Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K 2018 Race Review
Every year the day before the New York City Marathon, the NYRR puts on a 5k race called Dash to the Finish Line. It got a title sponsor, Abbott, a couple years ago, hence the new name. The race course takes you along part of the marathon route and you end at the iconic NYC marathon finish line.
Since I wasn’t going to run in this year’s TCS NYC Marathon because of my pregnancy, I decided I was going to do it. The excitement for the marathon was building in the city and I desperately wanted to be apart of it.
I had never done the race before because in previous years I was busy prepping to run the marathon the next day and would just do an easy 2-3 mile shakeout run with my run club or on my own. Also after dropping almost $300 to run the NYC marathon, spending another $40-45(depending on how far in advance you register), to run a 5k event seemed like a waste to me.
I signed up online 2 weeks before the event with an easy registration process. This race is available to everyone even kids, until it reaches capacity. You don’t have to be an NYRR member although having the membership does provide a small discount.
The race entry fee ranges in price from $25-50 depending on whether you’re an NYRR Member, Specialty Member or Non-Member. For more information, see here.
In the days leading up to the race, I got a couple of reminder emails from NYRR detailing the race date, start time, travel time, bib pick-up, race info page link, security detail and race hashtag for social media.
For Bib pick-up, you had the option of collecting it from the NYRR Run Center between Monday and Wednesday or at the TCS NYC Marathon Expo on Thursday or Friday. There’s no race-bib collection on the day of the race.
I opted to collect it on the Friday evening before the event because I wanted to check out the expo and I had a Pre-Marathon Party to attend less than 2 miles from the expo. I left home at about 5:45pm thinking that I had more than 2 hours of leeway since the expo didn’t close until 8pm. Wrong! Although the expo ends at 8pm, the actual race bib pick-up ended at 7pm (clearly I did NOT pay attention to the reminder emails I received) and because of heavy traffic, I wasn’t going to make it. Yikes!
Panicking I called my husband who was in mid-town and asked him to rush over to the Jacob Javits Center(where the expo is held every year) to grab it. Fortunately he was able to make it there on time. Hallelujah!
I met him there, quickly took a tour of the expo, took photos and then left to attend my next event.
On the morning of the event, I drove to the city, parked in a nearby parking lot (you only pay $10.00 for all day parking if you arrive before a certain time), and then walked a few short blocks to the starting line. I saw several runners hustling to the event because it was scheduled to start at 8:45am and it was about that time. But I’ve done so many of these races that I know that there’s usually a staggered line up with faster runners going first followed by everyone else so I figured I had at least 10 mins. And I was right!
When I got to the starting line, the professional men were just getting ready to take off.
*pic courtesy of the NYRR website.
For the 2nd year in a row, the race combined the USATF 5k Championships comprising of several elite men and women vying for titles and prize money, and their wave started right before ours.
Thousands of runners lined up eagerly waiting for our wave to start so I had plenty of time to use the one of the two porta potties nearby, which miraculously only had about 6 people waiting on line. Of course there was no toilet paper(ugh!). This why you should always bring your own.
About 20 mins after I got to the race, our wave was finally ready to start. The temperature was in the low 50′s with light rain that eventually stopped. I wore a tank top, maternity compression capris, light weight running shoes and homemade arm warmers (old Betty Boop socks with the feet cut off), which I actually didn’t need. I kept them on for about a mile because I thought they looked cute. Ha!
I deliberately started all the way in the back in the last corral. My plan was to jog slow especially since the roads were wet & slippery, take in the sights and have fun. And I did exactly that!
The race route had us running down 42nd Street passing Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building. Many runners stopped to take photos so I offered to take their pics if they returned the favor.
We then ran by The New York Public Library and Bryant Park. I actually stayed in this area waay longer than I should’ve but I got distracted & excited by a digital billboard showcasing an ad with several of my running friends doing the marathon. I tried to take a pic and video but the ad took too long to loop so I moved on. Oh well!
Anyway, then we made a right turn onto 6th Avenue before the famed Times Square. You could see all the bright billboards in the distance, which was pretty cool.
Then we ran up 6th Avenue and passed both the Love Sculpture and Radio City Music Hall.
Checkout these folks dressed in costumes. I love it! (pun intended)
*pic courtesy of the NYRR website.
Then we made our way to Central Park South passing by The Plaza Hotel and Grand Army Plaza which is right on the marathon route.
Marathon runners on Sunday run in the opposite direction to head to the finish line.
The 1 and only water stop at mile 2, was stationed by Grand Army Plaza so I stopped to take a cup. This is something I would never do pre-pregnacy because it’s such a short race and chances are I’d be racing it. But since I’m pregnant and doing this as a fun run, I thought ‘Why not?’.
We then made our way up the hill on West Drive, into the Central Park.
When I entered the park I couldn’t help looking around and being filled with nostalgia. I had so many training runs and races on this very same path that I smiled at the memories.
I knew this area like the back of my hand, so my plan was to continue jogging easy, look for the Jamaican flag about 400m before the finish line (I did an instastory showing it), and then gun it 200m up the final hill and across the finish line. It’s really the only time I was going to “run” since I had been jogging and stopping to take pics & videos and talking to people the entire time.
I executed my plan and minutes later I crossed the finish line 5+ months pregnant, grinning from ear to ear. What a great race!
I’ve done countless races in Central Park since 2009 and the routes are typically the same; start on the Upper East Side and end on the West Side or vice versa. So apart from the beauty of Central Park and the iconic NYC Marathon finish line, my expectations were pretty low.
I was pleasantly surprised to run this amazing route with nearly 11,000 runners(had no clue it was that many til after the race). Apart from a little rain at the start and not getting a finisher medal (we received a winter hat instead), I couldn’t have asked for a better race.
Another surprise was the post-race goodie bag. We received pretzels, an apple, protein bar and a bottle of water. A big departure from the usual bananas and bagels.
Seeing elites race the USATF 5k Championships
Family Friendly; I saw groups of families including kids. I even saw a Dad cross the finish line with a jogging stroller but I’m not sure if that was sanctioned so check with race organizers before attempting.
Amazing NYC Sights; United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, Chrysler Building, The NY Public Library, Bryant Park, Love Sculpture, Radio City Music Hall, Grand Army Plaza & Central Park.
Professional race photographers throughout the course
Race route closed off to automobile traffic
Crossing the NYC Marathon Finish Line
Race counts toward NYRR’s 9 + 1 program
Expensive race fee; fee ranges from $40-$50 for regular NYRR members and non-members.
Large Race (almost 11,000 finishers this year)
Expensive race photography; cost of a single professional download race photo is $19.95. Cost of downloading all professional race photos is $59.95.
No bag check at the starting line. Bag Check is located at the finish line in Central Park more than 3 miles away so if you plan to take advantage of the free service, you’ve gotta get there very early.
Lengthy wait time to start; this is due to the number of runners participating. I got to the race around 8:47am and didn’t cross the starting line until about 9:02am. This was fine for me but if you follow the race guidelines and get there 30-45 mins before the race, it’s a very long wait especially if there’s inclement weather.
I definitely recommend this race. You could use it as pre-marathon shakeout run, fun run with friends and family or race the hell out of it since it’s mostly downhill with a couple of inclines at the end. It’s a great way to be apart of the NYC Marathon weekend festivities.
And even though the $40-50 fee that most people end up paying, may seem high, it’s actually worth it when you consider that an average 5k around the country is $34.00 and many of them are no where near as organized as this race. They also don’t have the amazing city sights or give you a hat worth about $15.00 and a post-race goodie bag.
Congrats to the USATF 5K Champions, Paul Chelimo & Emily Sisson.
Congrats to everyone who ran the race! It was a fun one :)
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