Running in Central Park: Last Run before NYCM 2011

This morning, Rico, Angela, Anthony and I ran our last run before the New York City Marathon 2011 this Sunday.  We met at the corner of 59th and 5th, right by the Apple store (oh, this run was for you, Steve!) and made our way across to Central Park.

– with Rico and Angela doing all the touristy stuff before the run –

– with Rico –

Central Park is a great place to run in. To run on wide, paved rolling hills surrounded by trees and squirrels shuffling about in the heart of New York City is always a surreal experience for me. It was a great way to cap the end of the training period.

Today, the park was busy with preparations for race day. A lot of runners participating in Sunday’s race were running probably their last runs too just like us. Banners and scaffolds were up for the last few kilometers towards the finish. And, lucky for us, no less than Mary Witternberg, President of New York Road Runners was at the finish line introducing celebrity runners who would be running the marathon. We spotted Mario Lopez but I wasn’t familiar with the others. (Did you know Christy Turlington is running? So are Edward Norton and the Chilean Miner again! Click HERE)

– Celebrity runners for New York City Marathon 2011 –

– Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO of New York Road Runners –

– As close as I could possibly get to Mario Lopez and his dimples hah! –

– Is this Ryan Sutter who married Trista on The Bachelorette? Yes, yes, I’m showbiiiiz –

We ran through some of the last few kilometers of the marathon course, through the finish line, and until, what I like to call, one of the longest walks of my life, a slow walk from the finish line to the exit out of Central Park after the race.

– Anthony and I at Mile 25. I wonder if we’ll look this fresh when we cross the same portion on race day –

– Anthony, Rico, and Angela –

– This is the road taking runners from the finish out to Central Park. It looks short now. But after running a 42km and the only thing you wanna do is to rest, this slow walk is a tough one. –

– Yes, we just had to have our pic taken here! –

After running 4k in such cold and windy weather, we found ourselves at one of the best pizza places in New York City: Patsy’s Pizzeria.  I read about this in a magazine and was drooling even before I tasted the pizza.

Yum!  I wasn’t hungry, but I ate more than I should.  Good thing it’s carboloading time!

After a great run and a sumptuous lunch, we runners refused to run or walk home in the cold. It was off to the subway to make it to our own warm and cozy apartments and hotels as soon as possible!