Brooklynite Summer Half Marathon
Brooklyn, NY
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Welcome to the Brooklynite Summer Half Marathon! Be prepared to be one of our powerful athletes ready to run 13.1 Miles on one of the United States most historic river fronts. It’s a 3-loop course along the Shore. You start running South and u-turn at 2nd water station. Where the … MORE
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Improved a lot, but could be better
Not sure why the other reviews were so harsh. Though I’m a first time runner, I could tell the whole event definitely improved since previous years. Reading previous reviews, organization … MORE
Not sure why the other reviews were so harsh. Though I’m a first time runner, I could tell the whole event definitely improved since previous years.
Reading previous reviews, organization improved but could still be better. I didn’t have to wait any long lines except for the port-a-potties pre-race (though I guess long lines pre-race are very common in most half marathons). The course change before the actual race was a bit confusing (they emailed an update two days before the race). It turned out to be a more straightforward course than the previous one, but some people found it to be boring since runners just looped around the same 4.1 miles. Personally, I enjoyed it because the scenery was terrific: views of the bridge on one end, the city skyline on the other.
The staff and volunteers were very friendly, but they definitely could’ve had more volunteers at the water stations because they were quite slow with distributing cups. I was told also they apparently handed out cups with some kind of iced juice that got pretty sticky as runners grabbed it and spilled it all over as they ran, but I hadn’t personally received any. Their website also promised energy gels but the stations didn’t have any. There’s room for improvement if you’re going to place about 500 runners on the finish line on a hot, yet windy course.
I personally think splits at the end of the each loop (4.1 miles) were kind of pointless and wished they had mile splits.
For my first half marathon ever, however, I’d say the race overall wasn’t bad.
WARNING-Do not register for this event
PRERACE: There were warning signs I should have heeded; mails encouraging switching to a different race, cancellation of packet pick up prior to race day, and race morning announcement that … MORE
PRERACE: There were warning signs I should have heeded; mails encouraging switching to a different race, cancellation of packet pick up prior to race day, and race morning announcement that medals had not arrived and would be mailed.
RACE DAY: While people were friendly and helpful, instruction once you made it through the LONG line were very poor. I went in circles repeatedly before I figured out what I was supposed to do. Oh, but wait!! These are the ONLY port-a-potties on the entire race?? There are no woods to disappear into in the big city. You better just pray.
RACE EXPERIENCE: I do not know what it was like for the speedy elite runners, but for those of us in the bottom third of the pack, they had run out of water for the last 5 miles, I did not see any gels, there was no water at the finish line (though I am told there was juice if you’d finished fast enough). In that mid summer heat, blazing sun (no shade on this paved course), and high humidity, the EMT’s were busy with folks suffering from the lack of water.
POST RACE: It has been 2 weeks and I still don’t have my medal in the mail.
HORRIBLE!!!
This was my 15th half marathon and by far the worst organized. I sent Texts and emails to the number and email provided on websites, questioning my son not being … MORE
This was my 15th half marathon and by far the worst organized. I sent Texts and emails to the number and email provided on websites, questioning my son not being listed as a participant and they never got back to me. Packet pick-up was at 7:30 the morning of the run, Run started at 9:00. So, we sat around in the heat awaiting the start of run. A start of 9:00am in June was to late as it was VERY hot and humid. Multiple runners were taken off course with heat exhaustion. After I finished and was awaiting my ride, my family assisted another runner on a bench with heat exhaustion. I ran to the finish line as my husband was taking care of the runner and asked if any medical personnel was available. They told me no, the have all left.
They ran out of water, and we were told Medals did not come in on time and will be ship to us. They best part of doing a half marathon for me, is getting the medal at the end for completion.
On a positive note, The scenery was beautiful. Race shirt is nice.
So disappointing, to travel to Brooklyn and have it be such an unorganized race. I would not recommend!!!!
Excuses, excuses...
This was the worse, must unorganized, half marathon event I have ever participated. Such a shame too, because the course is a great location. I was so excited to run … MORE
This was the worse, must unorganized, half marathon event I have ever participated. Such a shame too, because the course is a great location. I was so excited to run in Brooklyn, New York. I hope they fix these issues for future participants.
This is where it gets long & wordy, but I wanted to provide full details.
Let’s see. Where to start? First, the webpage is horrible. It provides little information. It stated pre-race packet pick-up “to be announced”, but then 2 or 3 days before the event, it finally changed to “n/a”.
Second, the start time was set at 9 am. I’m not a morning person, but I prefer at least an 8 am start time; especially in June to avoid the heat. Note: looks like they have the 2018 start time at 8 am, per their updated webpage.
Third, absolutely no communication from the organizers until 14 1/2 hours before the event (the night before). In the message, they didn’t check transit updates, because they provided false information since the closest subway station was closed for the weekend. They had to send out a follow up message 30 minutes later, informing people of the issue. This meant that people using transit system had to go to the next stop, which required about a mile long walk to the start line. I suggest taxi/uber/lyft to avoid any issues & save your legs for the half marathon.
Fourth issue, buried in that late email, at the very bottom, they had this nice little announcement: “We are also sorry to announce that our medals did not arrive due to the weather. We will mail with in the United States to all finishers.” I understand not everyone runs half marathons for the medals, but many of us do. And the most enjoyable part of finishing is receiving that medal to have something to show for our accomplishment. And “due to weather”??? What weather? It’s June! What kind of weather issues could delay delivery? A sorry excuse to cover for someone that failed to order in time for them to arrive. [When we finally get our medals, I’ll update this post to let you know how long it took to receive them – ARRIVED 17 days after the event] – Note: 2018 event states that medals will be mailed, not given at the end of the event.
Last, and most importantly, they ran out of water way too early. They were expecting thunderstorms and rain, but the clouds parted and it was sunny and hot. 80 degrees with 80% humidity. It was HOT. I do carry water with me. Since it was so hot, I rationed my own water, but used it all up heading to the 2nd turn-around point, thinking they’ll have water there that will get me through the last 2.45 miles. Nope! They were empty. All they could say was “sorry”. So I had to run the last 2.45 miles, dry-mouthed, feeling the heat, all the way back. Then get to the finish line and no water there either. Again, they just said “sorry”. Not, “we have someone going to get water” or advice on where we can buy some water or find a water fountain. This is dangerous. I saw 2 people, while on the course, being treated by medical personnel for heat conditions. I would not be surprised if there was more. No matter what you expect the forecast to be, organizers of June events should buy twice the amount of water they think they’ll need. No excuse for running out.
I won’t even go into details of the unorganized morning packet pick-up or the unorganized snafu at bag check. Again, I truly hope they get these worked out for future events, because the location in Brooklyn, New York has such great potential.