It was rainy and chilly but the over 5000 participants enjoyed the first NYRR race of the decade, the Joe Kleinerman 10K

The NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K, the first NYRR weekend race of the decade, took place this morning in Central Park. Rainy, chilly conditions tested the fortitude of 5,160 participants. 

But whether it was a first 10K or a hundredth, an inaugural attempt at running outdoors or a veteran’s quest to set a new PR, a brave early start to the 9+1 or a hardy volunteer’s knowing effort to check off the +1—a full loop of Central Park, including the formidable Harlem Hill, is still pretty thrilling, even when it's 48 degrees and raining.

Teshome Mekonen won the men’s open division in 29:23, and Mia Behm took the women’s open-division top prize in 34:19.

Joe Kleinerman himself, the race’s namesake, would have been proud to see 2,415 women surging up Harlem Hill on their way to completing 6.2 miles. In 1967, Kleinerman, who helped found NYRR, and other local distance runners led a national movement to allow women to run officially distances longer than one mile. He was an active NYRR employee until his death at 91 in 2003.

posted Sunday January 5th
by Lela Moore