PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series 5Ks

2023 PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series 5Ks
Thank you for a great AGSS season. Stay tuned for our Turkey Trot: Race for Reconciliation 5 Miler on November 23, which will open for registration in September!
We are pleased to announce the return of the PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series for 2023.  As always, seven races are scheduled on alternating Wednesday evenings:  May 24, June 7 (Global Running Day!), June 21, July 5, July 19, August 2 and August 16.  You can register for the complete series of 7 races for only $45. Don't think you can make 7 races?  You can register for individual races at $10 per race.  Finally, if the race has not sold out, you may do walk-in registration in-person on race day at the Concert Grove Pavilion for $15 credit or cash from 6:15 to 7 pm. 
New for 2023: 
Let's Go Green: Help us make our races financially AND ecologically sustainable! We have spiffy Prospect Park-shaped medals (see criteria for awards below), however they are the same medal as in 2022. If you have already received a medal in the past, we invite you to soak in the cheers at the awards ceremony, but turn down a medal.Credit Card (Phone) Payments for Walk-In Registration: If the race has not sold out, walk-in registration is available at Concert Grove Pavilion, and you can now register and pay with a credit card on your phone, OR pay with cash.Improved Race Photos with Bib Tagging: We will be uploading photos and using bib-tagging technology to automatically show them in your runner profile. We hope this will be a convenient way for you to celebrate your race! As always, photos are done by our team of volunteer photographers and are offered for FREE. In the event that there is a photo you would like removed, please email us.Running Club Affiliation: If you are part of a local running club, you can choose your club affiliation at registration. We'd love to see your team colors!Press/Media Policy: Prospect Park Track Club welcomes journalists and photographers who would like to cover our public races. If you would like to cover a race, please see the instructions below.
Please refer to our website (https://pptc.org/summer5k) for all details about the series.  You should check our website regularly as details are subject to change, pending NYC Parks and local government regulations.
Registration

You can purchase a series bib that is used for all 7 races for only $45. Season bibs are on sale from Monday, 4/17 through 12 noon, Tuesday 5/23.  Season bibs will not be available for purchase after 5/23.

The entry fee for individual races is $10 each when registering online in advance. If the race hasn't sold out, the Day-of-Race registration fee is $15, and you can register online or on-site at Race Central. If you register on-site, you may pay by credit card (via registration on your phone) or cash, available from 6:15 - 7 pm on the evening of the race. Please bring exact change if paying by cash.

Online registration for each race will open 2 weeks in advance and close at 12 noon on race day. Registration for race 1 (5/24) will open 3 weeks in advance on 5/3.

The season bib allows you to run in any or all of the 7 races while only registering once.  If you register for individual races, you can only register for 1 race at a time.  A new registration is required for each race.

Apologies, but we will not offer bib transfers or refunds.

Due to liability reasons, we cannot allow strollers or pets.

Prospect Park Track Club welcomes athletes with all abilities. As a courtesy, we ask that runners who need Achilles guides or other special equipment please start at the middle or back of the pack, or message us for an early race start time. If you have questions about race accommodations, please email us.

We strongly recommend that all registrants be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus. No proof of vaccination is required at this time. If government mandates change in the future, we may have to revise our race procedures. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

 
2023 Race Details
Races take place on alternating Wednesday evenings in Prospect Park.  The 2023 dates are:  May 24, June 7, June 21, July 5, July 19, August 2 and August 16.  All races start at 7:10 pm*.  Please be prompt. You must start the race by 7:15 pm or your start time may not be recorded properly. There will be no multi-wave starts.
Races will take place rain or shine. Any decision to cancel due to dangerous weather conditions and/or air quality issues will be announced in the afternoon the day of the race, and will be messaged through email, PPTC social media, and updates on this website.
*Traditionally, this race began at 7:10 pm because back in the olden days, cars could use West Drive until 7 pm, and we would wait until all of the cars were out of the park to begin the race.
Race Day Logistics & Amenities
Races start on East Drive at Center Drive, approximately 1/4 mile north of the Concert Grove Pavilion and the East Drive finish line located at Harry's Wall.**
For the July 19, August 2 and August 6 races, please note that all pre-race activities have been relocated to the Concert Grove Pavilion.  The LeFrak Center at Lakeside will not be utilized:

Bib pickup: now takes place at the Concert Grove Pavilion, located adjacent to and above Harry's Wall, from 6:15 pm onward on the day of race.

Bag check will be offered at the Concert Grove Pavilion.

Portable toilets will be located at the finish line.  A restroom maintained by Prospect Park is located at Lincoln Road.

Water fountains are available at Harry's Wall and at Center Drive.  There is one course water station located just before the 2-mile mark.  Water also will be provided at the finish line.

We will post race results online and hold an awards ceremony at Concert Grove Pavilion after the race, including awards for the top 3 runners in each gender category and age group combination: 9 and under, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74,75-79, 80 and over.

If you are eligible for the 7-race completion award, medals will be distributed at the awards ceremony at race 7 on 8/16.

The time limit on this course is 15 minutes/mile. The course will be officially open until 8:10 pm. Bag check will also close at 8:10 pm.

This is a USATF-certified course, certification code NY23032DNB. View the Course Map.

All activities for this race, including bib pick-up, will take place outdoors.
Walkers are welcome, but due to liability reasons, we cannot allow strollers or pets.
**Harry's Wall is named in memory of PPTC founder Harry Murphy, who for years served as coach and mentor to many runners in Prospect Park.
 
Bag Check Guide
Our bag check (and the entire race) is fully staffed by volunteers. Please be courteous and read the suggestions below, so that our team can care for your bag as best as possible!

Rip the strip from the bottom of your bib and use a safety pin to attach it to your bag in a highly visible spot. Safety pins are available at the bib pickup station. If you lose your strip, you can DIY the bag check strip with markers and paper.

Bring your own bag. Everything you check must be in a bag and we do not supply bags. Things that are not bags: sweatshirts, water bottles, fishing rods, scooters, a pack of juice boxes, collapsible bikes, dogs.

Consolidate your bags. If you have more than one bag, put them all in a bigger bag, or make sure they are connected to each other. Tie the handles together with a necktie, use a bungee cord, take off your shirt and use it as a rope. Be creative! If you're running with a buddy and know you'll be finishing at the same time, tie your bags together and pick one person's bib number to represent both.

Don't store your water bottle (or anything else) in the holder on the outside of your bag. They have a habit of falling out.

One number per bag. Your bag can only have one bib number on it.

Get your bag by 8:10 pm. We need to close the bag check and get home too!

Make sure you have everything you need (and nothing you don't) before checking your bag. If you're going to stick some clothing back in your bag immediately before the race, give us a head’s up.

Stay outside of the bag check zone. Respect the barricades.

Silence your phone. If we hear an alarm or some other grating noise, we will go digging for it and turn it off ourselves.

Don't check anything super valuable. We are not responsible for any theft or damages. This is a public park; something may spill or be taken without our noticing.

 
Awards and Medals

We are thrilled to have medals that honor our beloved Prospect Park, in the shape of the PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series race course. Runners who place in the top 3 of their category and 1st in their Age Group will receive a gold-colored medal.
Runners who complete all 7 races in the series will receive a silver-colored medal OR if you registered for and ran all 7 individual races. Help us go green: You may opt out of the series medal during registration.
Sponsors
We are excited to partner with sponsors who value community—especially our Brooklyn running community—as much as we do. Over 2000 runners participate throughout the course of the summer, so this is a great way to get your message out to a diverse community.
Ascent Physical Therapy NYC: We are a private, independently owned/operated physical therapy clinic in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. With unparalleled expertise and experience in the field we provide the highest level of care to professional athletes, weekend warriors and anyone looking to move and feel better. Our team specializes in manual orthopedic physical therapy with a focus on returning athletes to their sport and maximizing performance. We provide you with the tools and confidence to not only get back to your activity, but to exceed your prior performance.

Community Partners
We are proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds from this race series will be donated to community non-profits:

Knock Knock Give a Sock: We work to humanize homeless one sock a time by bringing neighbors living in local homeless shelters and neighbors living homes together. The organization raises awareness about who are the homeless in addition to providing them fresh socks; a much needed resource in many homeless shelters. AGSS will hold a sock drive at an upcoming race; details to come!

Free to Run: Free to Run works to support women and girls in areas of conflict (such as Iraq and Afghanistan) through outdoor sports to build physical, emotional, and social well being. We provide them with the tools to become leaders who exercise self determination, challenge negative norms, and boldly reclaim public spaces. Free to Run’s NYC Marathon fundraisers will be invited to participate in an AGSS race.

Worker's Justice Project: The Worker’s Justice Project is a workers' rights organization that is organizing gig workers from the streets to the apps and transforming their industries to be a driver and source of quality jobs. We play an essential role of lifeline, safety net, entry-point, educator, and advocate to all workers, from the seasoned worker to the worker entering the 21st century industry for the first time. Building on over twelve years of history, we combine time-tested organizing techniques with innovative technology to build replicable new models for worker rights advocacy, co-enforcement, disaster recovery, workforce development, and city-planning related to transforming workforces across three industries. WJP is the home of Los Deliveristas Unidos, an advocacy group for app-based delivery workers that has secured six landmark labor protections for 65,000 Deliveristas. LDU provides a new blueprint where workers can transform the gig economy to care for their coworkers, their families and their communities by setting new labor standards in the industry, piloting the nation’s first Deliverista hubs and creating the nation’s first career certification program for app-based delivery workers. Worker’s Justice Project will be invited to participate in an AGSS race and to speak about how their efforts will help NYC become a safer space for workers and all people on the roads.

We encourage you to check out how they’re making our community better, and if you’d like, you can make an additional donation when you register for the race. All donations collected throughout the series will be shared equally among our charity partners. Should you like to make an additional donation, please use the DONATE button at the top of the page, and thank you kindly for your generosity.
 
Press/Media Policy
Prospect Park Track Club welcomes journalists and photographers who would like to cover our public races. These races include the PPTC Cherry Tree 10 Miler & Relay, the PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series 5Ks, the PPTC Turkey Trot: Race for Reconciliation, and the PPTC 50 Miler / 50K Endurance Fest. If you would like to cover a race, please email to let us know at least 3 days in advance of the race date, and include information below. If approved, you will be issued a press badge that will identify you as press.
Full name(s)Phone number(s)Media outlet (if applicable)Running club affiliation (if applicable)Race you would like to coverCoverage explanation: intended goal, story pitch, is there anyone in particular you’d like to interview, etcAre you willing to give Prospect Park Track Club the rights to share your photos online for future race promotion purposes? Do you have an Instagram handle you’d like credited?
We will use this info to better coordinate coverage and photographer positions on the course. Journalists and photographers who do not obtain media clearance before the race may be asked by course marshals to leave the race course and race premises. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Contact Us
For any additional questions, please contact summer5k@pptc.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter at @ProspectParkTC, where you can follow us for all kinds of great running-related content!
Cover Photo Credit: Marek Stepniowski