undecided

Here’s what the campus looked like when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited.

In college, my friend tony decided he was going to run his age in miles as a birthday present to himself. I thought it was such a great idea that I ran part of the way with him for support. That year, I adopted the idea for myself and started running my age on my birthday as well (for years 19 to 21).

Over a couple of beers this week, I jokingly suggested to matt — who shares my birthday — that we should reinstate the one mile per year policy. He bluffed back, and by the end of the night we had agreed to spend the morning of our birthday circumnavigating the island of Manhattan.

The high-stakes bluffing continued through the “are we really going to do this?” birthday-morning phone call, and before either one of us could back down, we set out on our marathon-plus journey.

Our running tour took us by the George Washington Bridge, Yankee Stadium, the UN, the Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park and through almost every neighborhood in the borough. Around mile 20, storm clouds rolled in and nearly eclipsed the Statue of Liberty. Moments later we were caught in a cold, drenching rain. For a few minutes, we discussed abandoning the run, but we decided that the pride in finishing the last eight miles was worth the temporary discomfort. So we trudged back up the west side with cold water squishing between our toes.

The whole run felt like an adventure, and I’m so glad we did it. Thanks and happy birthday matt!

Unfortunately, there’s no photographic evidence for any of this so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Here’s the (approximate) route:

View Larger Map

There’s no better way to feel intense pride in something you have absolutely nothing to do with than college football. Check out the shirt elle got me to wear while I watched Tashard Choice run laps around South Bend.