The Front Runners New York Gay and Lesbian Pride Run (woo that’s one hell of a long title) is part of New York’s Pride Week. It’s a blast. People tend to not take the race so seriously and come out to support Gay Pride, dress up, and act crazy in general.

I started my morning with a 2 hour bike ride (150 HR Tempo) so I was pretty warmed up by the time I got to the start. I also had a 4 hour ride queued up for the following day so ‘Jello Legs’ would be the theme of my Monday morning.

I was just chill in out in my corral in a cute little shady spot when I saw Abbe. She has gotten way fast so now she is either in the Red or Blue Corrals. This time she was in the Red, so I went to the back of the Blue and we talked. It was something out of a movie, but replace the red tape with the Berlin Wall or something a bit more dramatic. “When will I see you again my dear?” “At the end of the race in about 30 minutes.” “Farewell!”

Back towards the front of the Blue Corral a lot of the Front Runners were assembling. I was watching for my pal Kevin, but saw him nowhere. Then, I saw Josh, who came over and chatted. I told him how I was tired and he said to just have fun.

SIDENOTE: Josh has started doing triathlons with plenty of time before he peaks out. Like 10 years. (Triathletes be afraid as he is a sick swimmer and even faster runner.) Josh, let me coach you on the bike, we may have a shot at getting you an Ironman win! I’m not even kidding here, I have on my serious face.

Back to the present. The gun went off and I just started running. My legs felt a bit heavy so I just ran as best I could. I didn’t have a watch on so I had no idea of my pace. Sometimes that’s a fun way to roll.

Mile 1 was AFTER Harlem Hill. Thankfully the hardest part of the race was over by then. I hit the mark running a 6:12 and was like, “Oh, okay I guess my legs aren’t that heavy.” I decided to try and maintain or go faster at this point.

Between Miles 2 and 4 I was running in a race pack of 3 with a Central Park Track Team member and a WSX runner. We were jockeying for position back and forth and it was quite fun. Sometimes I would lead, sometimes them.

Rounding the bend from the 72nd Street transverse to Park Drive East I heard my name from a mile away. “Baaaaaaaakeeeeer! Goooooooo!” It was Elizabeth cheering on with a few of her Dashing Whippets teammates. As I passed by, full of new found energy she sent me off with a, “Baker go win this thing! GO!”

I blasted forward making my way up Cat Hill thinking… “Win this thing… hmmm, well I know for sure Josh and his boys are up ahead killing it with sub 6 paces so that’s not gonna happen.” At the top of Cat Hill Maura was cheering too!

As I come past mile 5 we got where all the speakers and the ‘party’ was from the start. I was doing great until I heard them blasting “We fell in love in a hopeless place.” by Rhianna. I was thinking a few different things:

– Where is the DJ, I’m going to tackle him.
– If this gets stuck in my head after the race I’m going to find the DJ and tackle him.
– If I hear that song 1 more freaking time I am going to tackle who ever is responsible for playing it.
– Where is this ‘hopeless place’ you fell in love? Is it scary like a dungeon or more like a desert island?

I cranked through the finish with a 30:55. I was really sweaty and it was burning my eyes something fierce.
After saying good race to my fellow competitors and asking Josh if he won I went to cheer on the gals. (Abbe, Elyssa, Bojana, Erica, Sharon, and Jess)

We had color coordinated so that we had a rainbow spectrum. After the race we invaded my new neighborhood and ate at a diner as a stinky group of runners.

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend! (You know who you are!) There were some big races and a lot of my peeps crushed it!