OK, this is your Dog Days of August email blast, with the race now just over eight weeks away. Race Day is October 10th — Columbus Day Sunday. (Or Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday, as preferred by an increasing number of folks.) I suggest you read. Every. Word.
While I usually try to goose these missives with some humor — maybe a Rosie Ruiz joke — I lead now with something conspicuously unfunny:
Mandatory Vaccination
You must be vaccinated to run this race!!! You gotta get that first jab by September 15th. I wrote about this in April — when the virus was on a steep decline and I was being extra cautious (hope for the best, prepare for the worst). Now, with Delta, it appears that the caution was warranted. “I don’t wanna!” is not a valid excuse. No vax = no bib. Yes, we will check. We don’t want runners bringing this virus home to immunocompromised grandmas.
COVID Race Day details to follow.
Exact details of how we’ll manage the congested parts of the event — bib pick up, porta-potties and the start line — will follow as we get close to race day.
Price Increase.
Now let’s talk money. The price is still $55, but it goes up August 16th. You opened this email on the 16th? So sorry. Just don’t say you weren’t warned. (Registration link)
How does NewRo Runners put on a race this good at such a cheap price? First, we don’t get paid. Not even me. Call it a labor of love. Or a hobby. Or giving back. Whatever you call it, this baby is non-profit. Anything left over goes into the trails or to local charities.
It Doesn’t Happen Without Sponsors
Second, we have sponsors that help defray the costs. This year Salomon and New York Presbyterian – Sports Performance Institute are major sponsors. And we again have the generous personnel support of Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital at the finish line and Empress EMS at our aid stations. And, as we’ve had since Year 1, Westchester Road Runner helps with logistics and pre-race bib distribution. And those are just a few that help make this race a reality.
Registration Cut-off
This year, based on the incredible pace of registrations, we expect our largest field ever, at 900+ runners. (In 2008, we had just 50, and to publicize it we put flyers up in train stations, store windows and on telephone poles.) But we will not oversell the race and swamp the trail with too many runners. We want quality, not quantity. You should not count on race day registration (or even registration through the planned online close Oct. 5) being available. Let your friends know.
Deferred 2020 Registrations
As of this writing, 103 of the 266 runners who deferred from last year have still not registered. You must register if you want to run! If you’re one of those laggards, and you wait too long and we close registration, your deferral will be lost.
To claim your deferral, first sign in and go to your profile on RunSignUp. Follow the instructions about halfway down the page under the heading “How to Claim a Deferred Registration” at this link to claim your deferral.
Logistics, logistics, logistics.
The shirts, medals, live music, free photos, exceptional food, enthusiastic volunteers, and most awesome and magnificent (and humble) race director are all sweet perks, and are all planned. But race logistics are always the bread and butter of this tour through the lower Westchester trails, and they always will be for as long as my reign shall last.
We hope to run five waves again, three minutes apart. (We were socially distancing before it was fashionable.) Obviously, consultations with local health officials and common sense may alter that part. If we get too many people signing up in the closing weeks we will close down registration. Once again, you’ve been warned.
Final notes for those who’ve never run Paine to Pain and are thinking of it: This is the most fun, best organized, and dollar-for-dollar best value for a race in New York. Ask any friend who has run it! Not me, of course, I’m biased. Feel free to read the comments of others.
We just want to create the second best race in the NYC metro area. (Look out NYC Marathon, we have our eyes on you.)
Eric Turkewitz
Race Director and Grand Poobah
Paine to Pain Trail 1/2 Marathon
NewRo Runners
Westchester County, NY
painetopain.com
Daytime phone: 212-983-5900
Eric [at] PaineToPain [dot] com
Real job:
The Turkewitz Law Firm
228 East 45th Street – 11th Floor
New York, NY 10017
212-983-5900
www.TurkewitzLaw.com