Anybody start out of the Blue corral at NYC last year?

Inconsistent wrote:

I noticed on the race video that the NYPD/FDNY group started right after the professional runners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFnahz9h6DQ&t=600s

If you watch for the first minute, it looks like there are some REALLY slow runners in that group (bibs 50,000+). I guess if you're part of the NYPD/FDNY, you were allowed to start up there? I'm a little concerned about starting in Blue Corral A if that's the case and may move over to Orange.

Anybody have experience with this last year?

Wow. After watching that, I am more than a little concerned -- but not for the starting corral but for my safety if ever in New York. Can those fatties truly be NYPD??? Loaded down with gear, over-dressed and barely moving? This is the Finest???

As steady as soon of the NYPD and FDNY runners are you'll also notice there's no speedy sub-elites running through them. Why? Because they're in the orange start and the locally competitive runners are in green. If you're in blue, and I'm sorry to break it to you, this is what you look like when you're running - happy trundling!

Abdoujaparov wrote:

As steady as soon of the NYPD and FDNY runners are you'll also notice there's no speedy sub-elites running through them. Why? Because they're in the orange start and the locally competitive runners are in green. If you're in blue, and I'm sorry to break it to you, this is what you look like when you're running - happy trundling!

Locally competitive has nothing to do with time, it has to do with being on a team. There are people in the 1000s that aren't part of a local NYC team that are MUCH faster than local competitive runners. Women who run 3:10 can get into that locally competitive corral in Green, but certainly cannot be in the 1000s in Blue. And the sub-elite cutoff is usually sub 2:30, so you have a lot of people in the sub 2:45 range in that Blue start. They're not blowing through this people because if you watch closely, they're held back to give the NYPD/FDNY people more spacing.

I was in Blue Wave 1 Corral A the last 2 years.

Yes there are some NYPD FDNY runners but it's not many.

You'll be done with them after the Verrazano bridge (2 miles), and it's not like they are running 6 across.

I was also running "for fun", ending in 3:20, so I didn't care too much about my position in the corral but if you arrive early enough, you should be able to be right after the pros and the charity runners so, be patient the first mile to pass them and then you are ok. I was seeded there with a time equivalent to a 2:50 so there will be plenty of others trying to go for a time that around you.

TLDR: You'll be fine.

oh come on... I'm also in Blue Wave 1, but Corral B (I guess based on projected 3:00 finish). Moving over to Orange is fine as long as the corral you're moving to has higher bib numbers, right?

looks like this issue has already been discussed at length last year.

above_average_joe wrote:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=7844314

looks like this issue has already been discussed at length last year.

Thanks Joe. I did a search before posting but clearly missed this.

Seems like some people cared last year, others said it wasn't a big deal. Either way, it seems like a pretty bad idea to start people that run 5 hour marathons right in front of others who are running 2:45. The safety issue alone is bad enough not to do it, let alone that it's just poor logistics.

I feel like they should just let these people start at the very front of wave 2.

Inconsistent wrote:

Seems like some people cared last year, others said it wasn't a big deal. Either way, it seems like a pretty bad idea to start people that run 5 hour marathons right in front of others who are running 2:45. The safety issue alone is bad enough not to do it, let alone that it's just poor logistics.

I feel like they should just let these people start at the very front of wave 2.

agree that this is kind of stupid, but we can't change it anyways. I wonder if there are also charity runners or other selfie takers at the front of the first orange/green waves. if not, I'm thinking about starting from there.

This year will be my first NYC marathon. Blue Wave 1, Corral A. Submitted a 2:39 qualifier.

At least I now know to be patient the first mile.

Inconsistent wrote:

I noticed on the race video that the NYPD/FDNY group started right after the professional runners.

...

Anybody have experience with this last year?

I don't know if it's the case every year or just last year, but I started in Blue and there were a *lot* of very slow runners, even walkers, that somehow had gotten in to first corral seeding. These were NYPD/FD either, but appeared to be members of some running club/team. I was very disappointed with the way the start worked out.

juststoppingby wrote:

Inconsistent wrote:

I noticed on the race video that the NYPD/FDNY group started right after the professional runners.

...

Anybody have experience with this last year?

I don't know if it's the case every year or just last year, but I started in Blue and there were a *lot* of very slow runners, even walkers, that somehow had gotten in to first corral seeding. These were NYPD/FD either, but appeared to be members of some running club/team. I was very disappointed with the way the start worked out.

Were do you fall in the "it wasn't a big deal / it slowed me down significantly in the first mile" camp?

It didn't slow me significantly in the first mile, BUT I had to expend a lot more energy that I should have - working my way around them. That probably cost me time in the end, though it's impossible to say how much.

Jogger to be wrote:

This year will be my first NYC marathon. Blue Wave 1, Corral A. Submitted a 2:39 qualifier.

At least I now know to be patient the first mile.

I'm in a similar boat. Ran a 1:16 half to qualify and am looking to run under 2:40. I think the numbers are misleading because if you are from out of town you cannot get into that local competitive corral (numbers 550-999). The sub-elite is sub-1:12, 2:35. So out of town runners in the 2:35:00-2:5x range will fall in that blue wave 1 corral 1. I have the same concerns others have touched on as well.

Just one more reason to hate the NYPD. Not sure which corral but these folks get an 8:55 start. https://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/about-the-race/2017-foot-locker-five-borough-challenge

Really, don't worry about it. I was yanking the OPs chain above but last year the mayor's cup field was 104 runners. With a good head start they're very spread out by the time you'll start running through them. Everyone goes too fast uphill in the first mile, a little traffic is almost an advantage. The slight delay to your start won't stop you finding large numbers of local competitive runners to run with when the corrals come together on 4th avenue - if that's what you want.

juststoppingby wrote:

I don't know if it's the case every year or just last year, but I started in Blue and there were a *lot* of very slow runners, even walkers, that somehow had gotten in to first corral seeding. These were NYPD/FD either, but appeared to be members of some running club/team. I was very disappointed with the way the start worked out.

I noticed a similar thing at the NY Half. Did they get in the way or could you get around?

Does anyone know if this is happening again this year? Maybe they're just going to have blue wave 1 corral 1 right behind the elite men? I did Chicago a few years ago in corral A and I was a couple rows behind the elite men. Hit the first mile in 6:05 without having to run around anyone. This is how NYC should be because there will be a decent number of 2:35-2:5x runners needing to get past the slower runners

Yes, it will happen again. The marathon has 3 starts. The mayor's cup is going to start in front of one of them (elite fields excepted). One start is headed by the sub-elite field, one is headed by the locally competitive field and one is headed by "others" - some of who may be plenty quick and as fast if not faster than the locally competitive guys. Still, of the three choices, the blue wave gets the shaft.