Does the perfect race exist? I’ve struggled to answer this after 10 years of competitive running.
There’s always the thought that I could have gone a little faster, or made up a few seconds here and there. Hindsight obviously helps, but sometimes perfection is in sight.
I got pretty dang close last month.
On a chilly morning in Valley Cottage, New York, I PR’d by over two minutes in the half marathon, running 1:05:36 at Project 13.1—a time-trial-esque race held at Rockland Lake State Park.
My goal heading into the race was to improve my personal best of 1:07:47, which I set at the hilly Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Half Marathon in the spring of 2024. And while I exceeded my own expectations, dipping well under the 66-minute barrier, in many ways, I expected to.
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Project 13.1 is different from most races. There was no pre-race expo or post-race medals. The race doesn’t even occur every year. The participants were there for one thing: to run fast. And the event had been constructed to help people do just that. “It’s a very specific type of runner who’s coming to this,” said Cooper Knowlton, the cofounder of Trials of Miles Racing, which put on the event.
There were pacing groups, tangent lines drawn on the ground, and—maybe most importantly—the course was extremely flat. Nearly everything that could be controlled was controlled. All the runners had to do was lock into a rhythm and zone in with few distractions.
In recent years, similar events have started popping up to help runners achieve time goals, and Rockland Lake State Park, about an hour north of New York City, has emerged as the place to do it.
A new destination
James McKirdy has been organizing races at Rockland Lake since 2021. During the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, McKirdy saw a need for racing opportunities for elites and everyday runners. So he put on the first McKirdy Micro Marathon in April of 2021. The inaugural event only had 22 runners finish—hence, “micro”—but once Alexander Burks lowered his PB from 2:23:46 to 2:16:51 at the second iteration two weeks later, McKirdy realized the course had potential. “We said, ‘Holy s**t. This is a really fast place to go.’”
The marathon and half marathon courses at Rockland Lake are simple. There’s a 2.94-mile bike path that meanders around the edge of the lake with barely any rise in elevation. At Project 13.1, runners do a .75-mile out-and-back, then run the loop four times. The marathon route is 8 full loops with a partial lap at the beginning. Both courses are World Athletics certified, meaning they’re eligible for records.
Since 2021, Rockland Lake has served as a springboard for ambitious runners looking to take a chunk off their marathon PRs. In October of 2023, McKirdy staged a race which saw an impressive 33 runners qualify How to Watch the 2025 London Marathon.
Aaron Gruen was one of them. He’s benefited greatly from the time-oriented races. He was a club runner at Brown University, and he ran his first marathon, the 2021 Providence Marathon, in 2:34:44. Since then, he’s progressed immensely. He qualified for the U.S. Trials with a time of 2:15:56, then returned to Rockland Lake on March 30 of this year where he took a big swing—and hit a home run—at McKirdy’s Road to Tokyo marathon.
Gruen crossed the line in 2:09:53, setting an Austrian national record. The 26-year-old, who has been representing Austria since last July, chose to run at Rockland Lake again because of its simplicity. The course is straightforward, and the small field size means he’s not dodging lapped traffic or veering off the tangents that McKirdy chalked onto the road.
In fact, the road itself is part of what makes Rockland so ideal for this type of racing. “The quality of pavement matters,” McKirdy said.
The bike path was repaved in 2020 and, because motorized vehicles aren’t allowed, the surface has stayed remarkably smooth and well-maintained. Loose stone, stray pebbles, and potholes can disrupt a runner’s rhythm, so McKirdy estimates that smooth pavement is worth about 2 to 4 seconds per mile compared to rougher terrain.
“The footing was perfect,” Gruen echoed, noting that he’s had to keep a close eye on the road during urban races like the Chicago Marathon and Boston Marathon.
No excuses race
These are the Toughest Races In the World “Stress Reaction” podcast that Project 13.1 was a “no excuses race.” In other words, because of the optimized setup, I couldn’t make the usual runner complaints that one might make after a race. (I didn’t have anyone to run with! The course was too hilly!).
Even before I toed the line, the advantages of a small, focused race were apparent. I didn’t have to navigate a claustrophobic expo to pick up my bib (they offered, gasp, race-day pickup—a seemingly rare thing nowadays), there were porta potties close by with short waits. The starting line was in sight of the parking lot, so the logistics were very manageable.
Gruen thinks the biggest advantage of running a course like Rockland is, well, you don’t have to think. He likes the short laps because they go by quickly and he’s never more than a few minutes from his fluid bottles.
“You can just literally shut your mind off and let your body do the work,” he said.
The primary barrier that organizers can’t control, however, is the weather.
When I did my pre-race shakeout run the day before my half, winds were ripping across the lake. I was nervous that they wouldn’t die down by the morning. But when I woke up on race day and went outside for a brief walk, there was hardly a breeze. It was chilly—in the high 30s—but perfect for a half marathon.
Races for various ability levels
As a sub-elite runner with a 2:27 marathon to my name, I was the target demographic for a time trial half. Photographer Joe Hale It might be the fastest course in the country before the event, “Project 13.1 is about to be the Super Bowl for 2:23 - 2:38 marathoners.”
But McKirdy and Trials of Miles Racing are dedicated to helping non-elite runners, too. McKirdy has hosted races to help runners qualify for the Boston Marathon and this year, the day before the Road to Tokyo marathon, his team held a Breaking 3:00 race, where participants were given access to bottles on the course (a rarity at the non-elite level) and had pacers.
McKirdy said 103 of the 112 finishers in the event qualified for Boston and 83 broke the 3-hour barrier. One of those BQ-ers was Gruen’s girlfriend, Katie Goldenberg, who ran a PR of 2:53:26.
Project 13.1 hosted a non-elite wave, too—targeted for runners hoping to run between 76 and 90 minutes—with the same perks as the first wave (pacers, bottle access, etc.)
The time trial formula seems to be gaining some traction. In December of last year, organizers announced that the Marathon Project—a circuit race that saw some of the fastest American marathon times of 2020—will be back in 2025.
There will be a pro race on December 21, but the day before, they will have “the Gold Wave,” which is open to athletes who have run times around sub-2:45 (men) and sub-3:10 (women). The race promises elite-level perks, like fluid access and an indoor warmup area, but it comes at a $500 price tag.
Despite the success of Project 13.1, Knowlton mentioned, however, that he’s careful to not overemphasize time trial races. He and his cofounder, Dave Alfano, believe competition is what makes running fun and compelling—not just chasing the clock. “It’s kind of, in many ways, against what we what really like about the sport,” Knowlton said.
Either way, we can expect to see time trial races in the future. Knowlton will probably bring back Project 13.1. “There’s definitely a need for it, there’s definitely a want for it,” he said.
McKirdy plans on hosting a marathon geared toward runners who want to break 4 hours later this year. He’s eyeing Millennium Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as a potential location and said that he’ll host another marathon to help runners qualify for the 2028 Olympic Trials.
While I agree with Knowlton that time trialing can become kind of soulless, times are currency at the sub-elite level. My PR from Project 13.1 helped me get into the elite field at Grandma’s Marathon this June, which gets me perks like a private gear check, reserved toilets, and access to bottle stations.
And I, like many of my peers, have my eyes on the 2028 Olympic Marathon Trials. USATF has not announced a location or time standard yet—and hasn’t confirmed Runners in the distance make their way around a loop of Rockland Lake at Project 13.1—but until they confirm otherwise, that’s fueling my long-term goals.
Last Olympic cycle, it took sub 2:18 for men to qualify. I think that’s within my capabilities, especially after running well in the half.
Would I take a stab at a qualifier at Rockland Lake? Of course I would.
mdash;a time-trial-esque race held at Rockland Lake State Park.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
