American Heart Association Wall Street Run-5K

This is a cool 5K that starts and ends in the financial district. It takes place every year «after work», 6PM for the most part. So yes, it does stop traffic and makes everyone who’s NOT running the race frustrated when going home. But it’s awesome for the runners who get to see the sun set by the waters. At the end of the race at Brookfield Place, you also get lots of freebies (depending on the year’s sponsors). For 2015, we got Chloe’s ice cream bars and t-​shirts and towels. There was also a photobooth and some random lottery contests. The only bad thing is that the corals are small and you can pretty much stand wherever you want.
Note: This race is not sponsored by NYRR.

I always tell people that this is the race that got me into running. Three years ago, I eagerly agreed to a co-​worker that I will run this race with her, without questioning whether I was able to run 3 miles or not. But I wanted to challenge myself. I had no training and jumped right into the start line. Since then, I became a running machine, as my friends like to call me.
I’ve noticed the growing popularity over the years at these road races but this year, I am becoming more annoyed at NYRR for making this race chaotic at its best. I remember they used to line people up according to pace/​mile but this year, there were no such thing. Knowing how narrow the streets are in downtown, I had a feeling it’s going to be a stampede of bull runners. People at this race are generally more aggressive than the normal road racing event because 1) it’s after work and people may use this to vent and 2) you’re talking about a bunch of over-​stressed business/​financial folks, who are big sponsors for this event.
I did my best to run faster than last year but overall, I did not get the same ecstatic feeling of accomplishment as I did on my previous races. .and my apologies to those silly pedestrians who tried to cross my path in the midst of the stampede. They should have known better. Have they not seen «The Lion King»?