Knickerbocker 60K From Sideline : Sat, 15 Nov 2014 10:38:22

Course Info (NYRR)
Start at Engineers’ Gate in Central Park and head north on West drive for a 1.2-mile out-and-back. Then complete nine 4-mile clockwise “inner” loops of the park. For each loop:
Mile 1: Run south on West Drive, pass the Metropolitan Museum of Art on your left, descend Cat Hill, and turn right onto the 72nd Street Transverse.
Mile 2: Cross the 72nd Street Transverse, then turn right/north on West Drive. After a brief flat section, climb an 800-meter hill.
Mile 3: Continue north on West Drive through rolling hills, then turn right/east onto the 102nd Street Transverse.
Mile 4: Run across the Transverse, then turn right/south onto East Drive. After a gentle uphill of about 800 meters, level out onto the flat section and return to the start.

A Marathon + 11 Miles
This was the only ultra marathon distance race from New York Road Runner events. And there were a good amount of my friends who running it. Some of them were fast runners too, and I wanted to see them in action. I had ran with them in some races, and what I could only see was always their back and the dust trail. So I decided to come to the race cheering and do a little run on that God forsaken pavement.
I missed the race start, but I made it before the runners pass the first loop. Many runners were running fast, probably too fast. Maybe this race was their first ultra marathon distance race for some of those runners, so they might have treated like a marathon. Or maybe they were just runners who like me, love to run too fast in the beginning.
After loop number 4 or 5, I started to do my run with Mike Bielik and Juerg, they were my running buddies who also were my housemate in Chamonix for UTMB. We ran the same course but the opposite way, so we could cheer on them along the run and would not interfere the race. After one loop, Mike moved on with his pacing duty.
Juerg and I stopped a moment at the start/finish area since more of our friends showed up. After the second loop, Juerg went home. I continued my run for a couple more. Although I stopped at the start /finish area a few times to witness a few of my friends finished and won the races. Carlo Agostinetto killed the race and won 1st place. Stephen England ran in a steady pace loop by loop and got 2nd place. It amazed me how he could maintain his pace and run strong the whole time despite he has diabetic. And Keila Merino won the 2nd female position with sub 5 hours.
It always amazed me how all of my friends were running with such a big heart and finished the race in glory. I knew they must be tired, hurt, and probably crashing multiple times, but the whole race, they were always smiling, up beat, and joking around the whole way. It was a great day.