Running Central Park: A Design Concept

Michael R

I found the Flyers in a roundabout way while teaching a design course at Parsons The New School for Design.  The emphasis of the course is to base a design project on a careful understanding of human needs.  A group of students chose to work on improving the running experience in Central Park.  Their project piqued my curiosity about running clubs and ultimately led me to join the Flyers.  That was lucky for me!

The students who developed this project were Maria Dontas, Sophie Elliot, Jacob Stein and Helen Weselcouch.  They started with the basic observation that different types of runners use Central Park and that its 843 acres can be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with the park and lacking in some desirable features for more experienced runners.  They called the project Running Central Park (RCP).

The students spent time on different days and at different hours observing and interviewing Central Park runners.  Some were locals only a short walk from home and all the conveniences a home provides.  Some traveled from other parts of the city to enjoy the park’s beauty but they were away from their home amenities.  Others were tourists wanting to run through one of the most famous parks on the planet but not sure where to start (or finish!).  Runners varied in experience level, home proximity, frequency of use and familiarity with the park.  The students also uncovered a variety of running goals including weight loss, fitness, fun, socializing, de-stressing and of course, training for specific performance objectives like distance or time.

The students analyzed these runners’ needs and came up with a list of amenities and services for RCP that would improve the overall running experience through the park:

The students incorporated these key features into the overall RCP concept design.  The major components of the concept are the “main hub” and “mini hub” buildings.  A “main hub” offers a lounge/rest area, staffed information desk, trainer’s office, basic first aid, lockers, restrooms, showers, towels, beverages, snacks and basic toiletries.

A “mini hub” is similar but with fewer amenities and services.  It includes a lounge, basic first aid, restrooms, beverages and snacks.

The hubs are strategically located throughout the park at convenient access points and within easy reach of public transportation.  Entry to the hubs is restricted to RCP members. The students proposed four locations for the main hubs and three locations for the mini hubs (see map, below):

The students also created a web site to support the concept.  It highlights the services and social activities available through RCP.  The site is actually similar to the Flyers’ web site although it relates more directly to RCP’s focus on Central Park and its hub facilities within the park.

Finally, the students created a pricing /membership model for RCP that is designed to accommodate anyone from one-time tourists to regular park runners.

The Running Central Park concept represents one model for enhancing the running experience in Central Park.  It transforms the park into a huge health club for runners.   The ideas are based on a researched understanding of the needs of runners who actually use the park.  As a frequent park runner I would find a service like this very appealing.

Even though I live only a few blocks from Central Park, I’ve often been in need of a Band-Aid, working water fountain, storage space, cool-down or advice while using the park.  It also is easy to see how the concept would be useful to other runners with different needs be they regular or infrequent park users and whether they live nearby, one borough over or a continent away. It would be interesting to hear how other Flyers respond to the RCP concept.

-Michael R

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Slip-Sliding Away

Reyna F

No, it is not Tough Mudder, although I might do that next. I am talking about something classic – trail running.  First let me tell you that I am not a trail running expert. For that matter, I am not even a running expert.  I consider myself a running newbie.  I started running sporadically when my son was born because pushing him in the jogging stroller was a great way to exercise. But once he could sit in the bicycle seat, I gave away the stroller.  That was the end of running until I decided to do triathlons five years ago.

I appreciate running as an efficient and minimalist exercise modality.  In less than one hour, I can get an intense cardio workout that is also bone building.  But don’t tell anyone: I would rather be biking, hiking, skiing, climbing… I probably shouldn’t say that to a bunch of runners. Please don’t kick me out of the club.  Why do I enjoy those sports? Because I love speed.  When I am cycling and skiing, I prefer going fast. What is the best part of going uphill?  It is the downhill on the other side.  Even hiking has this aspect.   When you see me hiking, it is a fast walk up and a speedy jog down. I feel like I am flying when running down a mountain.   Last month when I was hiking in Harriman State Park with my husband, an injured man asked about the fastest way down.  Charlie said, “Just follow her.” 

Since I started running regularly, I have stuck to the bridle paths in Central Park.  And I would dream about running on real trails.  This winter I did a long run through Van Cortlandt Park to Inwood Park, which whet my appetite for real trail running.  Jumping over logs and avoiding tripping on rocks makes the run much more interesting.  Then I found out about the Berkshire Memorial Day Marathon Trail Race.  It coincided with the bicycle trip I organize yearly for the New York Cycle Club (NYCC).  Would the cyclists be upset if I run instead of bike ride?  I have been going to the NYCC Berkshire weekend since 1989 and have been coordinating it since 2004.  I deserved to do something different.  So I signed up for the 15 kilometer trail run race on May 26.  I also had the option to sign up for the marathon the following day, but I wanted to ride at least one day with the club (good excuse!).

The day before the race was wet, and it rained the night before.  Fortunately, the day of the race was dry and warm.  There were 107 people in the race.  This was the smallest race I ever ran. I am used to the crowded NYRR races.  I enjoyed the camaraderie and competition of a small group.  We lined up and waited for the horn to blow.  I was in the back of the line chatting with friends when the boom started the race.  Lesson number one: In a small race, unless you want to run slow or don’t care about your time, move up as close as possible to the start.  Particularly when the clock and timing does not account for when you actually cross the starting line.

The race began on an uphill which caught many by surprise who did not pace themselves.  After 1½ miles it leveled out and then went downhill. Then uphill, then downhill, and so on. There were some uphills that were so steep that walking up was faster than running up.  And some of the downhills were so slippery you had to walk or else slip and fall.  At about five miles, there was a turnabout.  It gave me the opportunity to see the lead runners walk up the hill as I ran down it.  That made me feel better – If they can walk up, so can I.  Unfortunately, I passed one accident.  There was a young woman on the trail unconscious and being tended to by race volunteers.  I had no idea how they were going to get her out. An ambulance could not get through the trail.  Apparently, she regained consciousness and was walked out.  I don’t know if she was down because of a fall or a medical condition.  That is a danger of trail running.

Towards the end of the race, there was a one mile descent – I was loving it.  I took pleasure in running straight through the mud and puddles.  It was a good thing my shoes did not get stuck in the mud.  A friend told me that once happened to her.  She had to stop and put her muddy shoes onto her muddy feet.  That is another risk of trail running.  If we went barefoot, that wouldn’t be a concern.

At this point, I saw Tanglewood. Hurrah, the finish line is close.  I thought it was all downhill until the finish line. But I was wrong.  I had to run up a hill, across a field, then down again. No problem. I was almost done.  Then at 1:41:01, I crossed the finish line as the 7^th woman.  I felt great.  It was much more difficult than the Brooklyn Half that I ran the prior weekend, but much more fun.  I went to stretch afterwards and as I bent over, I saw that my legs and sneakers were caked with mud. Being Tanglewood, there was a very nice and clean restroom to wash up in.  While cleaning up, I chatted with the #1 and #2 women who agreed that this race was more difficult but more enjoyable than the Brooklyn Half.  What surprised me is that they traveled to race in Brooklyn.  And they must have been surprised that I traveled to race in Stockbridge, MA.

We don’t really need to travel for trail races. Van Cortland Park has their Thursday night at the races (but they are only 5K). I am on the look-out for longer trail runs that are within one hour of the city. Who else wants to trail run and doesn’t mind a few rocks, logs and mud?

-Reyna F

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Shires of Vermont Marathon

Richard G

Good News and Bad News on a Hot Day

On Sunday, May 20th, I ran the Shires of Vermont Marathon. It's a small race (227 finishers this year) which runs from Bennington to Manchester in southern Vermont.

Well, how did it go?

First the Good News —

I won 2nd place in my age group (60 - 69) out of 10 finishers in that group, and being 69, I was the oldest. I won a delightful little half pint container of 100% pure Vermont Maple Syrup.

Now for the Bad News —

It was by far the slowest marathon I had ever run (among runners, that's generally called a Personal Worst), just under 5 hours. I, like almost everyone there, was defeated by the heat. It was a day of almost unremitting direct sunlight (probably only about 1/3 of the route was shaded) and of temperatures rising to the mid 80°s. To put it in perspective, I was a little slower than the median finisher (I was #130 out of 227), which means almost half the crowd finished in over 5 hours. The winner of my age group was more than an hour faster then me, so he's just plain fast. And ironically, the #3 man in my age group finished right behind me, 11 seconds back (a fact neither of us knew — or cared about — at the time).

The Back Story —

A couple of years ago I got the idea of getting back to running marathons after a hiatus of nearly 8 years. I had run out of steam and enthusiasm in the early 2000s and decided to retire from marathons and concentrate on shorter races and to move to trails and other assorted venues beyond Central Park (hence the name for my web site). But since I was approaching 70, the itch returned and I decided to un-retire from marathons. My inaugural "post-retirement" race was the St. George Marathon last October in which I actually qualified for the 2013 Boston Marathon.

So, you might wonder why I'm ran ANOTHER marathon this year. The answer is simple, I need to keep myself in the marathon training mode — it was hard enough to get back into that mode last year after a long hiatus.

I looked for a late spring marathon which was not too far away, not too crowded, and not too expensive. On the recommendation of Susan, my running partner (who had run the Shires last year in its inaugural race), I chose the Shires. Another advantage was that Susan owned a house abaout a half hour's drive from the race and we could stay there.

Since January of this year I undertook a marathon training program to get ready for the Shires. But not just to do a strong marathon — after all, I had already qualified for Boston — but to get my mind and body attuned to a higher level of training and fitness. The training went fairly well although there were a few gaps that I will need to address for the next time around. My training was chronicled in my mini-Blog "Running to the Shires", and there you can find all the details.

A Little Sight Seeing —



Battle of Bennington Monument

We drove up from New York City to Susan's place on Saturday morning and, after Susan did a few errands, we drove up to Bennington to pick up our race packets and explore the countryside a little bit.

The name "Shires of Vermont" refers to the South Shire (Bennington) and the North Shire (Manchester) — the two historic "Shire Towns" (county seats) of Bennigton County — and to the old byway connecting them. It lies in an idyllic valley in the southwest corner of the state nestled between the Green Mountains to the east and the Taconic Mountains to the west.

Everything about the race and the area was very low key and perfectly suited for a small town in southern Vermont. But unfortunately the weather forecast had called for sun with temperatures rising to the mid 80°s on Sunday, so everyone was pretty concerned about that. The packet pickup was at The Bennington Center for the Arts, a small fine arts museum on a hill overlooking Bennington. We picked up our stuff in a room next to a gallery of western themed paintings and sculptures. While there, Susan bumped into a few old friends she knew from the group she runs with in the area.



They Have Moose
Like We Had Cows

The first thing we noticed when we started looking around were statues of moose. Everywhere. They have moose like we had cows! (Remember the New York City cows? That was in 2000.) They were each painted with a local scene. The one in the photo shows the "Covered Bridge Moose" And actually shows the bridge we ran through. These were originally built and painted by local artists for "Moosefest 2009."

Next we visited the "Battle of Bennington Monument". This is a very tall obelisk (over 300' tall) that you can see from many places in town. It's actually quite near the Center for the Arts. The battle — fought a few miles west in New York State — was in August of 1777. The victory of the Colonials prevented the British from capturing a large cache of supplies located where the monument now stands.

We then drove down along the race route and through the Silk Road Bridge, a covered bridge depicted on the Moose and which we would run through the next day. There were two more covered bridges downstream from this one which we also checked out.

Lastly, we visited a historic railroad station in North Bennington which the course would also pass by. The old Shire towns of Bennington and Manchester were connected by a precursor to this railroad as well as by an old dirt by-way. Much of the race course followed the same path and in fact the following day during the marathon, a tourist train actually interrupted the race for a few moments, no doubt evoking memories of the 1907 Boston Marathon. As cool as that would be, I'm just as glad it was some other runners who were interrupted. Then it was back to Susan's place for some shopping and a scrumptious spaghetti supper with all the trimmings.

A Word on the Course —

It would be no exaggeration to say this is one of the loveliest places in New England. A combination of small towns, country stores owned by locals, beautiful farmland, the Green and Taconic Mountains and of course the Green Mountain National Forest running along the spine of the state. The marathon course samples some of the best of each of these qualities — although thankfully the course went over some hills but no real mountains.

The people volunteering and spectating were also the best. Always helpful and always cheerful. And the large proportion of children helping, some quite young, was impressive. And a special thanks to the Batten Kill Valley Runners which put on the race and the Granite State Race Services which provided their usual superb technical services.

The Race —

We got to the race start (at the Center for the Arts) about 8:30. Susan's husband planned to do some biking while the race was going on, so he left us and drove up to Manchester so the car would be there when we finished. I had time for a pit stop and an easy warm-up jog and found a spot in the crowd. As with everything else about this race, it was totally low key. My attention was distracted by a group of volunteers who were attempting to erect a banner over the starting line. They had a problem fastening the banner to the rope between two poles and were having no luck fixing it. But when the count-down finally got to 1 minute before the start, they just gave it up and carried the assorted pieces off to the side. Whatever! The temperature was already 67° with bright sunshine and 66% humidity. This would be a hot one.


The pack right sfter the start
(photo by Pat Hendrick Photography)

One could divide the race up into two parts: first "The Hills" and then "The Heat". When the hills went up, my pace per mile went up, and vice versa. But for the second section of hills my pace was pretty flat. This is probably because of the shade. The first section was primarily through Bennington and was mostly unshaded. The second group of hills (past mile 10) were on country roads in the Green Mountain National Forest and were mostly (but not entirely) shaded. But as "reasonable" as the pace might seem for this section (and actually on out to mile 16) some real damage was being done. The temperature was rising to 72° at 10:00, to 76° at 11:00 and to 80° at noon — when I was around mile 17½. And unfortunately there was less shade after that point.

The second section is what I call "The Heat". The elevation trend line is pretty flat or down-hill with the usual many bumps found on country roads, but my pace was far from flat. In fact it went off the chart!

Starting around mile 17, the cumulative effect of the heat and the hills started to slow me down. Maybe I got a bit of a lift in mile 20 where there is a larger that average down-hill section and my pace picked up a bit. But otherwise it turned into a rout. First it was a slower running speed, and then there were repeated walking sections. A few steps at the water stops, then at the mile markers, and finally, by the end, I was walking more than I was running. Meanwhile the temperature had risen to 82° by 1:00 (I was a little past mile 22) and to 84° around the time I finished. At mile 25 I started walking and said to some of my fellow sufferers "I'm trying to figure how far I can run, and I'll start when I think I can make it to the finish". They laughed and said they were doing more or less the same thing.

It was not all bad: the water stops were great and I want to commend the volunteers. In the later miles the stream of runners was rather sparse so the volunteer would generally sit under a tree and wait. When they spotted a runner, they would jump up and cheer and offer water, Gatorade and ice and really, really hope you would take their water. Some of them looked barely 8 or 10 years old but they were all great. Thank you, thank you! You helped a poor run-down runner greatly!

The other truly uplifting moment was when I passed a group of belly dancers in Arlington. They were on the porch of a store on the left side of the road. There was some kind of middle-eastern music playing and someone singing in Arabic or maybe Greek. And the dancers were of all ages and sizes. I'm told they are from the "Bennington Beledi Tribal Bellydance". It was so unexpected and delightful that I was simply blown away. All you could do was smile.

I ran the last bit and tried to look good for the photos. My friends have said "Gosh, you look so strong in those photos." If they only knew.


Near the Finish Line

When finally I turned the corner into the finish area and got to where I could see the clock, I saw it was within a minute of turning over to the next hour. I'm sure there's many a runner out there who can recall being in that situation. So naturally I tried to pick it up to beat the clock, but my increase in speed was pathetic. Fortunately I had enough leaway to make it and managed to break, not 4 hours as I hoped, but 5 hours! At 4:59:45, I was done at last.

I got water and Gatorade and food and then found Susan's husband. He had been out on the course after his own bike ride, and spotted me around mile 24 where we chatted briefly. Next I asked the announcer when the awards would be announced and he said they already had been announced (probably an hour before). But he was good enough to look me up and found I had placed second in my age group. This seemed hard to believe given my finish, but I guess everyone was in the same boat today. He found Dave, the race director, who gave me my prize of Vermont Maple Syrup. Then I got a mini-massage on my legs, and as I was finishing up with that I heard Susan's name announced. So I stumbled over and congratulated her.

Besides Susan and I, there were 2 other Flyers at the Shires: Felicity L and Howard C. I ran a bit with Felicity during the race. We traded places a couple of times but she had more heat resistance and got in about 20 minutes before me. Felicity had run the Verrazano Half 3 weeks before the Shires, as did I. And I was surprised to discover Howard C had finished the Brooklyn Half the day before the Shires (with a PR). But then, noticing he wore a Marathon Maniacs shirt, I looked a little further and found an awesome record of marathons and ultras he has completed over the last several years. Click here to view Howard's results.

It had been a very long day for all of us.

 After we got back to Susan’s house, I took a shower and had some time to relax. Guess what? Everything seemed good again! Later, we would all go out for a celebratory dinner at a very good Spanish restaurant.


After a shower, relaxing with a beer —

everything seemed good again!

The next day I was back in New York City with a few sore muscles but many good memories — and a half pint of Maple Syrup!

Thoughts on the Race

So, am I disappointed? No, not really. I knew I could crash and burn, but I never thought I would actually burn (as in sun burn) and crash (due to heat) rather than due to a risky strategy. And I think even a bad race can be a "teaching moment". Lessons learned: 1) don't stop near the end, the guy behind you might take your award. 2) make sure to tell the race director to order cool weather next year .

I've thought about it over the last few days and wondered if I had concentrated more of my training on hill workouts, would it have helped under these conditions? I'll never know, but since my next marathon is the 2013 Boston, it certainly won't hurt to do lots of hill workouts. I've learned the best way to run well on down-hills (which Boston has lots of) is to train on up-hills. Strong quads help you both going up and down.

The further I get away from the race (it's a week now), the better I appreciate that my marathon was — comparatively speaking — a strong one. As my daughter said 'You can't possibly think of this as your "personal worst" when you got a marathon "podium finish!"'. Ah, love you Payslee! And although a small race like this doesn't even HAVE a podium (and the winner in my age group had gone home by the time I finished), the sentiment is well taken and much appreciated.

Now it's time to get into my off-season. My mantra will be "Summertime, and the Runnin' is Easy". First up, a 5K cross country race in Van Cortlandt Park on Thursday. No awards there, that's for sure!

The Last Word —

Would I do this race again? Would I recommend it to others? In a minute! Just make sure it's not a hot day .

-Papa Bear (a.k.a. Richard G)

Blogmaster's Note: This post is based on a report on Papa Bear’s blog: Beyond Central Park: The Shires of Vermont Marathon.

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An Event that Holds a Very Special Place In My Heart!

Shevaun T

Here we go with a little history on the race before I write about what it signifies to me and then a race report.  

It all started on June 3,1972 when 78 women lined up in Central Park to run what was dubbed the Crazylegs Mini Marathon.  Johnson Wax was the sponsor and they were promoting  a women's shaving gel.  The 'mini' is for the miniskirt, which was widely popular in women's fashion circles.

Each participant wore a t-shirt with their number ironed on.  (Hey, this is actually a good idea.  Safety pins create a lot of holes in my Flyers singlet!)  The two women who co-founded the event with the late Fred Lebow were Kathrine Switzer, who was the first woman to finish the Boston Marathon in 1967, and Nina Kuscsik, who had won the first official Boston Marathon in 1972 just weeks before the running of this race.  Fast-forward 40 years and boy have times changed for women's running (actually, in every area of a woman's life: sports, career, and home to name a few).

I went on the NYRR website after the race and came across a quote that resonated with me.  "The race for me is a link to both the past and the future."  I grew up watching my mom run this race.  Seeing her run the Avon Mini (as it was called then) really planted the seeds for my love of and passion for running and racing.  As a little girl, my dream was to eventually run this exact race with my mother.


Throughout the years I had observed lots of mother-daughter teams and delighted in the idea that I, too, would be doing this.  My mother passed away when I was a teenager so I did not have this opportunity.  However, when I arrived in New York fresh out of college and joined the New York Flyers 17 years ago, I ran the 1995 Mini Marathon in memory of my mother. It was my first 10K race and I was ecstatic to have run a time of 44:00.  (this time was my PR for 17 years up until the Healthy Kidney 10K last month).  So as with every Mini I have run, I would run this year's race in memory of my mother.  I also would try to break my PR from the previous month. My time of 40:41 fell short of a PR by 18 seconds but it's kinda cool that I ran 40 minutes (and change) on the 40th anniversary of the race at age 40!!

It is at this point that I mention the race and "the link to the future" -- I actually CAN be part of a mother-daughter team that I dreamed about many years ago.   Except this time I would be the mother.  I have three young daughters; perhaps one day we will run event together. Having my girls on the sidelines now as my cheerleaders I hope that I will set the example my mom did for me; teaching each one of them to be a strong woman with a real passion who works hard to achieve goals, where the possibilities are endless, and where many friends are made along the way!!

Shevaun with Daughters
Grace, Quinn and Paige

The Mini 10K also holds real significance to me because two years ago it presented me with the chance of a lifetime.  In 2010, the day before the race, I attended a luncheon to benefit the NYRR Youth Program.  It was a small gathering, and when I arrived I was seated in between Paula Radcliffe and Kara Goucher.  Like me, they were pregnant at the time, so we chatted about running and pregnancy, maximum heart rates, what we do for cross-training and the anticipation of our births.  What a thrill!!

Now for the race report:  Standing close to the start line with more than 6,000 female runners on Saturday morning on the 40th anniversary of the Mini was empowering and there was so much energy and excitement.  Of course, I had on my mini, my new Flyer singlet and a necklace that Kara Goucher sports when racing.  We all listened to the pioneers of this race speak, and Kathrine Switzer wore her Crazylegs t-shirt from 1972.  We saw Olympic hopeful Desiree Davila up on stage commanding a big presence despite her tiny frame.  It was female power to the max.  

Lisa M, Victoria S, Shevaun T, Karen H, Jodie F, and Francine A 

I felt proud to be standing with thousands of strong women anxiously awaiting the start.   The gun fired and we were off.  I was very close to the front and racing down Central Park West where I found myself running in between Elizabeth A and Deanna C.  We ran together for close to 2 miles; there was respect, camaraderie, and we were having "fun" pushing the pacing.  

I met Elizabeth very briefly at the finish line of the Coogan's  5K, and I had heard a lot about Deanna  but had never met her. What better way to get acquainted than while on the run!  It was super cool that we were encouraging one another with "come on" and "let's go." The "fun" we were having came to an abrupt end as we approached the Harlem Hill; then it was time to really focus.  Deanna powered her way up the Hill and we followed closely behind.  By the time we got to the 5K mark, Deanna was off and looking particularly strong.  Way to go Deanna!!  I was tiring but reminded myself that the Flyer cheering section and my three daughters would be at the 72nd Street transverse. The crowd support was deafening coming down Cat Hill.  

Thank You!
Flyers Cheering Station

Thank you to all the Flyers who came out to cheer us on at the E. 72nd Street Cheering Station organized by Adam H. For me, this was monumental in getting me through the last mile.


I spotted my daughters in their bright blue "running skirts" (actually tennis skirts but is there really a difference?) and gave a big wave and blew a kiss. Because I do not wear a Garmin, I didn't know what pace I was going.  My legs were feeling very heavy but I thought of the mile repeats I do with the Tuesday 6am speed work group.  I told myself I only had to do it once as opposed to the four or more repeats we do on the first Tuesday of every month.  This self-talk helped considerably and somehow got me to the finish line where my name was announced.  I then spotted Dave K volunteering at the finish line and he placed my medal around my neck. 

With Victoria S

With Kettia M

A big shout out to everyone in Francine's 6am group. You have brought my running to a whole new level and for this I am grateful! It was a great showing for the Flyer Ladies, with quite a few finishing top-ten in their age group and/or setting PRs.  We all gathered after the race for pictures and then I headed over to the playground to meet my family. My girls greeted me with a hug and then asked why I wasn't the winner!  

Congratulations to all the Flyer Ladies and I look forward to "toeing the line" with you again next year for this spectacular event!


-Shevaun T

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B2B -- Heat, Hills, and Sweet Sweet Strawberries

Janine S

I’d first heard of the Boston 2 Big Sur (B2B) Challenge from fellow NY Flyers Sungwon H and Joe J. It consists of 400 runners committed to running the Boston Marathon on Patriot's Day, and then running the Big Sur Marathon in California on the last Sunday in April. Some years this means the Challenge is six days apart, and in other years it’s 13 days. Without much deep thought other than wanting to stay relatively fit during the winter, I signed up and convinced Nina P-T to take the challenge with me. And so, without a very consistent training season (should’ve rejoined the wildly successful Flyers Marathon Training Program) we headed off to run Boston on April 16 for the first of 2 marathons on two coasts in 13 days.

Boston, April 16: My race was abysmal. After standing under the "sun lamp" in the corral, I was hot even before crossing the start. The funniest comment I heard after my wave began, and the runners were racing down the road, was from a guy who said "it feels like we are all running from Godzilla." I think that was the only time I laughed during the Boston race.

The first time I wanted to quit was when I passed the Harley guys that were drinking beer at Mile 2. They were having fun, and I wasn't, so joining them seemed like such a good idea, but I barreled on. The second time I wanted to quit was at Mile 7 when my leg started cramping. (Only 19 miles to go…Oh no.) At Mile 8, when I threw up my GU gel, I really, really wanted to quit. The problem was that the Boston Marathon was tied to the Big Sur Marathon in that to get the cool B2B jacket you must FINISH both marathons. So after the GU incident, at around Mile 8.5, I began running solely for the love of the jacket. Mind you, I'd never seen the jacket, but I HAD to have it; I HAD to finish, for the jacket and for the extra medal that says B2B.

Luckily for me my very good, dear friend Sungwon flew into Boston that morning and offered to run me through the Newton Hills beginning at Mile 18. Thank God. So from miles 8-18, I walked, I ran, I ate popsicles, licorice, a lollipop, pretzels, orange slices and dumped water over my head and I focused on ticking off the miles knowing with each passing mile that all I had to do was get to 18 and Sungwon would carry me in.

Kids with hoses squirted me and I ran under all the Boston Athletic Association icy spray tents despite that my blisters were forming before the half. As I approached each spray tent, I would question whether the few seconds of icy spray were worth the further damage to my feet. Mostly I decided yes, and I would grimace and then run through the cold misty tents, and frankly it sort of added to the entire torturous experience.

At last I saw Sungwon, at Mile 18, at the amazing Flyers cheering station!! It was an oasis for sure, and thank you, thank you, FLYERS in Boston for the overwhelming and encouraging support. Special thanks to Alan G who gave me electrolyte tablets and to those that cheered for me and to Sungwon, who was there waiting.

Over the next half-mile, we started chatting, and Sungwon told me I was running well, and asked me if I needed water, and life was good. Not too far ahead of us, I spotted one of the first hills of Newton, and I braced myself for the climb. Just then Sungwon said she had to fix her hair, and she'd catch up to me in a minute, so she stopped and up the hill I climbed, alone. I reached the top and proceeded, looking back a couple times to find Sungwon, but I LOST HER. Her story later was that I must've been running faster than she thought, because she couldn't find me (hmm… 10:30 pace?). To this day, I'm not sure what exactly was going on with her hair (but it is lovely!).

Stephanie P (left) Looking Terrific
with Sondra M (also Terrific) in Boston

And on I went running (and walking) for the jacket. It was around Mile 22 that Flyer Masters Captain Stephanie P passed me, looking terrific! I was walking and talking and she tapped me and said "start running!" I dropped in behind her and kept up for a little while. A mile later it was Flyers Faithful Lara that was passing me and I ran with her until almost the finish. I really kicked it in when I saw the finish line. I caught up to and then PASSED Captain America, but sadly Elmo and the Hamburglar crossed the finish before me (adding insult to injury). It was a personal worst (PW) for me, more than an hour slower than NY 2011. I finished though, and that's ALL I needed to get on that plane to Big Sur.

Big Sur, April 29: With the expo a block from our hotel, Nina and I attended the expo first thing Saturday morning when it opened at 9am and we stayed there all day! There was this tremendous line-up of speakers and so we listened to, talked to, and hung out with Jeff Galoway, Dean Karnazes, and Bart Yasso, among others. We met up with our Flyer friend Murat B (fellow B2Ber) and dragged him along to take photos with Dean. Dean even invited us to join him on his 35 mile run (yes, RUN) to the start of the marathon in the morning (he said he gets up around 2am), and we all laughed, but he was serious!

Nina, Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes, and Janine

Murat, Nina and I met at 4:00am on Sunday morning to take the bus to the start. The luxury bus drove an hour in complete darkness, and we could feel the hills (mountains) under the bus and from the moonlight we saw we were on the edge of a cliff for much of the ride. When we arrived at the start, I immediately wanted to get rid of my bag. Other runners were lying around WITH their bags and no one was panicking (except the three of us) about where to drop it. An announcement was made sometime later that we should drop our bags before lining up, but if we forgot, we could just drop them AT the start. The first “corral” was sub 3:45, and those runners could line up at the front. The second “corral” was 3:45-4:45 (ours), and we just walked up behind those that were already there, and the third was 4:45 – 6:00. It was all very civilized without pushing or ropes or officials or having to show your number.

Our new friends Bart and Jeff were standing at a podium at the start, and then the gun went off and dozens of white doves were released creating this beautiful vision to begin the journey. So after passing Dean Karnazes running in the opposite direction at Mile 1 (he yelled to us “I’m a little late!), Nina and I soon lost Murat as we had been personally convinced by Jeff Galloway to use his “method” for this marathon, and so we were walking 1 - 2x per mile for 20-45 seconds (it is a very strange feeling to walk on purpose, and slightly embarrassing to me, especially in the beginning).

Janine, Nina and Oh What a View!

The first 5 miles of the course are easy and flat to downhill and we were surrounded by giant Redwoods, and the weather was sunny and perfect. Moments after ditching my gloves and arm-warmers around the 10k mark, the sky darkened, and there was a huge headwind (we later learned it was the worst wind in 5 years, about 25 mph) as we started up the hills. All of a sudden, it was cold, and dark, and foggy and it felt like we were running though a windy cloud. We couldn't see the edge of the road, or the ocean although we could hear it, and since we came for the views, we began to wonder whether we'd be able to see anything!!

At Mile 11, the fog began to lift, and we felt the pounding of the Taiko drummers (click here to see and hear them performing at the Big Sur Marathon) in our stomachs before we could actually see them. The drummers mark the beginning of the hardest hill, a 2.5 mile climb up to Hurricane Point. The hill twists and turns out of sight and the drummers’ rhythm matches the feet of the runners.

About a mile from Hurricane Point, while still climbing and battling the crazy wind, we began to hear the most lovely piano sounds pulling us up the mountain. At the top of the hill, there is a tuxedoed man playing a grand piano, and the music echoes through the air, and the runners celebrate having reached the halfway point.

Nina and Janine Stop Briefly for a Serenade at the Half

The next half is more hills and endless, breathtaking views of the ocean, of cliffs, of cows and flowers and the famous Bixby Bridge. There are no spectators on the course, so there are many moments when there is complete silence except for the patter of feet and the sounds of runners breathing. Nina and I stopped often to take pictures as each mile looked more beautiful than the last. At Mile 23, there are volunteers with giant bowls of the sweetest strawberries, and every runner stops to eat one. It was surely the best strawberry I have had, ever. And then soon after, we saw the finish line. There was no mad dash, just more running and laughing about “another” hill at mile 25.5, and how fun it was, and how beautiful, and how great we felt (thanks Jeff). We collected our first medal and headed toward the tents.

Finally, Nina and I made it to the B2B tent where we first saw the JACKET!! (It's the coolest, greatest jacket, really) and we also got our second medal. There was amazing food, chia drinks, beer, more strawberries, and we sat in the sun and met other B2B finishers, and found Murat who was ahead of us by 40 minutes! We stayed there until the marathon had reached its 6-hour cut off, and then we walked to the finish and cheered in the final runners. Nina would yell and cheer them on, and Murat would dash over and literally run them in to the finish.

Janine, Nina and Murat with B2B Medals!
And, Most Important, Wearing THE JACKET!!!

Later that night, there was a huge B2B party and we met Wally the race director (and his entire family) who told us he created the B2B challenge because whenever he would invite people to run his marathon, he would hear “I can’t, I’m running Boston.” After years of hearing that, he created the B2B. Big Sur is frankly the opposite of Boston on many fronts, and that’s exactly why it works. There is no award money given in Big Sur, so the race is usually won by locals (this year the winner ran 2:32:25). Big Sur concurrently runs a relay, a 9 mile race, and a Big Sur 21 mile race, which we asked about because it’s such an odd distance. It turns out that it was created for someone in Wally’s family who likes to race walk, and most people can race walk 21 miles in 6 hours. Also, due to the fact that the marathon has that strict 6 hour cutoff (in order to reopen the highway), any runner who will not finish, gets loaded onto the dreaded sweeper bus. Everyone on the sweeper bus gets a 21 mile race medal (Wally said it makes them really happy!)

Somewhere during the B2B challenge and still afterward, I recalled and contemplated all the reasons of just exactly why I run. The B2B is a full, rich experience of the complexity and dichotomy of all that’s right and good about running. Boston, with its intensity and amazing athletes, all so fit and wired and buzzing with energy and competitive spirit. Well I love all that; it’s invigorating and electric and aggressive and fun. Then there is Big Sur with its doves, cliffs, drummers and piano, mixed up with fog and crazy winds and monster hills and sweet, sweet strawberries - just how my heart would describe running! And for the record, my Zen feeling and love of life lasted at least until the plane touched down at JFK.

-Janine S

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