Run into 2014: New Year's Eve Races in Central Park & Brooklyn

If running a fun, festive race is your idea of kicking off the new year, there are two events in New York City to check out. The Midnight Run in Central Park, put on by the New York Road Runners, is a longstanding annual event that attracts thousands of runners (many in costume) who run four miles in the iconic park, with DJ music and dancing preceding the race and continuing afterwards. (Before the race, there's a contest to judge the best costumes.) A fireworks show takes soon after the start of the race, which takes place at 11:59 p.m.

The Midnight Run isn't sold out as of 24 hours before the event, but you must register in person at the site (no more online registration). Event-day registration is $60 for NYRR members; $65 for non-members.

Over in Brooklyn, NYCRuns is once again holding its New Year's Eve 5K in Prospect Park at 11:15 p.m. It's said to be the only nighttime race all year in the famed Brooklyn park, and includes complimentary hot chocolate, sparkling cider, and other treats. Race-day registration is $40.

Happy new year!

2013 Prospect Park Turkey Trot - Race Results

Cold, windy weather couldn't keep hardy souls from coming out to Prospect Park early on Thanksgiving morning to take part in the annual turkey trot. More than 2,200 runners finished this year, marking another advance sellout for the event. (See the 2013 Prospect Park turkey trot results.)


In fact, the five-mile race, put on the the Prospect Park Track Club and sponsored by JackRabbit Sports, sold out two weeks before the event. Brooklyn has become the home of a number of new races in recent years, but the Prospect Park turkey trot remains one of the most popular. Despite the weather, who can pass up the chance to burn off some calories and mingle with friends old and new before sitting down to a day of coma-inducing eating and TV viewing?

If you live in Brooklyn and are looking for some folks to run with, look into becoming a member of the Prospect Park Track Club.

Congrats to all who took part and got their Thanksgiving off to a healthy start (no matter what they may have done afterward).

2012 Prospect Park Turkey Trot - Race Results

Results have been posted for the 2012 Prospect Park Turkey Trot 5 miler (in text format anyway; some prettier searchable results will probably be posted later, probably at the results page of the Prospect Park Track Club). The results show Graham Shorr of Pittsburgh as the men's winner and overall first-place finisher with a time of 27:14. Christina Argueta of New York was the women's winner in 29:35.

You can find the Prospect Park Turkey Trot results page at Active.com here; it shows the overall results listed above as well as the Prospect Park Track Club finishers and the Bishop Ford finishers (I'm not sure what the latter is, but it's there in case you want it).

Congrats to all the runners and the PPTC on another sold-out Turkey Trot. And Happy Thanksgiving!

2011 Prospect Park Turkey Trot - Race Results

Here you'll find race results for the Prospect Park Track Club 5M Turkey Trot, held yesterday morning in Brooklyn. Each year hundreds of people start their Thanksgiving morning with a brisk five-mile jaunt in Prospect Park, and this year was no exception. The 2011 race featured more than 2,000 finishers, in fact.

You can view the overall results or search by name, bib number, etc. To see the results for 2010, see the main Prospect Park turkey trot results page here.

Congrats to all runners in the Prospect Park turkey trot, especially the winners: Angel Confesor for the men (in 26:33) and Christina Argueta for the women (in 29:36).

Rock & Roll New York 10K in Brooklyn - Race Results

[2013 UPDATE: Results page for the Rock & Roll Brooklyn 10K is here; 2013 results NOW POSTED  as of 1:30 p.m. not yet posted as of 1 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 12th (race day)]

[UPDATE: The 2012 Rock 'n' Roll New York 10K takes place Saturday, Oct. 13th; see the website here for details.]
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The Rock & Roll running series came to Brooklyn's Prospect Park this morning, and you can find results for the Rock & Roll New York 10K here. (There's a page at the Rock & Roll New York 10K website that claims to offer live results, but from what I saw it just shows links to a few articles.)

For more information on the race, see the Rock & Roll New York 10K website.

It was cool and clear this morning, perfect running weather in New York. Congratulations to all runners in the inaugural Rock & Roll New York 10K!

Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon Nearly Full

Registration is filling up fast for the first-ever Brooklyn Marathon on Nov. 20th.

Fewer than 20 spots remain open for the inaugural Brooklyn Marathon in Prospect Park, the race organizers announced on Twitter this morning. The race, which takes place on November 20th, is capped at 250 participants and has about 20 spots.

[UPDATE: See information on the 2012 Brooklyn Marathon, which will be held Nov. 18th.]

It seems a marathon in Brooklyn is an idea whose time has come, based on how quickly the race is filling up. Although the race takes place totally in Prospect Park, the organizers, NYCRUNS, hope to take it out into the streets in future years. (It should be remembered that the first New York City Marathon consisted of four-plus loops of Central Park.)

The Brooklyn Marathon will consist of six full loops of Prospect Park and three lower loops.

Find out more details about the inaugural 2011 Brooklyn Marathon here (including a map of Prospect Park, with a downloadable version). If you aren't planning on running it or can't get in, you can always come out to cheer, or to volunteer.

For runners interesting in knowing the Brooklyn Marathon elevation, I found this map and elevation profile for Prospect Park online. It's designed for a bike-riding course and I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it was supposedly created using a GPS device. Here's another map and elevation profile of Prospect Park.

If you're interested in running the first-ever Brooklyn Marathon, you'll want to register soon.