Check out our own Will Abrams in Caribbean Life
William Abrams at 53 years of age is still going strong and turned in a decent performance during the Queens Half Marathon held on Saturday, July 24 at a new site, Flushing Meadow Corona Park.
Abrams covered the 13.1 mile course in 1:28.17 for second place in his 50-54 age bracket, received a trophy, and overall placed 46th in a field of 4996 entrants, Some of the original entrants did not show up because of the humidity and heat, which slowed the times down. His best time for a half marathon was 1:07 in Guyana in 1987.
A member of the Prospect Park Track Club and a resident of Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant area, Abrams originally came from Guyana. He is believed to be the first Caribbean to cross the finish line in the huge field of the Queens event last week.
“I’m happy to represent the Caribbean,” he said after the race that was held along the streets of nearby College Point. “It’s very humid.”
Abrams and the rest of the entrants ran on what he considered a ‘nice’ but ‘tricky’ course.
“Tricky because of the hot humid weather,” said Abrams, who ran on this course for his first time. “And because it’s new, we didn’t know where we were going. We had to be cautious because we didn’t know what else we were going to catch up into.”
Abrams trains to enjoy life and to do such a thing one has to be in be healthy.
“I chose to run to be fit,” added Abrams, who trains in Prospect Park twice a day - 10 miles in the morning and 10 miles in the afternoon.
Abrams will be competing in the Bronx Half Marathon in mid-August, followed by the Staten Island Half, and then the New York City Marathon in November. His best New York City marathon clocking is 2:54.
“It’s very joyful to compete in a marathon,” he said. “My goal is to run a 2:45 for the New York City Marathon.”
Meanwhile, 27-year-old Michael Dixon of Fanwood, New Jersey, captured the Queens Half Marathon in 1:14.0.Most of the entrants came from the tri-state area.
The race was conducted by the New York Road Runners Club, headquartered in Manhattan. The College Point Road Runners Club also helped to make this 13.1 mile event a tremendous success.
“We had a great crowd and the runners competed in hot weather,” said a spokesman for the race committee. “Last year there were 65 turns in College Point.Every thing here in Flushing Meadow Park was just great.”