The AHA Wall Street Run & Heart Walk

Being a former stockbroker and analyst, this course took me through my old stomping grounds, and what a great day for stomping through them it was. The race started on Murray and West street. There were approximately 7,000 participants, it was the largest turnout I've seen at a race so far. The Merrill Lynchers, the main sponsors of the race, all donned black t-shirts marked with their race slogan, "Running With The Bulls", a reference to the investment firm's mascot.

The race was delayed about ten minutes. In the meantime, my brother-in-law Steve, his first race, and I went to meet my buddy Valentin, who was walking it because of an injury he sustained a week ago. We walked past the corrals and found him near the front of the crowd. I noticed that though runners were lined up according to their pace, volunteers were herding as many people to the front to fill in space, regardless of their speed. I knew that was going to piss quite a few people off later in the race because they would be running behind joggers and walkers. We were lined up incorrectly ourselves, apparent by the fact that we were very near the front at the start of the race while planning on running a 10 min/mi.

The race started at about 6:45 in the evening. The weather and temperature were ideal, sunny and in the low seventies. The course was exhilarating. The spectators – not very happy that a herd of people were blocking their path home after a day of work. From the start, one felt the energy race had. If one looked around it looked like a Nike commercial. Seeing so many people running through these narrow colonial streets, dense crowds swarming through our financial district was absolutely surreal. You could tell that there were quite a few beginners by their initial burst of speed, the kind that punished them later in the race as they walked the rest of the course but that was to be expected since many of the sponsor firms asked their employees to participate.

The course started on the corner of Murray Street and West Street (the West Side Highway) and weaved through the lower Manhattan. It took us down Church, past Moody's Investor Serviecs and the World Trace Center where we cut a left on Liberty and zigzagged through Pine, Wall, Broad, Pearl and Water Streets on our way to Battery Park.

A moment that I'm sure most participants will never forget was when we made our u-turn from Pearl to Water street. Running north on Pearl the course made a right on Fletcher, a street so narrow that it was completely enveloped in its buildings' shadows. As we made the turn the first thing we noticed was the extreme change in illumination. Then you notice how narrow it is and consider how everyone is going to fit. Then to compound the space issue, the water station tables were set up right there making the one-block stretch even narrower. And finally, due to the water stations, the street was flooded. As my eyes adjusted, and I stomped through puddles of discarded water I turned around and took a good look, it was cinematic. At the next corner we would turn south on Water Street, one of lower Manhattan's widest streets.

The last leg was along the river in Battery Park City and fairly congested. Finally we had some cheering from spectators. I dipped between park benches down the promenade to the finish line. Steve and I crossed the finish line simultaneously, at 29:17, a 9:45 pace. Definitely not a PR setter but it was a leisurely run, focused more on the sights and the experience than time. Not next year though. I can't wait until next year's race.