Overall: 4 out of 5
Medal / Shirt / Swag: 4 out of 5
Aid Stations: 5 out of 5
Course Scenery: 5 out of 5
Expo / Pre & Post Race: 3 out of 5
Elevation Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Race Management: 4 out of 5
Atmosphere / Fun Factor: 5 out of 5
The New York Road Runners (NYRR) held their third race in the Five Borough Series last weekend on Saturday, June 15, 2019; the Queens 10K. This race was located in beautiful Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York and played host to 11,852 racers (6,252 men and 5,600 women). This was a fast and flat course that gave runners an opportunity to get out and be active on a wonderful morning.
Being as this is one of the Five Borough Series races, turnout was high and the energy of the crowd was great. People were everywhere, groups were stretching, and friends were laughing. You could see that people were at this race to have a great time. Personally, I only had two complaints about this race. First, although this was a beautiful course, some of the run ways that runners went through were very narrow. Much narrower than I expected. Given the amount of runners in the race this caused a lot of congestion which slowed things down quite a bit. I was in Wave 1 Corral E so I cannot speak for how it was for those in the second Wave. The pack traveled at a good pace but I definitely felt that the first 2.5 miles were extremely congested and that I could not find space to pick up my pace. After that mark there were areas where the crowd lightened up a bit but the congestion would come back again when we reached narrower areas. This is of course all a part of racing and a good lesson on crowd strategy but runners should be aware of this.
My second complaint is on the running community of New York City and the NYRR for their late management of a particular situation. During the race you pass the iconic Queens landmark; the Unisphere. So naturally everyone is going to want photos in front of it with their medals. Just before Mile 6, runners who completed the race seemed to not be concerned about the race anymore and were casually and blatantly walking in the road, aka the course, blocking runners and making them have to weave in between them. It was extremely disrespectful and shocking to see. I had never seen that before at a race. They even looked annoyed when people asked them to get off the course. After a long while a NYRR volunteer finally came over to try to clear the course of people walking through and taking photos but it was a difficult task for one person. I really hope that the NYRRs put more volunteers at this spot next year.
As for the race itself, this race is set up in two waves of runners and different time corrals. Runners will start out in Corona Park on Meridian Road between the Avenue of Discovery and the Avenue of Research. As the horn goes off you’ll head straight on Meridian Road before turning left onto Meadow Lake Road West/Meadow Lake Promenade. Turn right to continue on Meadow Dr, around to the Meadowlark Circle to cross the Amphitheater Bridge and continue on Avenue of Asia. Right turn onto Avenue of Africa and right onto Meridian Rd. As runners approach Mile 2 they’ll follow Meridian Road past the Queens Museum straight down to an out and back loop on Shea Road that will bring you to Mile 3 near Citi Field at Boat Basin Place. Half way through Mile 3 you’ll make a loop onto Hall of Science Bridge turning left onto Zoo Path as you head south past the Queens Zoo at Mile 4. Turning right onto United Nations Avenue South and then a right as you run all the way around the Carousel Loop. Turn right back onto United Nations Avenue South and cross over Zoo Brigde. Turn right at Avenue of the States to run around the New York State Pavilion. Mile 6 will have you continue straight to run clockwise around the Unisphere, then continue on Avenue of Americas. Turn right onto the Avenue of Commerce and then turn right onto Herbert Hoover Promenade, reaching Mile 6 at Astronaut Court. Continue on Dwight Eisenhower Promenade and turn left to the finish on the Avenue of Commerce. Congratulations on completing the Queens 10K!
Despite my two minor complaints I highly recommend this race. It is a great distance in a beautiful park and it takes you by some absolutely wonderful New York City sights. It was also great to have free race day photos taken by GameFace Media.
A Runner's Resolve 