This was my third running of the Flower City Half Marathon, having run it in 2016 and 2017. Amy and I made a mini-vacation out of the weekend, heading up to the Courtyard Rochester Downtown for the evening.
We got to packet pickup before they closed for the day and stopped by Savoia Pastry Shoppe for some cookies just before they closed, too. We had reserved a table at Veneto Pizza & Pasta, just a short walk from our hotel, and they were so busy! They sat us at the corner of the bar, and despite it not being a table, it was a delightful perch from which to enjoy a pair of Athletic Brewing IPAs, pizza, and salad. Back at the hotel, we started watching Conclave before turning in for the evening.
Our dinner perch
It was a quick 15-minute walk to the start. However, it was rather cold, so I wore a Houdini as a layer I could take off, with shorts and a short-sleeved shirt rounding out my race wear. Unlike the two prior times I participated, the race started at “Midtown Parcel 5”, a large green open space in the middle of downtown. The start queue was already jam-packed, and there was no logical way to get to a decent starting spot.
A packed corral
Patient at the start
So, I hung out near the barrier fence and waited for the throngs to move! We shuffle-stepped as a horde past the starting mats and took the first turn onto a broader thoroughfare. The opening miles turned out to be decently fast, since as soon as we made that turn, there was plenty of room to spread out.
Within a few miles, I had warmed sufficiently to take my Houdini off. I tried to stash it in my running pack, but it wouldn’t fit. I resigned myself to carrying it instead of tying it around my waist. I enjoyed the shaded trees along Park Avenue and remembered shopping at Parkleigh when we used to live in Fairport.
The Goodman Street hill was quite a challenge, and it felt good to flow through Highland Park. It was weird not to run through Mount Hope Cemetery, but the out-and-back section along the Genesee River was a nice feature. Then it was all about holding on for dear life to the end, hoping not to fall off the pace too much. I managed to stay within a decent pace range for the closing miles and learned I finished 3rd in my age group, just like in Syracuse!
Post-race pizza
The prize was kind of silly: a glass plate with a race sticker in the middle of it, but I appreciated the post-race vibe: live music, decent pizza, all with the sun shining down. I stood at the final turn for Amy to finish, chatting with another spectator while we waited.
Post-race with Amy
We headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up and drove down to Scale House Brewery to spectate Elizabeth and her team running Seneca 7. After seeing her and her team, we enjoyed delicious beef on weck sandwiches and well-earned beers at Two Goats Brewing.
Swag!
By the Numbers
Chip Time: 1:32:16
Place: 70/1,238 overall, 60/599 male, 3/33 M50-54
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- Boston's Run to Remember 2025May 25, 2025 – We last ran this race in 2016. It was Xander’s first half marathon, and I dubbed that year the “year of the half marathon.” I wrote a post about that year, and coincidentally, this year’s spring shaped up to be the same exact set of five half marathons.
