On this past Sunday morning, a magical food/fitness event took place in Brooklyn at Fort Greene Park. At the 9th Annual NYC Pizza Run, over a hundred runners showed up with empty bellies and colorful costumes, ready to run a 5k while eating delicious pizza slices in-between laps.
The NYC Pizza Run is a challenge in which participants aim to complete a 5K run while stopping to eat two slices of pizza at checkpoints throughout the course.
Viewing NYC received a free ticket to attend, so I decided to participate in the race as I love running, and coincidently, I also love pizza! (Who doesn't?! amirite?)
The race was well-organized, with check-in and number pickup quick and efficient. Sponsored by Planet Fitness amongst others, there was a bunch of swag available with their logo, including large tubs full of bottled water. Pre-race tattoos (temporary) were given out, and many runners showed up in pizza couture: foam pizza-suits, pizza-printed jammies, pizza socks, hats, capes, and other festive costumes.
Participants in the race had to run a lap counter-clockwise around Fort Greene Park, eat a slice of pizza, run another lap, eat another slice, then run a final lap to finish the race. The only requirement is that you had to have the slice completely inside your mouth before moving on to the next lap. Finishing in just over 18 minutes, the first place runner apparently was able to shove the entire slice into his mouth in one go, allowing him to run while chewing. I did not adopt that strategy.
While I certainly ate fast as I wanted to continue running the course, the crust portion of the pizza was tough to get down. This says nothing about the excellent flavor and slices provided by Pizza by Certé, it's just tough to eat a pizza crust quickly when sweating buckets and dehydrated. None-the-less, my efforts got me 6th place in the race with a time of 20:30ish!
Swag bags at the finish line included t-shirts, a tote, a coupon for a free post-race beer, head and armbands, and of course, bottled water. I would definitely run again, and with next year being the 10th anniversary of the event, I'm sure there is something excellent in the works. Be sure to sign up for the mailing list on NYC Pizza Runs to stay in the loop for next year's race!
Matt Coneybeare
Editor in Chief
Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.
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