Since I was a freshman in high school, I told my dad and my sister we were running the Chicago Marathon in 2016 (the year I graduated from college). This race meant more to me than any race before. I was so excited to reach that starting line and GO! From

Storm the Bastille is always an amazing time! This is the first year that I did the 5K along with the festival and I loved that it was a night run. Meaning to be a fun run, there was a TON of people running which made it really fun. We ran

"Ran this in 2013 and 2014. Last year, I followed it with the NYCM the following week.

Fairly standard NYRR race -- typical packet pick-up/ race start/ corral set-up/ run through Central Park.

The difference is the vibe. Given the ""kick-off"" to marathon week, all of the runners are pretty excited.