Spectating a race is such a gratifying experience.

It poured for a while during the first part of the race, then thankfully cleared up (although I’m sure that didn’t really help with the whole wet shoe thing). Nobody wants to deal with an extra impediment when you’re really feeling it in the last section of a race.

It’s not so much running in the wet, as your shoes getting so heavy from being saturated. I’ve run one race in the pouring rain and it was miserable. Every time I’ve run this race, that section is a huge boost with a big crowd cheering and a downhill fast approaching. Roman, Tanner and I chose the 6 mile mark to cheer on all the half marathoners – almost halfway through the course, after the only significant hill. The rain didn’t stop the runners or the spectators for one of the best NYRR races of the year. This year? Not so much with the speed, or the distance – more of a walk up to Prospect Park, wheeling a stroller with one hand, umbrella in the other and baby strapped to my chest. This time last year, I was killing it in the Brooklyn Half Marathon, running a PR I’d been training for months to nail.

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