I'd heard nothing but positive things about the
Cow Harbor 10K, which is widely regarded as one of the most popular races on Long Island. Saturday's race lived up to its reputation and I know this a race that I'll try to include on the calendar each year.
The race took place in Northport (a town I had been to only once); Northport is located on the north side of Long Island and the course features some amazing views of Northport Harbor and Northport Bay. The race was large (especially for a local race), with 4,578 listed finishers, but was run so smoothly and efficiently from start to finish that (for me) it never felt uncomfortable. One of the best things about the race had to be the crowd support; the race is in its 36th year and the town really gets into it. If there were three official water stops, there were at least a dozen more resident-supported stations. The cheers across all ten kilometers were encouraging and the crowds of people surrounding the home stretch on Main Street made for a memorable finish.