Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Staten Island 1/2, Here I Come!!!!

I'm so excited that our running coach agreed that the Staten Island 1/2 would be a good idea! He said to remember to not get caught up in the race, use it as a training run, use it as a test run for my Marathon strategey.....THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!! Wow, I can't believe this is all happening!!

My plan is to rent a car on Saturday, then drive to Staten Island on Sunday morning. According to the directions to the start it looks like parking is about 2.5 miles away from the start, so it says that you can take the "city bus" from the parking area to the starting point, that should be good.

I'm a little nervous about going "by myself" (meaning there won't be an extra person to hold something or deal with my nerves of figuring out where to go), but it will be a great adventure!!!


Here we go again with questions.....anyone ever done the Staten Island Half??? I'm hoping "The Laminator" will chime in here!!! Tell me what it's like, how's parking? The "city bus"? Looks like there are plenty of water stops, so maybe no need to use my fuel belt? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

As always, thanks in advance for your input!!!

12 comments:

Megan said...

I went to Staten Island once and it was nice! Does that help?

jahowie said...

I've never been. I'm no help at all!! :-) I'm excited for you!! My first(and only) half was a great experience.

Aron said...

ohhhh good luck!! thats so fun! i am so glad you are doing it :)

Megan said...

why don't you take the ferry instead of renting a car - might be easier. It seems like the start is close to the ferry landing - I googled it. PS I have two gf's that live on SI - really 4 but one just had a baby and then contracted menagentis so I feel bad asking her and the other is due any day - but I emailed them and asked for some help for you!

Marcy said...

Sorry I'm of no help but i wish you . . the BEST OF LUCK ;D ;D ;D

Jess said...

I can't offer much help, but I'm wishing you tons of luck! Have fun!

P.O.M. said...

It's scary going to a race by yourself, but you can do it! Can't wait to hear about it.

teacherwoman said...

I am so excited for you! Sounds like it should be a good time and a great experience! Good luck... and remember ... ENJOY!

Aron said...

i just realized... laura at absolute(ly) fit is doing this half this weekend too... i dont know if you read her blog or not but check it out! its on my links incase you dont have it :)

Laura said...

I've never done it, but my plan is to take the 1 to South Ferry and then take the ferry across. They said as long as we're on the 8:30 ferry we'll be there in time.

Laura said...

(The 1 is a subway line, by the way) :)

Drop me an e-mail at absolutromantic at gmail dot com and let me know where you're coming from... it might make less sense to drive. Also, I'd love to meet up before or after!

The Laminator said...

So glad you decided to join in the fun. The SI half is a nice one to do.

Yes, I've done the course before. For the most part, it is very scenic and somewhat flat. The hills are not that tough. It is mostly an out and back course meaning all the uphills and downhills cancel each other out by the time you're done.

I know there's a gradual hill at the beginning at first mile but then it is pretty flat up to midpoint where's there's a turnaround and then a big hill at mile 7-8.

Otherwise, that's about all that's challenging about it. Weather looks good so not much to worry about it on that front.

If you're coming from NJ, I think parking and taking the bus is best way to go. If you're coming from the city, then take the ferry definitely.

Other than that, if you've got questions, let me know, and i'll answer best as I can. Good luck!

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