New York is giving up on giving up.
About 100 serious strivers dashed through Greenpoint to reclaim Quitter’s Day Friday — despite a study showing the odds of them following through on their New Year’s resolutions being stacked against them.
The crowd — bundled in gloves, puffer jackets, toques, beanies and headbands — braved the freezing conditions for the McCarren Park 5K and to push one another in their journey toward a better and stronger 2025.
A Quitter’s Day 5K planned for Friday is the first ever for Brooklyn, and follows a similar one that took off in Manhattan in 2024.
“A lot of people make really big goals at the beginning of the year and Quitter’s Day kind of acts as a great accountability check marker to kick off the year and make sure these people continue with that same stoke, that same energy throughout the year,” ultrarunner David Kilgore, who organized the first-ever Quitter’s Day run in Brooklyn with Red Bull, told The Post ahead of the 5K run.
The energy drink company hosted one such run in Manhattan last year but is expecting a blockbuster turnout in Greenpoint in 2025 — especially after research showed how New Yorkers abandoned their 2024 of gaining fatter wallets, stronger physiques and better attitudes.
This year, a trio of young musicians played a clarinet, trumpet, and marching band drum to hype up freezing runners, many of whom were members of the running community.
“I mean, this is like, you know, March of the Penguins. We’re just meeting, freezing our asses off, making a pilgrimage, knowing that we’ll come back to some for some warm Ray’s [Hometown] Pizza,” said ultramarathoner Marco Moreno, 46, who founded his own run club Proof Running, referring to the group met up planned at the neighborhood joint.
“We don’t know why we do it, but we do it.”
Most New Yorkers set goals to work on their fitness and nutrition in 2025. APMarco, who says he runs “almost every day,” has no specific resolution but says he hopes to run his first 50-mile ultra in 2025. He also wants to be “more intentional” with workouts and exercise. For him, running — and the community that comes along with it — helps carry him to his larger fitness and personal goals.
Despite their optimistic resolutions, those in the Empire State are especially bad at sticking to their goals, research shows.
A shocking 58% of people across the state threw in the towel early last year, raking in an average of quitters that was slightly higher than the rest of the country, Casino.ca found.
While most made it well past Quitter’s Day in 2024, the average New Yorker only made it to mid-March — and after wasting an average of $413 in pursuit of fulfilling it.
The quitters chalked up their failures to a simple lack of motivation.
This year, only 70% of New Yorkers even plan on attempting any resolutions for 2025, with most setting their sights on better fitness and nutrition habits.
Ultrarunner David Kilgore theorizes that the collective community of running the 5K will help usher in stronger attitudes for accomplishing goals in the new year. Redbull Content PullIncredibly, only one in five people setting goals have any hope of seeing it through, the data shows.
This year will be different, according to Kilgore. The athlete — who holds the record for running the circumference of Manhattan four years ago — believes the “community” in the Big Apple is integral to starting 2025 on the right foot, literally and figuratively.
“I definitely think there’s something special about New Yorkers, without a doubt. Even traveling all around the world myself, when you come back to New York City, you just absolutely feel the energy. You want to get after your goals. You’re excited about that,” said Kilgore, of the Bronx.
“Just the community and the energy here itself overflows and get to everybody’s different aspects of their life as well to the personal, professional goals that they’re setting.”
Kilgore, 33, plans on using the 5K as a motivator for a slew of professional resolutions he has his sights set on, including a race through the Amazon this summer and scaling mountains in Ecuador to raise money for those in need of prosthetics.
But the ultra-athlete has some milder resolutions, as well, like spending more time with his wife Molly and their pup, Ryder, and making more time to appreciate the ocean.
As for advice on sticking to goals in 2025, Kilgore said it’s best to “surround yourself with the right community.”
“I think it’s great to have accountability … I really love showing up at events and being there with people. It’s really helped me get out the door,” said Kilgore.
“And then also, I would say don’t be too hard on yourself. Everybody has an extremely busy life. There’s a million things and there’s a million riches thrown into everybody’s life a year.”






