I tried this half out last year thinking it’d be simpy be something I can cross off my list of races to do but I liked it so much in 2018 I came back to do it again in 2019, ha.

The course feels a bit weird traveling from Brooklyn into Manhattan but in my second go-around now it’s honestly a unique experience to be crossing a bridge into Manhattan for such a big race (outside of doing the NYC Marathon at least, ha), and you get a bit of energy as you finally land in “the city” and make you’re way from South Street up to Central Park.

Times Square definitely is the highlight here; even though I’ve seen it a million times since I work in Manhattan, it’s pretty special to run through it car (and tourist, ha) free! Having the kids race running alongside you for a stretch of Times Square is a cute little aspect too, especially if you have kids running it (I saw a couple of runners stop to look for/cheer on their children, ha).

The only complaint I have for the 2019 edition was that at some point in the later waves they ran out of medals... thankfully I didn’t have that problem but talking to a few of my friends who finished later on NYRR apparently didn’t bring enough medals to the finish line, which is disappointing for a race this big... I’m sure now that such an embarrassment has happened they’ll make sure it’ll never happen again but I still feel for those that reached the finish line only to be disappointed...

Definitely a must-do half if you can get in, but hopefully NYRR gets things right with the medals next year.