Bridge Running

Central Park is to New York runners what tie-dye is to hippies - comfortable, practical, occasionally smelly, but more or less the main go-to for our day to day fix. In fact, most NYC runners get out their door and B-line it to the Park like the rest of the City is hot lava and they're being chased by brain eating zombies. Obviously, it could have something to do with the fact I often dress as a brain eating zombie and chase down runners - but it actually might be slightly more. Runners run in the Park because other runners run in the Park - a logic (lower) loop so circular that it almost has to have some merit. But that's what happens in the hustle and bustle of the NYC. We've given up exploration for the quick fix.

But as a runner, and a individual in general, I'm all about paradigm breaking. Thinking outside the box, or lower loop, or Rez. As such, I really enjoy getting out to a Wednesday night Bridge Run when I can.

Bridge Runners is like RUN NYC's slightly crazy, non-conformist brother - grittier, edgier, more likely to spray-paint his name on something while getting chased by law enforcement. But there's an element to the program that's tangibly NYCentric, and it's that spirit that's really catchy.

So that's where I found myself on Wednesday night. Bundled up, hopping around, rocking my Wu-Tang playlist (because that's how I roll with the BRs playa), one of 14 heads breaking into the controlled choas that is a Bridge Run.

We're talking completely outside the controlled confines of Central Park and out in the streets. We're darting across traffic, jumping over stuff, taking it over the Manhattan, through the streets of Brooklyn, over potholes and construction, past Marlow and Sons, through Williamsburg, and back over the Willy-B. It was a good run, and if you don't get a huge smile when you look out see these guys then you're either reading this in braille, or you're a communist, and I'm pretty sure if you're a communist I'd rather you go read a manafesto of some sort than my blog. But more important than the socio-political views of my three readers, where else but Bridge Runners do you get a chance to bust 6 miles with a writer, and actor, a banker, and artist, a world class runner, and my punk ass, and then get free water and bananas?