are plenty of
Becs Gentry: ways to keep finding out the information if you need
Becs Gentry: more, but go on the weekend of the race to
Becs Gentry: the expo, talk to the people, take it all in, go
Becs Gentry: and meet the coaches. And most of all, have the
Becs Gentry: most incredible race when you get there. Team, if you
Becs Gentry: like this episode, please do go ahead, subscribe, rate, or
Becs Gentry: leave a comment for the show on whatever platform you're
Becs Gentry: listening on. This not only helps us, but it does
Becs Gentry: help others find out about the show too. Stay safe
Becs Gentry: out there and we will catch you on the next episode.