Three years ago on November 4, I finished running across the United States. By happy coincidence, I’m in Manhattan again this coming weekend, about 4 miles from the steps of City Hall, where I stopped in 2008. Like tens of thousands of other runners, I’ll be at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, attending the New York City Marathon expo. The synchronicity of dates and places was completely unplanned, but we’ve decided to turn it into a chance to celebrate and remember this anniversary.
New York holds significance for me in so many ways. Not only did we finish here, but this city was also home to one of my mentors and key inspirations for the transcon, the father of modern ultrarunning, Ted Corbitt. Frank Giannino, the world-record holder who cheered me all the way, lives here. And the woman I refer to only as my “muse,” because she prefers to remain anonymous, also makes New York her home base, though she travels the world to train elite athletes.
Since I’m in a reflective mood, I thought I’d share something I wrote about the transcon for Marathon & Beyond earlier this year, an abbreviated travelog recounting some of the people and places that stood out to me along the way. It’s a slightly different take than you get from reading Running on Empty because it focuses on and telescopes the tale of the American landscape.
Thanks for remembering with me. Continue reading
