Newport Liberty Half Marathon 2015

Race Recap: Newport Liberty Half Marathon, Jersey City NJ, September 20, 2015

At some point during the summer, my friend Bob invited me to run this race with him. He lives in Jersey City and this would be a nice "local" event for him and one that I could easily join him at.

My training approach

Bob and Bill just before the race

I was already underway with my training for the October 2015 Marine Corps Marathon so I quickly made a few modifications to my plan so that I could incorporate a 13.1 run on the date of this Newport race.  As it worked out, I would already be running 18 mile Sunday long runs by that time so I modified my schedule to use this race as a step-back week and run the 13.1 as a tempo training run.  Bob was doing some training for another half marathon in the fall also so his plan was to use this race to test how far his training had taken him.

Logistics and our support team

Newport section of Jersey City

Since Bob and Susan live in Jersey City, it was a simple plan for us to drive to their apartment, park there and then walk to the start area. Since we live 40 minutes away, Bonnie and I had to start our day a bit earlier but that worked well for my morning nutrition timing as I ate at home and then had driving time for digestion. Bob and I headed over first for packet pick-up and registration. Bonnie and Susan walked over a bit later to be in time for the start.  After the start, they were able to see us at mile 2 before heading back to the apartment for a while where they could look out from Bob and Susan's 10th floor terrace as the race moved over to Liberty State Park. They came back downstairs to see us passing mile 11.5 where I told Bonnie that I was ahead of pace and looking to PR.

Bonnie snapped this at mile 11.5

Weather and general conditions

September can bring some beautiful weather to the northeast but it is a bit of a transition month from the warm humid summer days to the early days of autumn. We actually got a day in the mid 60's with considerable humidity. For us runners, that is a bit warmer than desirable but is was very comfortable for the fans and spectators.

Race recap and course review

As Bob and I have done at previous events, we knew that we would each be running our own race pace so we lined up together at the start area and then quickly separated after the start. Since I was 3 months into training for a full marathon at a 9:45 pace, I  chose to pace myself at 9:00 as an up-tempo training run for this race.

The race course is very flat and offers a real nice opportunity for runners who are looking to PR or just drive a fast pace. The course is an out-and-back route that is half city and half park-like. For the many runners who live and train in this area, much of the park and the harbor-side sections of the course are very familiar, favorite training grounds.  For out-of-town runners, the course offers a nice mix of the city and the park. And for both local and visiting runners, it's always a lot of fun to run down the middle of streets in otherwise busy city districts with fans lining the roads to cheer you on -- somewhat like the privilege of marching in a parade. This course offers a good bit of that.

The race starts on Washington Boulevard, just outside of the Newport Town Square Plaza near the Newport PATH station. For the quantity of running participants, there is good infrastructure in the area for packet pick-up and race staging.  There may have been a shortage of porta-potty facilities for the runners waiting near the start area but isn't that just about always the case?

Newport Half Marathon course map

The course winds through the downtown area from Newport to Grove and then over to Liberty State Park at mile 4.5. The next 6 miles in the park offer exceptional views of the harbor, the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan as we pass miles 6 through 10.  Then the course winds back over to the downtown area for the final leg past Exchange Place and back to Newport.

Credit Ken Shelton Photography
 (kenshelton.com)

I always credit the race photographers who try to position themselves in place to capture great backgrounds in their shots.  Always tricky to do that as the light and shadows tend to move as time spans across the race duration. I was really fortunate that they snapped this shot as I turned a corner at mile 8.5 with the Statue of Liberty behind me.  My friend Bob was merely 2 minutes ahead of me at this point in the race and his photo was from a slightly different angle with no statue -- just the luck of timing.

Despite the warm and humid conditions, I was happy to PR at 1:58. Since I was well along in my training plan for the upcoming Marine Corps Marathon a month later, I was confident to go out a bit faster and I carried a sub-9:00 pace for most of the course (save for 1 potty break and water station slow-downs).

The camaraderie of the running community

I have written about this in previous posts. One of the things I enjoy most about running is the people that we get to meet.  Always friendly, alert, funny and bright, and supportive to other runners, I've been fortunate to meet some really great people along the way.  In this race, as Bob and I were well separated and running our own separate pace, I struck up a conversation with another runner near the mile 2 mark. I had just passed Bonnie and Susan and said I would see them again near mile 12 when another runner asked if I had run this race before and whether I lived in the area.  That got us going on a conversation for the next few miles and I came to learn that he (Alex, I wonder if you are reading this as I remember you vividly) was running his first half marathon and he was training to run his first full marathon. Being younger than me -- as most runners are LOL -- but maintaining an 8:50 pace with me, he went out ahead of me after the first water break at mile 4. I saw him again later at mile 8 where the course switches back along the harbor and wished him well. In that short 10-15 minute span that we paced together I got to learn about his family, we discussed the busy schedule of young parents and how to find time to train, how old guys like me already have our own kids that are his age, all kinds of things. Very enjoyable!

Happy Anniversary!

Great location overlooking the harbor

Since we ran this race on September 20th, our anniversary the night before was a quiet one. We always try to grab a meal when we get to visit with Bob and Susan so they had made reservations for brunch after the race. They know Jersey City dining and they chose Satis Bistro, a short walk from their apartment. We had excellent meals and -- of course -- they stealthily took care of the check as an anniversary gift to us.  The weather cleared up beautifully and we took this shot to close out a really great day.