Law of Inertia

I’ve always loved point to point runs. There’s a certain simplicity about it in that you’re able to look back and have a solid understanding of the distance you’ve travelled. Often, I’ve run 20 or so miles in loops and zig zags and laps and when looking back on a map you can’t really comprehend the distance travelled as easily like you can with a route that is point to point.

There isn’t much of an opportunity to do long runs which are point to point because of the logistics involved of starting in A, ending in B, and then having to return to A. Routes which are a giant loop where you don’t run over the same ground twice is usually the next best thing. Out and back is another option, but when you’re pushing hard and still only on the out part, it makes things mentally hard because its obvious you’re not even halfway there.

The OCA is a trail which is well-known to run down Westchester from Croton all the way to NYC, albeit, with some parts non-contiguous. I’ve logged a big chunk of miles over a portion of the OCA that runs through Rockefeller State Park; one of my favorite areas for running

A few times, I’ve wandered out of Rockefeller and went north looking to see where the trail would take me, only to come to a disappointing abrupt stop with confusing instructions on where to pick it back up. I was never successful in finding the next part by myself, or with others.

I knew it also existed somewhere south, past sleepy hollow high school, but until recently, I’ve been unsure of how to get to it.

I’ve ran on some random portions in Yonkers, which had a lot of similarities to the northern portion. They were both trails. They were both on dirt. But, other than that, it was difficult to comprehend it was the same trail. I’ve always wanted to understand how the disparate parts connected.

When I heard Tony was organizing a group run to do such a thing, it was something I knew I wanted to participate in before I even heard about it. It also gave me an opportunity to go further than 26.2 miles which I’ve never done.

As we started in the morning, it didn’t feel like a long run. It felt like an adventure. The first task was finding the trail from the train station where the group met. That was not without it’s bumps. At one point the group got split by some overzealous participants. Next, the group as a whole ran past the bridge we were supposed to cross. Keeping the group together was like herding cats. In the end, directions were asked, which sent us out on a highway, but eventually got us to the damn.

Upon arriving, the views were pretty magnificent. Being that we were so close to the damn, we decided to climb up to the top where the OCA truly starts. It was at that point where the odyssey began. Starting out in the morning, looking at the view, and visualizing finishing in midtown Manhattan was sort of mind-boggling.

All in all, the trip was much smoother than I could have imagined. Finding the OCA connections between using the garmin and the map, was easily achievable. The snow was also manageable for the most part. For the majority of the way, the snow was packed and runnable with some additional effort. There were some exceptions to that, most of it being on a section in Scarborough, and a lot of it being in Yonkers where it was shin deep and more of a struggle.

How do you possibly cover all the highlights of a 40 something mile trek in a single blog post? I think if I had to pick one, I would have to mention how we hit a dead-end in Vancortlandt park. The map showed this trail going right to the edge of the park, and presumably, out of the park. Even the snow tracks continued to the dead-end and it wasn’t obvious that we were headed into a dead-end until we actually hit it. There was no choice but to turn back, which is the worst feeling when you’ve spent the entire day moving and have already covered over 30 miles. So back we went, and we figured our way out and off the path and into a parking lot. The area didn’t feel very pedestrian friendly and it gave no obvious exit points that we should take being on foot. Nor did we know for sure where on the map we were. So, Pete bravely asked some guy, who I’m sure was named Bubba, what street the one we could point to was.

“Excuse me, do you know what street that is over there”

“uh, yeah” (stupid toothless smile with a blank stare)

“Well, what street is it?”

“uuuh.. hmm, its uuhhh, hmmm, I dunno” “heh heh heh, Sorry” (same stupid toothless smile)

It’s at that point I realized we were no longer in Kansas.

Well, we found our way out, met up with Steve, who safely navigated us out of the south Bronx and into Manhattan. It was never made clear to me how he knew the area so well, but it was clear he knew where to go and how to get there.

Once in Manhattan, we ran through some of the rougher areas. We knew we stuck out like sore thumbs. One of us pointed out the fact that we were running through the neighborhood in tights did not help the situation. I jokingly mentioned we should just tape targets to our backs. Nonetheless, we survived and when we hit Central Park, I immediately felt like I was home amongst my own kind, all of which were also wearing tights.

Not long after, we arrived at the NY Library by Bryant Park. Six of us total made it to the end, five of which completely on foot. , Steve, Tony, Eric, Pete, Susan, and myself. There was some satisfaction in that I was able to get there. I can’t say I ran the entire way. It was explained to me, in ultras, in which this distance fits that genre, that there is time spent walking. So be it. I can accept that. I don’t know how many miles exactly I covered, nor do I know exactly which of those were spent running. Some say 43, some 44. I stopped my garmin on occasion and even forget to restart it once or twice. It’s not what’s necessarily important for this adventure. It was more about getting there than it being a training run. I’m just really glad to have had the opportunity to do this with others. And, in the end, no one was forced to eat each other.

I’ll run it entirely, or something like it, at some later point.