Let's go racing - May edition

Let's go racing - May edition

By Geoffrey Vincent

Whilst strolling through the Park one day,


In the merry, merry month of May...






Strolling? Get a move on - it's May and it's time to go racing!






There's plenty to do this month as the various Summer speed series get under way. Both tentative at press time, but we're looking at the Tuesday night Fort Hamilton Army Base Speed Series 5k slated to start May 4th and the Thursday Staten Island Summer Speed Series 3m on the 6th - start times for both 7:00 PM. For those of you who prefer a little dirt under your feet there's the 5k XC Series in Parsippany, NY on Wednesdays at 7:15 PM (those begin April 21st) and the Van Cortlandt Track Club's X-C Summer Series (5k - start time 7:00 PM) starting May 27th.

Closer to home PPTC's very own Al Goldstein 5k Summer Speed Series gets under way on May 26th - every other Wednesday at 7:00 PM by the Oriental Pavilion. More details should be on the website soon.

Lots to do on the weekends too. Good luck to everyone running the LI Marathon on the 2nd (or any of the related events that weekend) and ditto the North Face Endurance Challenge races the weekend of the 8th and 9th.

For everyone else there's the Cinco de Mayo 5k here in Prospect Park on May 2nd and the Y the Ramble 5k and 10k up in Riverdale.

Don't forget May 9th is Mother's Day and what better way to celebrate than by taking part in the Prospect Park Mother's Day Duathlon and The Fuggetabout It 5K? OK, so Mom might prefer flowers...

There's more multi-sport fun the following weekend (for those so inclined) with the Queens Biathlon out in Alley Pond Park on May 16th. If it's the same course I competed on many years ago the bike leg includes a wicked fast downhill on the Cross Island Parkway (closed to traffic, of course).

Also on the 16th is Buckley's - Kennedy's 5k (details not finalized at press time), the Forest Park Classic 4 in Queens, the NYPD Memorial 5k (Liberty and West Streets in Manhattan) and others too numerous to mention.

If you're not running the Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 22nd you might want to check out the Keep BRAVO Running 5k on the 23rd, down on Shore Road in Bay Ridge.


Finally, I'm still waiting for definite details on the May 16th Harbor Fitness 5k and May 31st Staten Island Advance Memorial Day 4 Mile Run - I'll update the calendar when I hear more, so keep checking back I’m always adding something new!


No matter what races you choose, run fast - and wear your team colors!