It was my third participation in this race. A new sponsor, the Bethpage Bank, took over the race this year. It was also the first race I participated in since my knee injury in May. It seemed like an eternity not to be able to race the entire season. By running this relay I wanted to test the knee and my overall readiness for the ING NYC marathon in November.

We gathered at the start and took some team pictures. The weather was excellent for running. I distributed bibs and Bethpage Bank promotional materials, marked my car as a support vehicle, and, after the start at 8 o’clock, we carpooled to individual legs. Fred opened it, John ran leg 2, Pete leg 3, myself leg 4, Bob leg 5, Jaime leg 6, Johan leg 7, and Ron leg 8.

I parked at the start of the leg 6 and switched to Bob’s car. He drove me to the start of my leg just in right time to warm up. I didn’t wait even 10 min., when around 10:30 Pete brought the chip/bracelet to the end of the leg 3. The organizers, GLIRC, replaced the classic baton with the Velcro bracelet. It’s a welcome upgrade, as it’s less obtrusive to handle.

When I started, the temperature was higher than I would like and the sun was strong, but knowing I was running 5.8 only I tried to disregard the heat and pushed myself. It was the 1st race since May and I was full of energy. Yet I didn’t pace myself well. I arrived to the end of my leg fresh. I ran too slow for such a short distance. The pace of  6:33 min./mile was nothing to brag about. I ran the Suffolk half marathon in 6:27 pace in March of this year. And in anticipation of the NYC marathon, the result was rather mediocre. Well, I’ll be able to repair my reputation in October, running the Malverne 5K for education.

As the team, we did an excellent job—overall 15th place out of 122 teams and 3rd Masters. Thank you all, guys, for your effort.