Rant Rant Rant Rant

I've officially rescinded all of the nice things I've said about NYRR.

I know I am probably being petty, but here is the deal:
Last Saturday I decided to check my "status" on the NYRR website for the NYC Half Marathon (which is tomorrow). Turns out I was in the 11th corral...out of 14. Now, I knew this wasn't right because all of my friends I train with are in the 7th corral. To show you how insane this is, I will be starting on 97th Street. The start is on 85th Street.

So all of my friends suggested that I contact NYRR to see if I could change my number, because it was so off.

So I wrote a nice, long letter.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to ask a question about my corral assignment for the NYC Half Marathon.
I recently checked my registration and saw that I was assigned the the 11th Corral with the number XXXXX. I was talking to my teammates that I normally run/pace with (I belong to Team in Training) and they said they were assigned to the 7th corral.
I am expecting to finish between 1:51-1:53 and am worried that I may be in the wrong corral. My most recent time for a half marathon was the Bronx Half with a 1:54.38.
I know that the half marathon is going to be quite crowded and that the corrals are in place to avoid unnecessary weaving and to ease congestion, so I want to make sure I am in the right corral.
Is it possible that I am in the wrong corral? And if so, would it be possible to change my corral?

Here is my entry information:
Emily Mason
Entry #XXXXXXX
Membership ID XXXXXX
Race # XXXXX

Thank you so much for your time and consideration with addressing this matter.

Sincerely,
Emily Mason

And here is what I got back:

Hello Emily

Bibs were based upon the information you provided on your entry form

Your best time – was listed as 4:25 for the Marine Corps Marathon

This is the time used to assign bibs

Yeah. Thanks for actually reading my letter. AND my time was NOT listed as 4:25, but 4:22. So I was just going to let it go, but I kept getting more and more ticked about it as I talked to more people. I mean, this is my race that I am supposed to use as a checkpoint in my training, and if I'm weaving through 4 corrals of people (there are 15,000 people registered) I am definitely NOT going to have a decent race. I was supposed to be using this race to determine my marathon pace. Grrrr. So I decided since I didn't actually get a real answer I could write back and try to get one. I was fuming, so it was really hard to be cordial in this one, but I tried.

Dear Janet,

Thank you for your quick response.
I do realize that I listed 4:22 as my marathon time. I listed that because I assumed that my half marathon times from NYRR, which were already in the system, would affect my corral placement, like my previous NYRR times do for other NYRR races. I also assumed that my "Predicted Time for half Marathon" (which was listed 1:55) would be considered.
I would not be so insistent except for the fact that I know that my pace is much faster than a 10:12 (from the MCM, which was last year).

My past NYRR paces were:
8:27 for Hope and Possibility
8:42 for the Front Runners
8:33 for the Women's Mini
8:45 for the Bronx Half Marathon

I know that this race is a large one and my coaches and I are concerned that I will not be able to get to where I should be until after the loop around the park.
Are you saying there is no way to change my corral at this time?
I understand that it is very late in the process. But I just want to make sure that there is nothing more that can be done to remedy this.

Thank you,
Emily Mason

Nothing back. Nothing changed. I picked up my 11th corral number for the race yesterday.

I was going to let it all go but then I kept thinking about it. This is a BIG half marathon. NYRR is supposed to be regarded as a premiere racing club. I am not stupid, I understand that they can't change everyone's corral. I also understand that they were probably incredibly busy this week. But at least acknowledge my questions. It would have at least made me feel better about the whole thing and I would have dropped it. (I would have still been disappointed, but I would have dropped it.)

It makes me not even care about fufilling my stupid 9+1 commitment (you have to run nine qualifying NYRR races and volunteer for one event) to get into the New York City Full Marathon next year.

I mean why am I busting my butt in training every week to improve if I don't even get credit for it?

Ptttt.

So I'm really not expecting much (except a lot of frustration) from the race tomorrow...which makes me sad.