Beyond Central Park: Small Town Races in the Bronx

Papa Bear with Balto

Small Town NYC

Saturday I ran a long run in Central Park. I got started at 7:00 AM to avoid the heat. Around 8:00 AM, I ran by a race that was about to start. They were all lined up on the east side of the lower loop and the crowd, not yet moving, seemed about a half-mile long. It turns out it was the “Boomer's Cystic Fibrosis Run to Breathe 10K” and I looked it up when I got home — there were 5,004 finishers! Oh my, it makes you yearn for a small town race.

Have you ever been to a real small town race? Maybe a turkey trot you enter at the last minute when you visit mom and dad? Or a Jingle Bell 5K at holiday time in you home town? A race where there are couples and children and neighbors, and oldsters and youngsters, and everyone, from beginner to old hand seem delighted to be there and meet their friends? A race where you can count everyone and a good fraction are familiar faces? A race where the starter says “ready, set, GO”? Where they give out home cooking or other goodies for awards? I particularly remember a race in New Hampshire where the first place finisher got a deep dish apple pie — and I was never so jealous!

There are such races — in Vermont, in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, the Bronx — huh, the Bronx? Yes, the Bronx, just a subway ride away.

The local running club (Van Cortlandt Track Club) puts on a bunch of small town races every year and my favorites are the summer 5K cross country series, every 2nd Thursday evening in the summer. You are not likely to see more that 150 runners in any of these. The carrot cake and carrot muffin are the prized awards, and it’s an all volunteer effort. And the races are actually hand timed and scored.

Hand Scored -- the Name Tags from the Bibs Kept in Order

For those too young to remember the days before electronic timing chips (hey, it was only 1996), a hand scored race is where one guy clicks a mechanical timing gizmo as each runner passes the finish line and some one else tears off that tag on your bib with your name on it (“Stay in order, stay in order!”). Then they put the names and times together and hopefully everyone gets their right time.

I’ve run practically all the cross country races in the summer series over the last 3 or 4 years and they are the real deal. Come to think of it, I ran one last Thursday night! It was not the standard 5K which they have on every other Thursday night, it was a 2 x 2 relay. That’s 2 miles times 2 runners. If you’ve run Hood to Coast or Ragnar, this 2x2 will seem awfully short and it’s over in no time. Two fast miles and the only interchange is the start/finish line.

And it was a blast. But let me save that for later . . .

The VCTC Summer 5K Cross Country Series

Every 2nd Thursday from late May to August, the VCTC puts on a 5K cross country race for its X-C Summer Series. The route is slightly different from the NYRR races that are held in the fall, but it’s pretty close.

Just put 5 bucks and a Metrocard in your pocket and come on up. Races start at 7:00 and you take the No.1 train to 242nd Street, the very end of the line, then walk 4 or 5 more blocks to the Tortoise & Hare Sculpture and pay your $5, I’m told that this year you can sign up on-line, so do that if you like. Warning: the No. 1 train takes longer than you think. I always tell folks to be at the Times Square station by 5:30 so you won’t have to panic and run from the 242nd St. station to the starting line with your $5 in your hand and it’s 6:55. But most folks ignore my advice. Whatever!

Tortoise & Hare Sculpture

The race starts at the Tortoise and Hare Sculpture goes about half-way around the track and then into the woods. After about a half mile of gentle hills, you cross the bridge over the Parkway to the “Back Hills”, which are not so gentle. The entire route is over groomed, dirt cross country trails, sort of like the bridle path, except hilly. Make that very hilly. In fact so hilly that they need “water bars” (basically railroad ties laid across the path) to prevent the path from washing away when it rains. You’ll get used to these but they may surprise you the first time you see them. Don’t trip!

The last part is on an old railroad grade (on which you cross back over the Parkway), so you can pick up the pace if you have anything left. Then it’s back to the track and you finish just where you started. It hurts but it’s over quickly. Then you hang around and wait for the awards. It takes a little while, but you will see the wonder of a hand scored race, a lost art in this digital age.

I asked Fred Daly, the race director of the series — whom I've gotten to know well — to give us a glimpse of the inside story of putting on these races.

Fred Daly, Race Director

I think the first year for the x-c series was 1999, but it might have been 1998. It was the brainchild of Bob Velez, who since moved to Puerto Rico, though he still shows up once in a while for the race. I took over ten years ago or so.

All those years, Otis Matthews and I teamed at the registration table, and Bill Smith handled everything else — water, course marshals, etc. I have always thought that Otis was the guiding spirit of the series — his calm, low-key manner embodied the atmosphere we wanted. I love the series because there's a kind of community feel to it. Somehow the muffins are a symbol of the ethos of the thing. They were Bob's idea. I think it's neat that we hand out muffins instead of medals or trophies, and that we charge only $5.00.

A couple of times in the past folks in the club have wanted to make a bigger deal of the 5K series, and I've resisted. We don't need or want 400 runners, and we don't need it to be a cash cow for the club. Scoring by hand is a little stressful, especially on a wet or windy day, but I prefer it to spending tons of money on an electronic system.

In the first years we'd have maybe 40 runners at the start of the summer and build to about 80. For a long time, 100 was basically our max. In recent years it's gotten bigger; the first two this year were about 140, which makes me a little nervous because it might mean we'll have huge fields at the end. The most we ever had was about 210.

What else is interesting? One of the best features has been the participation of younger runners, especially the Rabbits Club from East Harlem. They missed 2009 (transportation was not available), but we got them back for the races last year and this.


Flyers win carrot muffins in a 2009 race

 The 2x2 Relay

Now back to the relay. There are altogether six 5K races and at the mid-point, after the first 3, there is the 2x2 relay. It usually comes around the 4th of July, and this year it was last Thursday, July 7th

First thing is putting together your team. With just 2, that should be easy. Drag the friend who has never done a cross country race up to Vanny (that’s what we call Van Cortlandt Park) and just say, “It’s easy, a piece of cake.” Occasionally you can find a partner in the crowd, but it’s better to arrange for it ahead of time. But mostly it’s a running partner or friend who goes up there and is one of the regulars.

You should be aware of age groups. Since lots of us mid-pack runners have actually won the coveted carrot muffin (alas, not this year) it may matter to be in a particular age group. Your ages are added together and the groups are 20 or 30 years wide for your total age. Your best strategy is to find someone who is 85 years old, and just broke the world record for 2 miles. Only kidding, hahaha.

The route, besides being shorter, is not the same as the 5K route. You don’t cross the bridge and do the hilly Back Hills. Instead you do the even hillier Cemetery Hill. No, it’s not called that because it’s the burial ground for exhausted runners. Hmm, or is it?

The way it works is all the #1 runners from each team (last Thursday there were about 40 teams) go to the start line. The #2 runners watch.

The gun goes off (not actually a gun, usually the guy just says "Ready, Go"). And the clock starts. Runner #1 goes out like a bat out of hell, runs the 2 miles (up over and along Cemetery Hill) comes back in, dying like a dog, touches hands with runner #2, and collapses. Then the second runner goes out and does the same course and comes in and finishes. So the clock runs the whole time and when the 2nd runner finishes that's your team’s time.

A word on "hand-off chaos."

In brief: It's not as bad as you might think. It's worse than you might think.

Note the period "." instead of a comma "," between those two statements. The second is not a rebuttal of the first, both statements are true.

It's not as bad as you might think — this is because teams tend to be of two runners of similar speeds. i.e. both fast, both mid-pack, etc. So when the first cohort goes out, there is two miles to spread the field out, and as the runners come back in there is usually not too much congestion except perhaps mid-pack. But if you’re a #2, you have to watch and be ready when your runner comes in.

It's worse than you might think — this is because the start line and finish line are one and the same and incoming runners come in on the track FROM the north end and outgoing runners go out on the same track TOWARDS the north end. So you have a bunch of runners coming in and another bunch going out in THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION! Collisions are possible.

Those Carrot Muffins

As for awards, Flyer Deanna C and her teammate Jackie C won their age group (female 40 – 69) and Flyer Megan B, and her teammate Robert L took second in theirs (co-ed 70-99). Susan S, my teammate and I were just "out of the muffins" (we were third) as were Judith T and Flyer Melissa C. Our teams were both in the 100+ age group (although not the same gender group) so we had to compete with a bunch of young 50 year olds! Bummer!

Saving the Best for Last

But après race, Susan and I had a few cold ones at Gleeson's, across the street with a PURCHASED Carrot cake. Yummy! BTW: Gleeson’s was hopping with runners and at $5 per Guinness, made for a nice destination.

As you can see, it's just a great time. So come on out and just do it.

You’ll have to wait till next year for the relay, but the 5K cross country series is only half done, so some Thursday evening, come on up to the Bronx and enjoy a small town race. The next one is July 21st. The muffins will still be yummy and the pints will still be $5.

-Papa Bear