Pavement is for weenies.
You know it. I know it. And the thousands who’ve finished Paine to Pain know it, having run with abandon over miles and miles of our wooded trails like psychotic dogs chasing squirrels.
With that in mind, three pieces of news!
- Registration is now open! For one of the great trail races not just in this area but in the country. About 90% of this course is in the cool shade of the trees, just four short train stops from midtown Manhattan.
Is the race any damn good? In my completely unbiased opinion as race founder/director/grand poobah, it’s the greatest run since Han Solo did the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.
Read the reviews from last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that.
Or read the two-page spread on the race in Trail Runner Magazine. Uh, huh. That’s right. National press, baby.
Hell, ask anyone that’s run this massive half marathon trail loop through five different parks what it’s like. Yeah, we’re cocky. And we like to set the bar of success really high, just to see if we can leap it, and hopefully still come down muddy if we’re lucky enough to be rained upon.
- Our trails received a whopping $800,000 upgrade from Westchester County Parks while you were hibernating your winter away. Why? Well, it seems a lot of people have discovered this trail system that we inaugurated in 2008. (Cue the whispering trees: If you build it, they will run.)
What kind of improvements? They paved the whole thing!
OK, maybe not. The County has been working on signage, drainage, footbridge replacements, stabilization and associated landscaping. Work has taken place in four out of the five parks we use: Saxon Woods, the long-neglected Hutchinson River Trail, Twin Lakes and Nature Study Woods. Basically, this covers miles 4 through 12.5 of the race.
Due to the winter improvements, lions, tigers and bears have been completely eradicated from the trail and wicked witch sightings are down 75%. Also, less poison ivy and fewer ticks.
- Did I mention that registration is now open? It’s just $50 from now until the end of May. Will you get your money’s worth? Please. Stop reading this stupid blog post and ask a friend what the race is like, unless of course, you’ve already run it, in which case you should be telling friends about it. And passing along this link.
October 4th. Gunshot at 9 am. Don’t screw this up.
Weenies can stay at home.