The Central Park Circuit

nyc09-15During a mother/daughter weekend in New York City, my mother, sister, and I crammed into slightly less than 48 hours lunch at Carnegie’s Deli, a visit to Ground Zero, an evening show of In the Heights on Broadway, a meandering walk down 5th Avenue, a stop at the Met, and a solid 10 miles of walking including much of Central Park.

Perhaps it was that we were at the Park on one of the first really nice weekends of spring. Maybe it’s that with 11 million people in one city the Park is an obvious place to spend an afternoon. Whatever the reason, Central Park was brimming with people on every lawn, sidewalk, field, path, and playground. There were families, couples, dog walkers, musicians, artists, hula hoopers, tourists, locals, and cyclists. But what I noticed most were the runners.

nyc09-17Nowhere have I seen as many runners in one place, that wasn’t a race, as I did during a weekend walk through Central Park. Considering that the New York Road Runners Club has 300,000 members and that the Park is likely one of the most popular places to run in the city, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Park was flooded with runners of all kind. Seeing all the runners simply made me happy. I even felt proud of them for being out there, for running. I tried to imagine the finish of the NYC Marathon and even just thinking about it gave me goosebumps and a huge smile on my face. The June lottery can’t come quick enough!

Our walk through the Park was nice, relaxing, and it was rewarding to be able to take it all in. But every time a runner passed me I wished I had my running shoes on. Next time I’m in Central Park, I will be running.

2 thoughts on “The Central Park Circuit

  1. B Hail

    I live in New York, and have run all over the US. Central Park is still my favorite place to run. The people, the sounds, the runners, the sights…seeing the buildings over the trees. Just wonderful. And if you get a chance run in an NYRR race..it will make you proud to belong to the running club.

    Reply
  2. Natalie Post author

    @BHail, I can see why it’s your favorite place to run! The other thing I thought was awesome over the weekend was seeing two different sets of runners on the train with their race number still pinned on; one was from a charity run and I didn’t catch the name of the other race. But just knowing how much is going on at the same time in the city is incredible to think about!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *