memorable running experiences
Year: 1987
Place: Rockville, MD
Distance: 3.2 Miles
The first race I ever won. I was either the second or third best runner on the cross-country team, but Peter Goyer (a tall, lanky boy nicknamed "Big Mac"), who was the top guy, wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t realize I was winning until about halfway through. This was also the first race my dad ever saw me run. After I won, my brother, who was about three feet tall at the time, ran in circles around me from excitement. I now considered myself a runner.
Year: 1992
Place: Potomac, MD
Distance: .25 Miles
Having endured a junior high/early high school running career marred by injuries and poor practice habits (I hated running then, actually), I was at a new school and decided to give it another go. After a few weeks of practice with the track team, I was chosen to run the half-mile in a meet. Warming up I felt a tightness in my hip, which I chalked up to nerves. After the first of two laps, a jarring stretching sensation shot down my leg, followed by a popping sound. I collapsed to the track in pain. My coach came over and asked me if I could finish the race - I guess the team needed the points or something. After standing up, I collapsed again. Later that night at the hospital, I found out I had an avulsion fracture of the hip. After missing a week of school, I came back walking with a cane. That day the Rodney King verdict was announced and, in protest, students pulled the fire alarms in almost every period. The school had no elevators, so I had to walk up and down the stairs in excruciating pain all day. To this day, whenever I hear the name Rodney King I wince.
Year: 1994
Place: Georgetown, Washington, DC
Distance: 50 yards
I was working at Urban Outfitters and enjoying the never-ending staff social scene that it provided. I left a party at an assistant manager’s house a couple of blocks away from the store, walking to my car around midnight. After crossing over Wisconsin Avenue I saw two guys approaching me with their sweatshirt hoods pulled down. I knew what was about to happen but it was too late to do anything. One of them flashed a gun and the other asked for my wallet. I only had one dollar on me, which I told them as I handed my wallet over, and asked them if they wanted the beer I was carrying. "You lyin', nigga," was the response as they walked off. Seconds later, having realized that I was in fact not lying and that there were no credit cards in the wallet, they turned around and yelled back at me, probably wanting to shake me down. But it was too late – I was already running, faster than I ever had before, to my car.
Year: 1997
Place: Boston, MA
Distance: 6-9 miles
After a disastrous first semester at music school I stopped practicing and started running again for the first time in years. I bought a pair of short-shorts (because I figured that was what real runners wore) and began running every day on the esplanade around the Charles River. Within a week or two I was running up to nine miles a day. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore nasty shin splints while watching crew teams practice. At the end of the summer I got a call to work in the percussion department. Within days I began practicing for hours at a time and completely stopped running. Through the running and then the practicing I managed to hold off an inevitable breakdown until winter.
Year: 2005 - present
Place: Brooklyn/Manhattan
Distance: about 5 miles
After finding out about a miracle-working running-shoe store that analyzes your stride via treadmill, I purchased a pair of running shoes that cut down on the shin-splint pain that had kept me from running for years. Older and wiser, I am now able to appreciate the meditative calm that running provides. Of course I’m running in supplement to my jiu-jitsu training – zen is best served as a healthy side to violence. I began running around the neighborhood or up to Prospect Park, before settling on the run across the Brooklyn Bridge and back as the perfect run. Enjoying the view and undoubtedly showing up in the background of photos taken by tourists from all over the world, I weave my way between clusters of pedestrians and angry bikers.
Year: 2005
Place: Zurich, Switzerland
Distance: about 6 miles
An hour or two after arriving in Europe for the first time I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Julia, still woozy from her pharmaceutical in-flight cocktail, took a nap, so I decided to go for a run. Cranking Jazzanova's remixes on my iPod, I headed out with no idea where I was going – now a ritual when traveling. Eventually climbing to the top of a huge hill, I wound up at the University of Zurich, where the students were all on summer break. I stopped at a lawn at the top of the deserted campus to take in a breathtaking panoramic view of the city of Zurich and Lake Zurichsee. Realizing I had disturbed two teenagers smoking a joint, I took off back down the hill. I ended up getting very lost after the sun went down, but after a few minutes of panic (Should I ask for directions? Wait, what language do they speak here?) I found my way back.
Place: Rockville, MD
Distance: 3.2 Miles
The first race I ever won. I was either the second or third best runner on the cross-country team, but Peter Goyer (a tall, lanky boy nicknamed "Big Mac"), who was the top guy, wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t realize I was winning until about halfway through. This was also the first race my dad ever saw me run. After I won, my brother, who was about three feet tall at the time, ran in circles around me from excitement. I now considered myself a runner.
Year: 1992
Place: Potomac, MD
Distance: .25 Miles
Having endured a junior high/early high school running career marred by injuries and poor practice habits (I hated running then, actually), I was at a new school and decided to give it another go. After a few weeks of practice with the track team, I was chosen to run the half-mile in a meet. Warming up I felt a tightness in my hip, which I chalked up to nerves. After the first of two laps, a jarring stretching sensation shot down my leg, followed by a popping sound. I collapsed to the track in pain. My coach came over and asked me if I could finish the race - I guess the team needed the points or something. After standing up, I collapsed again. Later that night at the hospital, I found out I had an avulsion fracture of the hip. After missing a week of school, I came back walking with a cane. That day the Rodney King verdict was announced and, in protest, students pulled the fire alarms in almost every period. The school had no elevators, so I had to walk up and down the stairs in excruciating pain all day. To this day, whenever I hear the name Rodney King I wince.
Year: 1994
Place: Georgetown, Washington, DC
Distance: 50 yards
I was working at Urban Outfitters and enjoying the never-ending staff social scene that it provided. I left a party at an assistant manager’s house a couple of blocks away from the store, walking to my car around midnight. After crossing over Wisconsin Avenue I saw two guys approaching me with their sweatshirt hoods pulled down. I knew what was about to happen but it was too late to do anything. One of them flashed a gun and the other asked for my wallet. I only had one dollar on me, which I told them as I handed my wallet over, and asked them if they wanted the beer I was carrying. "You lyin', nigga," was the response as they walked off. Seconds later, having realized that I was in fact not lying and that there were no credit cards in the wallet, they turned around and yelled back at me, probably wanting to shake me down. But it was too late – I was already running, faster than I ever had before, to my car.
Year: 1997
Place: Boston, MA
Distance: 6-9 miles
After a disastrous first semester at music school I stopped practicing and started running again for the first time in years. I bought a pair of short-shorts (because I figured that was what real runners wore) and began running every day on the esplanade around the Charles River. Within a week or two I was running up to nine miles a day. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore nasty shin splints while watching crew teams practice. At the end of the summer I got a call to work in the percussion department. Within days I began practicing for hours at a time and completely stopped running. Through the running and then the practicing I managed to hold off an inevitable breakdown until winter.
Year: 2005 - present
Place: Brooklyn/Manhattan
Distance: about 5 miles
After finding out about a miracle-working running-shoe store that analyzes your stride via treadmill, I purchased a pair of running shoes that cut down on the shin-splint pain that had kept me from running for years. Older and wiser, I am now able to appreciate the meditative calm that running provides. Of course I’m running in supplement to my jiu-jitsu training – zen is best served as a healthy side to violence. I began running around the neighborhood or up to Prospect Park, before settling on the run across the Brooklyn Bridge and back as the perfect run. Enjoying the view and undoubtedly showing up in the background of photos taken by tourists from all over the world, I weave my way between clusters of pedestrians and angry bikers.
Year: 2005
Place: Zurich, Switzerland
Distance: about 6 miles
An hour or two after arriving in Europe for the first time I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Julia, still woozy from her pharmaceutical in-flight cocktail, took a nap, so I decided to go for a run. Cranking Jazzanova's remixes on my iPod, I headed out with no idea where I was going – now a ritual when traveling. Eventually climbing to the top of a huge hill, I wound up at the University of Zurich, where the students were all on summer break. I stopped at a lawn at the top of the deserted campus to take in a breathtaking panoramic view of the city of Zurich and Lake Zurichsee. Realizing I had disturbed two teenagers smoking a joint, I took off back down the hill. I ended up getting very lost after the sun went down, but after a few minutes of panic (Should I ask for directions? Wait, what language do they speak here?) I found my way back.
posted by Justin at 12:11 PM
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