When travelling with work recently I’ve been trying to enter a local race when I’m away. It has many benefits, including seeing a bit more of the country you’re travelling to and also giving you something to do that isn’t eating and drinking. It’s actually quite fun, and most of the time you’ll be first Carnethy over the line, which is a very rare treat indeed. So, with a holiday to New York looming, I thought I’d do the same but for a pleasure trip, as I’ve quite enjoyed the novelty of it all and as I’ve said it is quite a good thing to do. A quick look online, and the only one that was open and available was the (catchily-named) Henry Isola 4M Cross Country in the Bronx area of town – a mere 100 block subway ride from our hotel. 4 Miles, easy peasy. Looking at last year’s times, they were not super-duper fast. Maybe, just maybe, I could actually do quite well? If nothing else it might be fun. My lovely wife, Jill, also thought it may be fun, and also signed up. Fun fun fun, what a fun thing to do on holiday! Did I say fun? Fun!
So, to the fun bit. Ho ho. For those of you that haven’t done this race before, it’s two laps in Van Cortlandt Park (fans of the 1970s cult film classic “The Warriors” may have heard of it). The start leads out round a playing field, then into some woods, up a hill (maybe 100ft in total), then back round into the open field. Then same again. Then that’s you, you can wander home, picking up a bagel on the way, maybe even a cwoffee, honk some car horns, spit, shout at strangers, and just generally enjoy the Big Apple. The joy, the fun!
To my surprise, it wasn’t fun! Getting up jetlagged wasn’t that fun. Stepping out into the morning heat wasn’t particularly fun either. We were not used to temperatures above 30 degrees, that’s for sure. Once registered at the park we hid under a tree until the start, trying to dodge the sunshine as best we could. Drinking lots and lots of water, too, because we were getting a bit crispy out there. Wandering out to the start line was a taste of what lay ahead, with the full weight of the sun bearing down. I started strongly, as I honestly thought I could do well, despite the conditions, and started daydreaming of a podium spot (seriously! I can’t believe I even thought that). The first mile was a solid effort while I got into things, pushing a quick but do-able pace, the leaders just ahead. I was looking around, sizing people up. Two super-fast lads were stretching out, long gone, but the rest didn’t seem so daunting. I was poised. In position. Ready. Then…I melted! Everything just went a bit soggy. As my body turned to liquid, the mouth turned to dust, not a single drop of moisture in my mouth or throat. I could feel every single degree of heat, both on my skin and in every gulp of air. Running became the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, and I’d barely done a mile…AND there was a bloody hill still ahead! Why was this so hard? Maybe, somehow, the hill would help? Unbelievably, it didn’t! In fact, if anything it just made things worse! Can you believe that? My pace crumbled, and the acclimatised locals flew by, one by one, skipping along quite happily, not even a drop of sweat. I seriously started to doubt whether I could finish two laps. I’d all but given up after the first lap, and the second was spent in some kind of survival mode. Even on the final 100 yards, I could not muster anything to contest the people running by. My word, it was grim.
After I finished, I cut a few corners and met Jill on her second lap. Was she enjoying it? Her language suggested otherwise. Specifically, her language directed at me. She also had some colourful opinions on my “fun” holiday idea. She finished well, though, and we went back to the hotel drinking as much fluid, and as many ice creams as we could. I don’t know if she enjoyed it after-the-fact, because I’ve deliberately never mentioned it again. That was three weeks ago.
Anyway, many thanks to the organisers and marshals! They were fantastic, the route was good too. In future, maybe we should run in cooler climates, or at least have longer than 12 hours to acclimatise. Ah well! Results here!
Jim