I was there as a spectator. It was exciting as always but also sad.

There were hardly any people watching the race other than the people who work for the NYRR.org.

Of course this was intentional. Apparently.

The race was held an hour earlier than usual, at 7 AM instead of 8 AM and the location of the start line and finish line had been changed. The route was still one circle around Central Park but it was a counter-clock wise loop.
Since there were certain health-code guidelines to prevent large crowd gatherings the traditional start at Columbus Circle could not be carried out. Also reportedly there were only some 3 thousand runners participating. The Women's MIni Marathon has had more participants than that except maybe when it was first instigated back in the early 1970s. Also there were a few more "waves" this year. Basically there are two different race-start times, the one for the wheelchair racers and the one for all runners both elites and regular runners. The elites will go many paces faster than the weekend athletes or semi-elite runners.
This year some 15 minutes after the women's wheelchair race got underway the elite females were set off on the course afterward without any other runners to start the run along with them, and then to my best understanding there would be about another two or three, maybe four waves so that there aren't a lot of runners at once on the course. So it seemed.
Also there weren't anywhere near as many barricades or race marshalls or closed-off areas as in previous years. I found I was very easily able to make my way from the start line area to the finish line area by going straight through the transverse, from its east side to its west side.
In the past the finish line area was so guarded and specially set-up that a person had to make his or her way completely around it and go through certain side walkways to eventually get there..

Regarding the regular participants, it was odd seeing runners or small groups of runners spaced very far apart from other runners along the route when normally there are throngs of runners along the route shoulder to shoulder different ones a few paces behind others especially during the first two or so hours of the entire race. Actually, races with not so many participants are overall better I would say, but it was as if this event was really watered down and at least in a major way, it was. .

The NY Women's Mini is one of the more high-profile races even though it is a short course compared to a complete marathon. Also the top competetors take part in it, but this year the prize money for the first place finisher was under $8000 whereas in the past the prize money was $25,000 and perhaps more.
I am not sure if the lower prize money was to prevent "too many" elite runners from trying to take part. Maybe.
Perhaps there was less prize money to dole out.

I heard that the NYRR.org donated money and equipment and supplies to first responders and medical workers during the earlier stages of the Covid epidemic in 2020. Nice.
Yet according to some unspecified information on the internet which mostly was from the NYRR.org website itself, the NYRR.org is of "non profit" status and also solicits and accepts donations. (I sometimes get letters from them asking me to donate).
But I wonder.
It seems that the NYRR.org had probably not made much money when all races were cancelled for at least a year. It seems that the organization could not have made money from race-entry fees.

Perhaps prize money to elite winners had to be drastically reduced. Of course I should emphasize I do not entirely know about the system regarding who decides and pays out the prize money to winning athletes.

As far as the elite field , in a way it was hard to know who would win this race, and in a way it was quite predictabe who would not come in among the first three finishers.

It did seem that Sarah Hall might be the top American female. She had done excellently in some recent races. But after such intense performances, could she pull it off again? Did she have to "rest" her pace and rest her winning streak for other upcoming races?

There were some other top females too, especially the African runners.
Edna Kipligat was participating. She had reportedly become a citizen of the US recently and though she was still a tough competitior, she was now in her early 40s.
Molly Sidel seemed to be one of the tougher American runners and she is younger than Sarah Hall but could she defeat the dominant Hall? There was also Emma Bates, Laura Thweatt, and Molly Huddle who really seemed to be a crowd favorite.

Sarah Hall of course went on to defend her title spectacularly.
Some of the other top runners such as Molly Huddle, and Allie Kieffer sadly fell way back and did not get to be among the top 10.

To this one obscure observer at the finish line area, it was apparent that Huddle was disappointed. But of course so were several other elite runners.
Huddle had won the NYC Half Marathon, the NY Women's Mini Marathon, and had several other outstanding wins in her career. Was it all slowly fading?
(As of this writing, the big news in the running world is that Huddle has dropped out of the Olympic trials altogether due to some persistant injuries. Very heartbreaking indeed).

These competitive races are so thrilling except to people who don't care at all for the sport of running, but there are sad moments in which athletes who have accomplished so much may just find that their bodies start to betray them, and/or all else just does not fall into place and even though there is still a lot of potential, the great wins are mainly in the past.

In the wheelchair division Susannah Scaroni went on to defeat the great Tatyana McFadden by a wide margin. The thrid place wheelchair finisher was well behind McFadden.

Maybe next year the NYC Women's Mini Marathon will resume with much more participants, more spectators, more of the atmosphere of a sport event, and of course, maybe a greater amount of prize money for the winners.
But after essentially an entire year in which the NYRR.org was on haitus from running events except perhaps for "virtual" ones, maybe it may never be the same.
The Covid epidemic did seem to rush a certain deterioration point that would have been reached anyway, or maybe had already been reached.

Actually the very high-profile running events such as the marathon have become too much of a spectacle in which there are just excessive throngs of people jogging or walking through the race course at least regarding the running events in NYC, but I would say it is probably the same most everywhere else since most other running events all over the world seem to have been fashioned like those in NYC.
No matter how it is marketed, the races are not better because they are "bigger," meaning mearely more crowded.

The NYRR.org has always been significantly different from the original New York Road Runner's Club. Those who were members of the original NYCRRC and who can remember the older days of that club were not too keen about the transition from club to "organization" not that the original club was so perfect itself, IMO.

But in retrospect this year's Women's Mini Marathon was more bitter than sweet.

Approximately a month back (at least), news on the NY Road Runner's website was that the NY Women's Mini Marathon was cancelled. I actually could not find much to read about it. It seemed that it was mainly thought of as insignificant. A lot of other races got cancelled nationwide, world wide. But a few days before the Mini was to take place I found this essay on this site. It says much of what I have been thinking. It is a matter of opinion but The NY Women's Mini Marathon is special. A lot of other running events got canceled for the first time in their history (the NYC Half Marathon, The Boston Marathon etc), and yet if you think about it, the Women's Mini Marathon began humbly and yet with much political fanfare that had to do with the Women's rights movement. Reportedly, there were only some 78 women who were interested enough in trying it when the event first took place in the early or mid 1970's. It is interesting to think what drove those women when apparently most women were not interested in running a 6-mile race or maybe they just had no idea of it. The Mini Marathon grew to become a very popular all-women's run and the world's best female runners have competed in it.

After hearing about this year's numerous race cancellations, I wondered if the MIni Marathon would take place like the Tokyo Marathon (2020) did, that is , only elite runners would participate. Then, it could have meant that there would only be some 78 or fewer competitors including wheelchair racers and it would have meant that the number of participants was particularly low since the race first took place decades ago. That would have been an ironic and interesting outcome, but the Mini was completely cancelled.

Today (June 13 2020) I went out to Central Park, which I live only a few blocks away from, just to be at the area where the race would have taken place. There were police barricades around the Columbus Circle area where the starting line of the run has almost always been ( From my best recollection, there was one time approximately in the early 1990's in which Central Park West from 59th street to 90th street was not closed off, and the race took place completely within the park), but today the barricades were to close off Trump Tower and the surrounding area from protesters and/or to prevent large public gatherings. Otherwise, those barricades would have been to section off the starting line area so that the race can get underway. I wondered if I would see a small group of women, dedicated runners, just gathering, 6-feet apart in the area to run through the race course, just for the spirit of an event that, yes , has never been cancelled through stock-market crashes, social changes, different presidents, mayors and administrations, 9/11, and everything else New York City and the nation has been through. The area was busy with some traffic, bikers and regular joggers and people trying to enjoy the outdoors, but it was still solitary and deserted. In fact, it was a bit chilly in the early morning and it seems that it would have been good weather for a 10-K run.
I wondered which world-class female runners would have participated, who would have won.
I actually liked the strong competition of the event, the sport, the adrenaline. I never agreed much with how the race was presented by the Road Runner's, as "women's solidarity." I thought it was superficial politics. Yet,the Saturday in June when the Women's Mini Marathon took place was always special even though the Mini is a run that takes not much more than half an hour for the elite runners to complete, and it is over as soon as it begins.
I always felt wistful when it was all over and I would have to wait another year to watch it again.

I had only run in the Mini a few times in the early 1990s. Unfortunately I physically became unable to tolerate as much running as I used to do when younger. I had to become a complete spectator. I had seen falls, heat-exhaustion and people helping others cross the finish line.

There had been different "main sponsors" of the race throughout its history. Back in the late 90's only local elite runners participated (no world-class runners) when "Leggs" stopped sponsoring the race. Later on an "Anti -Smoking" organization once sponsored the race and it seemed more like a political march against the Tobacco companies as far as a lot of the walkers taking part.
I think that the event is better without that kind of atmosphere.

I actually think that some really big races, with thousands of runners should be smaller rather than be a parade of walkers, but It seems that running events may not get back to what they used to be, ever.

The New York Women's Mini Marathon may not take place next year either.

Approximately a month back (at least), news on the NY Road Runner's website was that the NY Women's Mini Marathon was cancelled. I actually could not find much to read about it. It seemed that it was mainly thought of as insignificant. A lot of other races got cancelled nationwide, world wide. But a few days before the Mini was to take place I found this essay on this site. It says much of what I have been thinking. It is a matter of opinion but The NY Women's Mini Marathon is special. A lot of other running events got canceled for the first time in their history (the NYC Half Marathon, The Boston Marathon etc), and yet if you think about it, the Women's Mini Marathon began humbly and yet with much political fanfare that had to do with the Women's rights movement. Reportedly, there were only some 78 women who were interested enough in trying it when the event first took place in the early or mid 1970's. It is interesting to think what drove those women when apparently most women were not interested in running a 6-mile race or maybe they just had no idea of it. The Mini Marathon grew to become a very popular all-women's run and the world's best female runners have competed in it.

After hearing about this year's numerous race cancellations, I wondered if the MIni Marathon would take place like the Tokyo Marathon (2020) did, that is , only elite runners would participate. Then, it could have meant that there would only be some 78 or fewer competitors including wheelchair racers and it would have meant that the number of participants was particularly low since the race first took place decades ago. That would have been an ironic and interesting outcome, but the Mini was completely cancelled.

Today (June 13 2020) I went out to Central Park, which I live only a few blocks away from, just to be at the area where the race would have taken place. There were police barricades around the Columbus Circle area where the starting line of the run has almost always been ( From my best recollection, there was one time approximately in the early 1990's in which Central Park West from 59th street to 90th street was not closed off, and the race took place completely within the park), but today the barricades were to close off Trump Tower and the surrounding area from protesters and/or to prevent large public gatherings. Otherwise, those barricades would have been to section off the starting line area so that the race can get underway. I wondered if I would see a small group of women, dedicated runners, just gathering, 6-feet apart in the area to run through the race course, just for the spirit of an event that, yes , has never been cancelled through stock-market crashes, social changes, different presidents, mayors and administrations, 9/11, and everything else New York City and the nation has been through. The area was busy with some traffic, bikers and regular joggers and people trying to enjoy the outdoors, but it was still solitary and deserted. In fact, it was a bit chilly in the early morning and it seems that it would have been good weather for a 10-K run.
I wondered which world-class female runners would have participated, who would have won.
I actually liked the strong competition of the event, the sport, the adrenaline. I never agreed much with how the race was presented by the Road Runner's, as "women's solidarity." I thought it was superficial politics. Yet,the Saturday in June when the Women's Mini Marathon took place was always special even though the Mini is a run that takes not much more than half an hour for the elite runners to complete, and it is over as soon as it begins.
I always felt wistful when it was all over and I would have to wait another year to watch it again.

I had only run in the Mini a few times in the early 1990s. Unfortunately I physically became unable to tolerate as much running as I used to do when younger. I had to become a complete spectator. I had seen falls, heat-exhaustion and people helping others cross the finish line.

There had been different "main sponsors" of the race throughout its history. Back in the late 90's only local elite runners participated (no world-class runners) when "Leggs" stopped sponsoring the race. Later on an "Anti -Smoking" organization once sponsored the race and it seemed more like a political march against the Tobacco companies as far as a lot of the walkers taking part.
I think that the event is better without that kind of atmosphere.

I actually think that some really big races, with thousands of runners should be smaller rather than be a parade of walkers, but It seems that running events may not get back to what they used to be, ever.

The New York Women's Mini Marathon may not take place next year either.