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Eight runners pounded the pavement of Manhattan in the NYC Half-Marathon this past Sunday to represent Row New York! Six staff —Regina De Los Santos, Amanda Kraus, Megan Gatten, Denise Aquino, Eva Campbell, Carol Quijada—and two supporters—Hannah Gais and Karen Pescador—ran 13.1 miles to raise money for our youth empowerment programs. Though each ran the same course, they uniquely experienced this journey through the city.

Before Sunday, Academic Assistant Regina De Los Santos hadn’t considered the half-marathon an option: “At first I thought this was a crazy thing to do because I had never run more than 4 miles,” but after deciding she needed “a kick in the caboose,”  Regina committed her mind and body to the training. Regina joined other RNY runners to train early mornings at the Row New York office, trudging across the Queensboro Bridge, and coordinated weekend training runs through Prospect Park.

Our runners agreed that this harsh winter added a challenge to race prep: “I didn’t follow a training schedule because it was too snowy, icy, and freezing,” says Director of Corporate Relations and Events Megan Gatten. Coaching Corps Member Eva Campbell agreed, “I definitely trained a lot 5 months before [the race] and fell off during the super cold months.”

Prepared or not, our runners laced up that morning and joined nearly 20,000 others to traverse Central Park, midtown through Times Square, and the Westside Highway,  finishing on Wall Street. “I felt great! Between the crowd cheering, my awesome playlist (thanks to Denise), adrenaline and endorphins I was having a great time,” says Megan. “I just wanted to have fun,” says School-Day Para-Rowing Coach and Interim Middle School Program Director Denise Aquino. “With my RNY shirt on, I felt like I wanted to make sure everyone could see the name on my shirt. It was fun to cheer and clap in general, but I liked drawing that sort of attention to to RNY and the mobile advertising it was getting.”

Runners agreed that deep into the race, the mileage began to take its toll:”My feet and hips started to hurt. I think aerobically I was ready, but I hadn’t trained enough for my muscles to take the beating,” says Eva. Megan agreed: “Miles 9.5 – 11.5 were the hardest for me because I felt really cold and tired.”  Despite the mental and physical soreness, RNY runners found inspiration among the sights and spectators. Regina found that “the posters along the roads were inspirational, funny and motivating.  Complete strangers saying things like ‘You can do this’ and ‘You are half way there’ was what got me to the finish line.”  “One of my favorite things were the spectators that weren’t there for anyone in particular,” says Denise, “but just to support runners. Someone was holding up a sign that just said, “smile” and I did without even thinking about it.”

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Eva Campbell proudly displaying her medal.

Overall, the experience was incredibly rewarding for the RNY runners, as many noted that it was the most mileage they had done in their life: “Before college I had never ran more than a mile. I never thought I would be able to run that far, and now it doesn’t even seem like a long distance,” said Eva. Megan felt proud and “so happy that my first half marathon was done to support such a great cause!” During the race, Executive Director Amanda Kraus was “buoyed by thinking about who I was running for…supporting them felt like a privilege. It was a great day to be a New Yorker and, even better, a ROW New Yorker!”

Our runners strongly recommend running a half-marathon. RNY runners found support amidst co-workers, friends, family and, on race day, the undying cheers of the crowds that carried  them through the race. As captain of the Half-marathon team, Ali Simeone noted, “As a spectator, it was a rare opportunity where a crowded, big city didn’t seem so anonymous;  it felt like a family supporting each other through an amazing athletic feat.”

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A well-deserved post-race brunch!

Congratulations and thank you to our runners for their perseverance and commitment to Row New York. For anyone considering running next year, Regina has this advice:

“Get out of your own way, get up, get out, and just do it!”

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