New Haven Road Race Turns 31

The annual Labor Day jaunt around New Haven is one of the preeminent races in the Northeast. Only eight years younger than the NYC Marathon, the 20k New Haven Road Race also doubles as the national championship race in that distance and draws plenty of big-name runners each year.

And on a local level, it's just a great way to see the city in all its variety, from the boutique shops on Broadway to the harbor waterfront along Long Wharf to the sidewalk Spanish of the Fair Haven neighborhood to the quiet woods of East Rock Park.

Monday was the 31st running of the race, featuring a special tribute to Ryan Shay, the young distance runner who died in the Olympic trials last November in Central Park. His father, Joe, said a few words before this race, thanking the running community for its support. Ryan was a past participant in the New Haven race, and his wife won the women's competition last year.

Then with the crack of the gun, the runners were off. The course goes through just about every neighborhood in the city, and in addition to the official water stops, many residents set up their own unofficial stations to pass water to the runners and cheer them on. The route is mostly flat, with some gentle ups and downs, which makes for a fast course. World records have been set here.

The sun, however, is the great equalizer, and turning up East Street somewhere around mile eight, it was tempting to reach an arm out toward the men standing outside the corner bar with their beers and hope they'd hand off a bottle — liquid defeat.

But just as the twists and turns and heat and sore feet start to wear a runner down, suddenly the route turns into the shaded East Rock Park. A short uphill gives way to a longer descent, providing a burst of confidence that culminates in a left turn across the Mill River past a band of bagpipers and toward the final straightaway down Whitney Avenue.

Finally the finish line appears in the middle of the New Haven Green, and post-race refreshments range from bananas and bagels to little ice cream cups. And as a final reward, perhaps knowing what temptations had been resisted along the way, a beer distributor has a van set up serving runners free cups of a deep-amber brew. Beer never tasted so good.