New Year! Same grind! Let’s go!
Thanks for following us for the past year and hope you enjoy another year of monthly recaps of the races, group runs, and achievements we all made. This past month has been surprisingly warm and allowed us to spend more time out on the roads. It was a month to keep on training for the NYC Half, Queens Marathon, QDR Half, but there were also many races and goals accomplished!
Small aside: on the first of every month, Maria announces every teammate who is celebrating a birthday that month. This was special as we celebrated the three co-founders’ birthdays on the 19th, 23rd, and 27th!
Races
Fred Lebow 
Houston Marathon & Half 
Icebreaker Marathon
There were so many races for what is typically a cold and snowy month. There was no snow this past month (many see that as being lucky, but it also speaks to the climate crisis we are encountering), and that meant that no races were canceled. Right off the bat, we hosted the New Year’s Day 5K and 10K time trial and then that same weekend we went to Central Park for the NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K. Later on, we were at the first biggest half of the year, the NYRR Fred Lebow Half. That same day there were teammates in Houston running the Marathon and the Half! Read more about Marie’s half marathon, 1:14:12 and World Championship qualifying time, in her blog post!
You don’t have to be a championship qualifier in order to be a great runner, however! One of the best things we love to see is self-improvement over time. This past month, Robert Sanderman also shared his running story and we believe it resonates with many who are intimidated to join any running group. So let’s all help welcome one another for the rest of the year!
Big congrats to everyone on their races, including many who raced new and longer distances for the first time!
Group Runs
The Friday evening Kessel Run group run just celebrated their one year anniversary this past month! We thank Mike and Ann-Marie for leading group runs on this Star Wars theme run in Forest Hills.
All our runs are open to runners of all abilities. Follow the schedule below and make sure to RSVP on Strava.
- Monday- 6:00 pm, Central Park, meet at the NYRR Run Center with Ashley
- Tuesday- 6:00 pm, Astoria Park Track workouts with Edwin
- Wednesday- 6:30 pm, Queensborough CC Track workout with Nancy
- Thursday- 6:30 am, LIC group run, meet at Sweetleaf on Vernon Blvd with Lillian
- Thursday- 6:00 pm, Flushing, meet at Starbucks on Utopia Pkwy with Linda and Sameer
- Friday- 6:15 am, Astoria #FunFridayRun, meet at the track with Jona
- Friday- 6:30 pm, โKessel Runโ, (Kessel St in Forest Hills), meet at Shake Shack on Austin St. with Mike and Ann-Marie
Queens Marathon & QDR Half Training
We are now less than 10 weeks out until the Queens Marathon and the QDR Half Marathon. Runs are becoming longer, the intensity higher, intervals longer, and we definitely reach a point where we seem to be hungry all the time! Join us at our Queens Marathon Cuisine Tour group runs to satisfy your hunger after a long run.
This past month we hosted the fifth and sixth tours eating Korean and Greek cuisine. Follow the Queens Marathon on Strava for more Cuisine Tours and weekend course preview runs!
Keep an eye out on our siteโs meetups page as well as on Strava for more group runs and training sessions. Make sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates and news!
Queens Distance
1 – New Year’s Day 5K and 10K Time Trial
2 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
3 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel
4 – NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K
6 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
7 – QDR Tuesday Evening Astoria Track
8 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
9 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
NYRR Night at the Races 2
10 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel
11 – Disney Marathon and Half
Queens Marathon Cuisine Tour #5 Korean- Ft. Kum Gan San (Flushing)
13 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
14 – QDR Tuesday Evening Astoria Track
15 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
16 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
17 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel
18 – Queens Marathon Cuisine Tour # 6 Telly’s Taverna
19 – Chevron Houston Marathon and Houston Half Marathon
NYRR Fred Lebow Half Marathon
20 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
21 – QDR Tuesday Evening Astoria Track
22 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
Sign up for the BK Half!
23 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
NYRR Night at the Races 3
24 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel – 1 Year Anniversary!
25 – F3 Lake Half Marathon
26 – Queens Marathon-QDR Half Course Preview #2ย
27 – QDR Monday Evening Group Run: Central Park
28 – QDR Tuesday Evening Astoria Track
29 – QDR Queensborough Community College Wednesday PM Track Session
30 – QDR Thursday AM Long Island City Group Run
QDR Thursday PM Flushing Group Run
31 – QDR Friday Morning Group Run: FunFridayRun Astoria
QDR Friday Evening Forest Hills: The Kessel