New York State of Mind

Running along the Hudson River Greenway and in Central Park....loved every second.

Mapping Some Runs in NYC

The Big Dream: Someday I'll do this sort of running in NYC....

I am headed to NY for a work trip next week. And I cannot wait. It'll be my second time visiting the city and this time, I plan to get in at least three runs. Last time I went, I had just started my running love affair and ended up walking so much around the city that I never ended up getting a run in. This time, that will not be the case. 

Central Park - here I come!

I plan to get two runs in early morning along the Hudson River Greenway, which is about 5 blocks from my hotel. I'll do one in either direction - one south towards lower Manhattan/Battery Park and the second one will be north headed towards the West Village. My final run in the city will be in Central Park. Can't run in NYC without visiting the park. It would be tragic not to.

I will be sure to post pictures from my travels next week. I really really wish I was able to get in a day early b/c the Brooklyn Half Marathon is happening Saturday. It might be fun to spectate that one, since their field grew from something like 7,000 last year to nearly 25K this year. I guess that is what happens when the two biggest marathons in the U.S. are impacted by terrorists and an act of mother nature in the same Marathon season.

Happy Running this weekend everyone!

April: In Which the Unthinkable Happens

 Source.

"In the immediate sense...[it] was an attack on the highest profile moment of the highest profile event of a relatively low profile, unique culture, which is the marathoners. The endurers.....doing something that is not much like anything else in our American culture. In our instant reward world, marathoners are after a gratification that is not just delayed, it is a form of gratification that most of us have a hard time believing can conceivably be gratifying. But that difference fosters fellowship among marathon runners and that has fostered culture and that has fostered now even a whole economy that you wouldn't know existed unless you went looking."  ~ Rachel Maddow, TRMS, Tues April 16th

April was a rough one for our sport. Every runner I know was pretty devastated by what happened at the end of the Boston Marathon this month. It was horrible to watch that type of carnage and terror mar one of the most amazing feats a runner can experience. And for all the family and friends who came to cheer on their people and who were hit the hardest; we, the marathoners, were particularly devastated to watch what happened to all of you as you stood there excited, proud and expectantly waiting to cheer your runner on at the finish, just when they needed it the most....

The morning after, I read this little piece at Jezebel  - The People Who Watch Marathons - that I thought captured it well....

"The spectators — people who show up and cheer with noisemakers and high fives and encouraging cheers and magic-markered tagboard signs that read "YOU ALL ARE CRAZY! KEEP RUNNING!"— are the people who matter most to runners. Without those people, a marathon would just be an exercise in self-abuse from a large group of crazies. But there is meaning in marathoning: the people who watch"

It's been weeks and we all know the 'ending' to the story by now. The two men responsible have been captured/killed after a week of keeping the city hostage in a paralyzing fear culminating in a manhunt that completely shut down Boston proper and the surrounding communities.  The finish line has been cleaned up and is no longer a crime scene. The hundreds of injured people are slowly trying to heal and start their lives over in their new reality. The dead have been laid to rest.

But the path to real healing is months and years away. For everyone. And for us runners, we are just going to do what we do - keep running. One step at time. One foot in front of the others. For those that we lost and for those that won't run again, we run for you.