Yesterday, a few of my friends and I ran the UNFCU Foundation Outrace Poverty 5K on Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt Island is one of my favorite places to run in the city and I love that this run was for a good cause. Read more for details about the race!

UNFCU Foundation is a New York non-profit organization with a mission to sustain the path out of poverty through healthcare and education for women and children. The foundation is part of the United Nations organization and supports organizations and initiatives that work to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, empower women and youth by offering them opportunities for self-development and economic advancement, provide access to healthcare for women and their families and provide disaster relief.

I went into this 5K with the least training I’ve ever done. I signed up around two months ago but had a thing with my right calf muscle that prevented me from running in the beginning of September and then was sick for the past two weeks. I’ve only run four times in the past three months and still hadn’t fully recovered from my cough so I was definitely nervous about how this run would go. It never goes as terribly as I think it will and although my time (27:11) was far from my fastest (22:42), it’s a good benchmark to use as the baseline because of the lack of running beforehand. Also fall is my absolute favorite weather to run in!! We were lucky that it didn’t rain until a few hours after the race ended.

Roosevelt Island is accessible in two ways, via the F subway line or the tram. Devan and I took the F train on the way to the race but on the way back decided to take the tram for the view. Also, I am the biggest White Collar fanatic so I love taking it because of that episode in White Collar where Neal Caffrey escapes on the top of the tram.

If you’re interested in finding races in the NYC area, NYCRuns has a great website with resources and runs.