We Want MORE!

Deb M

More Half-Marathon – April 3, 2011

We finally had a great day for the More Half-Marathon this year! The weather was perfect for running, 50 degrees and sunny. Compared to previous years this was an ideal day for all of the Flyer volunteers and runners out on the course.  In 2010, we had a torrential downpour and the year prior it was 85 degrees and humid, turning the race into a fun run.  This year marked the eighth running of the More Half-Marathon and eight years that the New York Flyers have volunteered at this event.  I have volunteered at this race every year and have always enjoyed this all-women’s event and bonding with my fellow Flyer pace leaders.

More History

The More Magazine / Fitness Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon originally began as a half and full marathon only open to women 40+ years of age. Females under 40 could do the half if they were paired up with someone over 40.  The race began before I turned 40, so I remember running with a Flyer friend over 40 years old at the time.  The marathon consisted of five loops of the park where only about 200 or so marathoners ran every year.  After the heat in 2009 and the cancellation of the marathon that year, More and NYRR chose to only continue the More Half in the following years.

More Results and More Celebrity



Sheri Piers and
Samantha Meyerhoff

The Half is now open to all ages with a total field of 10,000+ runners this year.  Leading the pack was winner, Sheri Piers in 1:17:27 and in fourth place, Samantha Meyerhoff in 1:26:39.  Samantha’s sister, Sally Meyerhoff won the More Half last year setting an event record in 1:14:40.  Sally, considered one of America’s top 10 marathon runners, died in a tragic cycling accident last month and her family came to the More event to honor her.  Samantha, as well as others (Lara K!), wore pink compression socks in Sally’s memory.  The NYRR presented the winner with the Meyerhoff Award, which will continue to be given to the fastest female on the course every year.  Also in the crowd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of “The View” hosted and ran the eighth-annual More Half Marathon raising money for Celiac Disease research. She ran an impressive 1:44:32 in her first half-marathon.  More Magazine tells more about the race, the winners, and much more about More in a more.com article that appears on the More Magazine website.

More Flyer Volunteers

I organized the volunteers this year, taking over from the very capable Jo Ann M who successfully managed this process for the past few years.  Joining me in my efforts was Siggy T, who did a fabulous job of overseeing the water station volunteers.  We had more than 50 volunteers pacing, handing out water and working the Expo – a great representation of the New York Flyers at this event.  The weekend started with our volunteers at the More Expo on April 1 – 2, working the pace table and answering questions about the race.  The Expo had some good samples and I had an interesting lunch on my shift of Silk soymilk smoothies and Thomas’ bagel thins with peanut butter!

On race day, we gathered at 6:45am at Tavern on the Green for last minute instructions and to break up into groups.  We had a total of 28 pace leaders in 6 pace groups ranging from a 1:40 to 2:30 finish time, that led these women (many of them in their first half marathon) to successfully complete the race.  All pacers were required to carry a stick with two balloons indicating their pace group (a little bit of a challenge while running into the wind!).  Thanks to expert balloon handlers Rich H and Ed A for assisting in this process.

More Pace Group Leaders (with Ed A striking a slinky pose)

The race started at 8 am so we headed to our respective corrals about 7:30 am.  It was a cool morning but perfect weather once we got moving.  This year I was teamed up with the very speedy Deanna C to pace the 1:40 group (How did that happen?  Oh yeah I organized the pace teams!). I wanted to push it one more time before Boston and felt good for the 13.1 miles alongside my very efficient co-pacer; we were right on pace finishing in 1:39:53.  Checking the results later that day I was amazed and proud of all my fellow pace leaders to see every group came in at, or slightly below, target pace – well done ladies!

More Water

Flyer Waterboys Kevin M, Lloyd H, and Alan G

We had 20 volunteers working the water station at West 67th Street near the starting line.  Siggy had his people broken up into two 3 ½ hour shifts, the first one starting at 5:30 am!  When I got there early that morning to get ready for the pacers, his team was already there in the dark, filling up water cups.  It was cold at that hour, so many of them had on layers of clothes and furry parkas.  We were required to have volunteers there until 12:30 pm with the NYRR allowing a 4-hour completion time for this race.  The next shift cheered on the slower runners and cleaned up, with Siggy staying for the entire seven hours – way to go captain!  We ran past the Flyer water station twice in the race, a lift each time to hear the cheers and see those friendly faces.

More Thanks!

Many other Flyers also were out on the course running in the opposite direction and cheering on the Flyer ladies.  A special thanks to Bob Cowin and Andreas Stresemann for taking so many wonderful photos!

More Fun with Fran O, Lara K, Anne H
and, in back, Megan T, Isabel J and Jodie F

It was a great day for a race and a great day to be a Flyer in Central Park. Thanks to all the volunteers, and to all those who were out there cheering, in what turned out to be a fabulous April day in New York City!

- Deb M.