Sidelining NYRR New York Mini 10K (Women Only)

On Saturday, June 9 I witnessed something special – an all-female 10K road race in Central Park. Oover 6,000 women celebrated the 40th anniversary of the NYRR New York Mini 10K by running their hearts out in this warm, humid morning. This race was a tremendous, emotional race due of its historic significance (first-ever all-female road race). I had the distinct pleasure of seeing some of the most famous female long-distance runners – including American Olympian Desiree Davila, and the legendary Nina Kuscsik (1972 Boston Marathon winner). In the midst of all this excitement, I was able to snap some photos of elite competitors, as well as my fellow bloggers:

Big smiles 10 minutes before the race. From the left: Christine, Jocelyn, Meggie

Irvette Van Blerk (2nd 20~24 group) stretching before the start

Olympian Diane Nukuri-Johnson (4th overall) right before the start

Firehiwot Dado (5th overall) casually walks towards the start as Amanda Marino (4th, 20~24 group) warms up

Nina Kuscsik gives a small talk right before the gun

Stephanie Rothstein (1st American, 1st 25~29 group, 6th Overall) looks fast even when she’s not running

Olympian Desiree Davila (2nd from left) ready to go

Winners of the 2012 NYRR Mini 10K. From the left: Aheza Kiros (2nd overall), Edna Kiplagat (1st overall), Hilda Kibet (3rd overall)

Emotions pouring out at the finish line of the 2012 NYRR Mini 10K

Team Popsicle! From the left: Jocelyn, Christy, Celia, Susan, and Christine

Post race photo! From the left: Meggie, Christine

Have you heard of, or participated in the Mini 10K? If you ran it this year, how did it go? I’d like to see your photos and hear your thoughts below!

Author Bio: Kevin Lu is an engineer. He received his B.S. and M.S. in biomedical engineering from NJIT. Science, technology, and running are Kevin’s passions. In his spare time, Kevin trains for and participates in races of various distances. In addition to Beyond Distance, Kevin also writes for iRunnerBlog as a columnist. Find out more about Kevin here and follow him on Twitter.