Today, I ran the 2nd Annual Greg Fried Memorial 5k in Roslyn. The tragedy in Boston made it somewhat somber for me, but I did my best to absorb being back and running through my historic and beautiful childhood hometown.
Like last year, it was nice to meet some friendly runners before and after the race.
As I’m sure will be commonplace at races everywhere, we observed a moment of silence for the victims in Boston. This course starts and finishes at Roslyn High School. Along the way, it goes down through the Roslyn Village, back up Roslyn Road, through the neighborhood around the high school and finishes on a nice straightaway with bit of a slope downward. So despite the hills, you can finish this race with a sprint.
The interesting thing about this course is how different mile 1 and mile 2 are. Mile 1 is almost completely downhill whereas mile 2 is almost completely uphill. What goes down must come up I suppose. If you’re going to start and finish at the same place and lose about 200ft along the way, you have pay for it somewhere. Mile 3 contains another rise in elevation as you go up Magnolia Lane, but, as I mentioned, you can cruise through that last half mile on Harbor Hill Road.
Where I normally run, there are no hills, so I’m not accustomed to steep downhill runs and it can be a bit awkward for me. Today, I found a stride that got me down to the village pretty comfortably and quickly. Hopefully I can find it again in Northport, because I probably won’t see hills again until Cow Harbor.
Everyone gets a finisher’s medal and packed goody bag. They do a great job with the refreshments and have the awards ceremony on the high school track.
No question, I will run this race again next year. Yes, I’m biased, but there’s no denying it’s a fun and scenic course.
