Run, Karla, Run!

Runners cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the ING New York City marathon. (Photo: Fergal Carr, via Creative Commons)

Time is ticking to apply for the 2013 ING New York City Marathon lottery. Runners have until 11:59 p.m. EST on May 24 to apply for one of the 47,500 spots in the race on Sunday, November 3. Runners who have a guaranteed entry must also claim their spot by May 24.

New York Road Runners, the organization that puts on the event and one that I freelance for as host of On The Run, will choose participants from the lottery on May 29 through a random draw.

Last year, more than 140,000 people applied for approximately 47,000 starting spots on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, most of which were already allocated to runners who gained bibs through one of the ING NYC Marathon’s guaranteed entry programs: running for charity partners, international travel partners, meeting a qualifying standard, completing NYRR’s 9+1 program, being denied by the lottery the previous three consecutive years, or running the race more than 15 times. Just 15,000 runners gained entry through the lottery, up from 9,000 people in 2011. Read the rest of this entry →

It was an amazing day of running in New York City at the 2013 NYC Half on Sunday, March 17. Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Caroline Rotich ran away with the men’s and women’s titles as 15,000 runners took a 13.1 mile journey through the heart of the city from Central Park, through Times Square and along the Hudson River to the spectacular Wall Street finish near the historic South Street Seaport.

Join me and Olympians Carrie Tollefson and Todd Williams “On The Run” at the NYC Half as we recap the men’s and women’s professional races, catch up with some of the charity runners we profiled earlier in the week and capture the spirit of the day. Read the rest of this entry →

Ready to shave 1 hour from my marathon time.

In just a few days, I’ll be staring at the starting line of the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 13, 2013. It will be my sixth marathon and the first I’m not running for a personal best. This one is just for fun, and I don’t care how long it takes me. I’m going to wear a costume, take pictures with Disney characters and enjoy a course that runs through four theme parks, a race track and a baseball diamond.

To honor the occasion, I thought I’d take a look back at my second marathon, which was the exact opposite. At the 2008 ING New York City Marathon, I set out to shatter my one and only marathon time—clocked on the same course just a year before—by an hour.

This race report was first published on TheSportsBank.net in November 2008, but I thought I’d finally put it up here at RunKarlaRun.com too. After all, it was my first true marathon PR.

I also happen to be in an ’80s cover band called The Fades. This month marks the 5th anniversary of our first show. We’re all—save one—marathoners. In fact, I’m the slowest of the bunch. This post was inspired by them. Rock on, Fades!

Marathon Redux, ’80s Music Edition

I did it. I ran the ING New York City Marathon. Again. And by ran, I mean ran. The whole blessed thing. Who knew all it would take was zealous devotion to a few ‘80s songs? Read the rest of this entry →

Photo: Philadelphia Marathon

It’s been an eventful training season for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 18. As always with marathon training, I’ve enjoyed plenty of highs and lows over the course of the last few months. But marathon training comes down to this–how ready you are on race day. I’m ready to tackle Philly with a vengeance and leave all my cares out on the course in an attempt at my marathon personal record. Read the rest of this entry →

Hey New Yorkers! Looking for a 5K to race this weekend? Look no further than Randall’s Island!

The New York Harriers, my very own running team, is putting on 5K this Saturday, June 30 at 8 a.m. This is no ordinary 5K: it’s sponsored by Skechers ‘Go Run’ and features a USATF certified course that begins and ends at Icahn Stadium, a world class facility that hosts IAAF track and field events like the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League.   Read the rest of this entry →

A triathlete is born. (Photo: Tania Haas)

On June 17, 2012, a triathlete was born. She emerged from the waters of the Long Island Sound, swathed in a wetsuit, and said to anyone who would listen, “I am triathlete. Watch me swim, bike and run.”

The Long Island Gold Coast Triathlon was only my second attempt at the crazy art of mashing three sports into one. The first was last summer at the Peterborough Sprint Triathlon in the Subaru Triathlon Series in Ontario, Canada. I did the race with my triathlon partner in crime, Tania, a Toronto-native. We had so much fun that we decided to make it an annual ritual.

Come Sunday morning at 5 a.m. we departed New York City to do it all over again: a half-mile swim, 11.5 mile bike and 3 mile run. Read the rest of this entry →

I’m not usually one to plug products or programs unless I’ve tried them myself, but my good friend and coach, Kevin Horty, is running a spring marathon and half-marathon training program with Terrier Tri in New York City. And while I can’t endorse Terrier Tri, I heartily endorse Coach Kevin. He’s the man with the plan who has seen me through over two dozen PR’s, including three consecutive marathon PR’s. As coach of the New York Harriers, he’s helped hundreds of other runners get faster too. And his marathon best of 2:41 ain’t too shabby.

The 14-week program begins on January 10, and includes three weekly group coached sessions in Central Park on Tuesday/Friday at 6 a.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Sessions include speed work, fartlek runs, hill workouts, tempo runs and fast finish long runs. The program also includes a weekly training schedule with five days per week of running and strength and core workouts, as well as online email support from Coach Horty and Coach Spencer Casey, head coach of the New York Athletic Club elite running team. Between them, these guys have 45 years of competitive running and coaching experience. The cost is $350 for Terrier Tri members and $395 for non-members. Check out the website for more information on the Bostonplus program.

And to everyone training for a spring marathon or half-marathon, start your engines!

Photo by Joris van Rooden

With only four days until the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7, my excitement is ramping up exponentially. So I made a New York City mix—a love note to the city I adore, and love to run. These are my favorite songs about New York. There are lots of standards, some show tunes, rock songs, folk, rap and more. It seems everybody loves to sing about New York.

Happy listening, happy running, and when you’re facing the Queensboro Bridge at mile 15 of the marathon, just remember what Simon and Garfunkel sang in “The 59^th Street Bridge Song” (another name New Yorkers use for the Queensboro): “Life—I love you. All is Groovy!”

If you have a favorite New York City song, list it below! Read the rest of this entry →

Edison Peña, center, ran every day while trapped in the mine. Photo by Hugo Infante/Government of Chile.

Edison Peña, the rescued Chilean miner known as “The Runner,” will run the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7, Universal Sports reports.

New York Road Runners, which organizes the race, invited Peña to New York as their special guest after president and CEO Mary Wittenberg heard about his extraordinary efforts to stay fit and sane while trapped with 32 other men in a gold and copper mine near Copiapo, Chile. Read the rest of this entry →

Meb Keflezighi chases down Kenya’s Robert Cheruiyot at the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. (Photo: Randy Lemoine).

The 2010 ING New York City Marathon professional field is shaping up to be one of the most exciting races in recent memory. A stellar field of the world’s top marathoners, including three previous winners and the world record holder, will be lined up at the start on Nov. 7.

Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia already announced earlier this year that he’d be running the New York City marathon for the first time in his career. And American Meb Keflezighi also announced he will be back to defend his 2009 title.

But New York Road Runners, the race organizer, recently announced that a slew of other champions will be joining them: two-time ING New York City Marathon champions Martin Lel of Kenya and Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil, as well as four-time Boston Marathon champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot. Lel won New York in 2003 and 2007. Dos Santos won in 2006 and 2008. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by fotologic/Flikr

10 weeks down, six to go.

Believe. It’s a loaded word. One that is used and abused in popular culture, in religion, in politics, in all the areas of life where what we want to be true may not always be, and what is true is not always pretty. As humans, we have a unique ability to delude ourselves. And yet, we continue to believe any number of things for any number of reasons, some of which are worth believing.

Running isn’t any different. Every runner has a different set of beliefs: that stretching is good or bad, that running with headphones is helpful or a hindrance, that tackling an ultramarathon is sane or insane, that we’ll actually be able to achieve our running goals.

I began to question my beliefs during my last week of training for the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7. Read the rest of this entry →

Bernard Lagat celebrates his second place finish at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile on Sept. 26, 2010. Photo by Phil Hospod.

How many times have you set a goal, only to come this close? How many times have you asked yourself “What if?”

Yup, that was me on Sunday at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile. It’s easily my favorite race of the year. Running down Fifth Avenue in New York City as fast as you possibly can is a unique thrill. It’s about 20 city blocks straight down one of the most storied stretches of one of the most famous streets in the world. And then after running yourself, you get to watch some of the world’s fastest milers—Olympians and World Champions among them—duke it out.

One of those milers is Bernard Lagat. I’ve seen him race at the Fifth Avenue Mile a few times now, and I also witnessed his historic eighth win in the mile at the Millrose Games. He’s a four-time World Champion and he owns Olympic silver and bronze. He also taught me a very valuable lesson at Sunday’s race. Read the rest of this entry →

The High Line in New York City on Oct. 29. The elevated park is on the city’s West Side. Photo by Rob Thurman/Flikr.

Okay, it’s been a full month since I ran the Chicago Marathon and I suppose it’s time—time to run again.

I’m a real stickler when it comes to the rules of training. And perhaps my favorite rule of training is actually the rule of recovery. A common adage says it takes one day per mile of any distanced raced for your body to fully recover. So that means I get 26.2 days off from hard training. I take that seriously. Maybe too seriously. As much as I love to run, I love to take it easy when I feel I’ve earned it.

But after about two and a half weeks of recovery, I started to get antsy. The yoga, stretching and sit-ups I was passing off for workouts just weren’t cutting it. So I finally laced up my shoes and hit the pavement. Read the rest of this entry →

Natalie stops to chat with her cheerleaders. Photo by Christy Hourihan.

I was running. Striding up Second Avenue in my new sneakers hurrying to catch my friend who was also running. But she was racing the ING New York City Marathon, and I was merely a spectator hoping to spot her at Mile 17.

If you’ve ever run a marathon, you know how critical spectators can be.

I’ve been lucky enough to run three with friends and family peppered throughout the course, lighthouses on a stormy day blinking me in. Last year in the New York City Marathon, the devil on my shoulder was whispering insidious thoughts about quitting the race as I climbed the steep incline of the Queensboro Bridge around Mile 16. But knowing I had friends at Mile 17, Mile 18, Mile 20 and on kept me going.

For one thing, I have just enough vanity to not want to look bad lollygagging up to them when I should be running. But I also know that seeing them is usually all the encouragement I need.

This year, I was excited for my first marathon as a spectator. My friend Natalie, one of my diehard cheerleaders, was running her first marathon. She was nervous and I was happy to be the one rooting her on for a change. Read the rest of this entry →