Run, Karla, Run!

Photo courtesy of New York Road Runners

National Running Day is tomorrow, June 1! Get out there and celebrate as runners do—with a run. Here are just a few free National Running Day events in New York City:

Manhattan

What: Team In Training and NYCRUNS 5K Fun Run

NYCRUNS, JackRabbit Sports and Team In Training will run as one for National Running Day. Join them for a fun run in Central Park, followed by post run refreshments (including beer) and more at JackRabbit Sports.

When: Wednesday, June 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Meet at JackRabbit Sports Upper West Side, 140 West 72nd Street in Manhattan before the run in Central Park, Manhattan Read the rest of this entry →

Wednesday is the third annual National Running Day. Join America’s 43 million runners, lace up your kicks, hit the road, trail or track, and celebrate life as a runner.

Looking for something to do? Check out runningday.org, where you can find or set up a group run, support a charity through running, get tips for beginners and other ways to celebrate. You can also make an “I RUN…” badge with your favorite reason for running, shared on Facebook and Twitter.

According to Running USA, most people run to stay in shape, stay healthy, relieve stress and have fun. Me? I run because I can. For nearly a decade of my life, I lived with a bone tumor that inhibited the movement of my knee. Running was far too painful and something I never dreamed of doing. Now that I can, I run. And I love it. Read the rest of this entry →

Wanjiru breaking the half-marathon world record at The Hague in 2007. Photo by FaceMePLS.

Like everyone else, I was shocked to hear that Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya, the reigning Olympic marathon and World Marathon Majors champion, died Sunday in a fall from a second-floor balcony in his home in Nyahururu, Kenya.

To call it sad is an understatement. He was the bright, shining young star of the sport. That his personal life often fell short of the dazzling man he was on the pavement, and of the hero-worship he inspired, is also sad. Reports of his death have involved more talk of his personal woes than of his running. That his life ended tragically, under questionable and preventable circumstances, and in a manner that only highlighted his humanity is, quite simply, heartbreaking.

But for those of us that did not know him, except as that brazen young kid who not only talked the talk, but walked the walk of a champion, I’d like to remember his legacy as a runner. Read the rest of this entry →

Sammy Wanjiru runs to gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Photo by 正在休渔期.

The reigning Olympic marathon and World Marathon Majors champion, Sammy Wanjiru, died Sunday in a fall from a second-floor balcony in his home in Nyahururu, Kenya in the Rift Valley.

Varying reports have circulated calling his death a suicide and an accident. All accounts center on a dispute between Wanjiru, his wife and another woman.

“The fact of the matter is that Wanjiru committed suicide,” national police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said to The Associated Press.

But local police chief Jasper Ombati gave the AP a different interpretation of the events. Read the rest of this entry →

Runners braved cold rain at the NYRR 4 Mile race. Photo by Charles Smith/smith_cl9/Flickr

As a runner, it’s perfectly normal for your athletic self-esteem to fluctuate. My compass bounces between, “I’m a pathetic, sorry excuse for a runner” (insert wah-wah sound) and “I am runner. Hear me roar!”

Most often, I hover near the realm of “Eh, not bad for a 30-something with arthritis in one knee and remnants of a bone tumor in the other.”

But let’s be honest here. There’s nothing like capturing that “I am runner. Hear me roar!” feeling, even if just for a few fleeting moments.

As much as it pains me to say this, one guaranteed way to make me to feel hard-core is a brutal run in the rain. Read the rest of this entry →