On I went, out of the wood, passing the man leading without knowing I was going to do so. Flip-flap, flip-flap, jog-trot, jog-trot, curnchslap-crunchslap, across the middle of a broad field again, rhythmically running in my greyhound effortless fashion, knowing I had won the race though it wasn't half over, won it if I wanted it, could go on for ten or fifteen or twenty miles if I had to and drop dead at the finish of it, which would be the same, in the end, as living an honest life like the governor wanted me to. -Alan Sillitoe, "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

GWB and ME

I've been promising myself for sometime that I would run the George Washington Bridge.

Just like Mt. Washington, just like Pikes Peak, I feel this urge to do it, "Because it's there," to quote George Mallory. (You read it here first: I will not run up Mt. Everest. Ever.) (Um, and hopefully my athletic pursuits won't eventually lead directly to my death.)

I see its imposingness from my normal, everyday route - but I typically run under it. I've known that it's possible to run across it, and it's always been on the back of my to-do list for someday.

That day is soon! That day is NOW!

Frankly, I'm kind of scared. I've run the Brooklyn Bridge, but the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge is in the center of the bridge - maybe it obstructs the views some, but it also offers some protection. From what? I'm not so clumsy that I'm liable to trip and fall, flying over a guardrail into the river. But, by all accounts (and by "all accounts" I mean this one website I found that discusses running over it), the GWB is harrowing: high and windy and long.

The excuse reason has been the distance: it's about 2.5m from my apartment to the bridge. Tack on a mile across and back, and you have a run of at least 7m. Too short for a midweek run for me, at least lately.

Until... spring break hit! No work responsibilities = crazy running schedule. Finally!  That's right; next week.  I'm totally doing it.  You read it here first.
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