Ten Mile Course

The Ten Mile Course mile by mile
(Written in 1993-The course has not changed but some of the landmarks have.
Updated in 2004

The starting and finish lines are on the road next to the Tennis Courts. We usually park in the lot by the tennis courts. Proceed straight on the road, take the first right to exit the park and take another right onto Lamberts Mill Road. Make the first left onto Raritan.
Stay on Raritan as you cross Martine,where there is a traffic light. Shortly after crossing is the 1 mile mark. Continue straight on Raritan,passing Union County Tech. When you get to Ashbrook Golf Course make a left. This is the continuation of Raritan Road. You will be passing the old Terilou Zoo which is on your right. This part of the course presents a slight upgrade leading into the 2 mile mark. You continue on Raritan passing the 3 mile mark. You are now leaving Scotch Plains as a sign welcomes you to Edison. When you reach the corner go right. You are now on Inman
Avenue. The Plainfield-Edison golf course appears on your right. There is a water fountain about 20 yards in near the clubhouse if you need it. At the first corner make a right onto Woodland Avenue. You should run along the left side of the road because it is shadier. You will see the golf course on your right. About 150 yards from the corner is the 4 mile mark. You now stay on Woodland leaving Edison for Plainfield. A sign welcomes you. You have your choice of road or sidewalk here as you run thru the Sleepy Hollow section of town. If you need some trackwork you can take a left on Randolph road where the Hub Stine field,one of the state finest tracks is. The 5 mile mark(halfway!) is on the corner of Marlborough. Woodland presents a rolling terrain and is mostly shaded. When you reach a traffic light,you will turn right onto Watchung. This is the toughest hill of the run. After climbing it and heading downhill you will find the 6 mile mark about halfway to the corner. When you get to the corner(Leland)you make a right and then your first left
which is Cushing. You will run past a farm where cows may be grazing. You follow this until you reach the corner where you will take a left onto Terrill Road. You are now back in Scotch Plains. You cross the street and take a right onto King Street. You will notice a number of new houses and few trees there. In front of about the 6th house is the 7 mile mark. King presents a bit of an upgrade. You briefly enter Fanwood,but if you blink you miss it. When King ends you take a right onto Martine. You should cross the road. You will pass Beth Israel Temple,Highland swim club on your left and the YMCA on your right. Across from the Y
is the 8 mile mark. Martine presents some mild hills,but this is a part if you feel good to pick up your pace. You're almost done! You will pass Union Catholic High School and then see Shackamaxon Golf course on your left. Ahead of you is the light you crossed at mile 1. About 50 yards before the light is the 9 mile mark. Make a left at the light and you are retracing the first mile on Raritan Road. At the end take a right onto Lamberts Mill Road,cross the street and head back into the park where you finish where you started.

Liberty 2004

In running familiarity will never breed contempt. In fact it can do quite the opposite for me. It often enhances the experience especially in the longer races.

Since I tend to compete in most of the same races year after year, there are definitely a large amount of familiar faces at each event. On any given race it is difficult to say which familiar or new face, I may be competing with near the finish or run with during the race.

In a small local race, there is a good chance I will know nearly a third of the runners finishing closely ahead of or behind me but that diminishes greatly in the larger competitions which are usually more than a few miles away.

On a percentage basis I hardly knew anyone at last year’s Philadelphia Marathon but being able to cheer on the two runners from my Saturday running group and a seeing a couple of other people I knew definitely helped me get through the last six miles.
A marathon is such a grueling struggle that during those four hours I have struck up conversations with numerous strangers whose names and faces often leave me soon after the race is over, sort of a mind flush.

At this year’s Liberty half marathon, which fits the description of a long race that drew in many people from around the New York area, my experience was greatly enhanced by experience during and after the race with Raritan Valley competitors.

Early in the race, I passed Ray Petit, who had written online that he was attempting the race even though he wasn’t ready for it. I told him to hang in there, that he had run a lot further than this. The course is such that you see runners ahead of you and behind you at several venues. I yelled encouragement to Doug, Roger, Jorge, Thin Man and the Rockers among others. When I finished, I saw Carl Rocker, who despite running a time I could only dream about was only somewhat satisfied. I reminded him of my recent “Relativity” story. Gene, on the other hand seemed pretty happy, and when I told him my time we had a “relativity” chuckle.

Perhaps the best moment of the race for me was being able to talk to Chris Lehman after the race. In a normal setting, Chris would have been long finished and cooled off by the time I sauntered in but as most of you are aware Chris has had a mystery illness that no doctor has been able to correctly diagnose

Since I am not that active a member of the club, I get much of my news from the Yahoo Newsgroup and I had just found out about Chris’ plight a couple of days before. It meant a lot to me to be able to tell Chris personally about how concerned I am and how much I am hoping he gets back racing quickly.

It may sound corny but we are all one big family, who share the commonality of health and friendly competition, no matter how well we know each other.

Running Relativity

The theory of relativity isn’t just in physics. With apologies to Albert Einstein running’s theory of relatively probably predates his ground breaking work. It probably dates back as far as the first human runner didn’t get somewhere as fast as expected.

With the Olympics dominating the headlines as this is written, the story of Pheippides, the young Greek messenger who was dispatched by his commander to deliver news of the victory to Athens. No run in history was more important.

It was critical that the people of Athens knew about the victory, so if the Persian ships arrived at the city, the people wouldn't surrender to them. So he ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens without stopping for a rest. and arriving at Athens, he delivered his message, and then died.

One could imagine Pheippides, saying “I’ve done the trip a lot faster, but my pacing wasn’t too good today or I’m just not in the shape I was two years ago.” Of course this is all fictional and no disrespect is meant towards probably the toughest marathon runner this side of Deena Kastor, but relativity will always be a big part of running as long as
we strive for performance.

I learned about relativity almost as soon as I started racing 20 years ago. Being new to the game meant I didn’t know much about other runners and remember this was long before the internet made it easy to find race results for anyone. I would congratulate the runner who was just ahead or behind me with a “great race” and based on their expectations would get the appropriate response. An 18 minute 5K is great if you’re used to running 19’s and awful if you’re used to 15’s.

For a long time I had a habit of asking a fellow runner how they did in a bit of obnoxious manner. Instead of asking them what they’re time was or how they did I would say “Did you break (fill in a number for a distance)”. I learned after a while that my realism wasn’t being appreciated. I was trying so hard to act like I knew a fellow runners’ expectations that I overstepped the bounds of decency and became a person to be avoided after races.

It took some humbling performances of my own especially a DNF in a marathon that made me realize the error of my ways. For the past few years as I have fought a futile battle to run times that resemble what I used to run, I have kicked the habit of asking “did you break “ to “How did you do? Or what was your time?”. I let the person tell me if it was a good or bad time for them even though in many cases I think they realize I know the answer.

Relativity seems to be more prevalent in discussions with newer and less active runners. After a recent race where I had run high 23’s for a 5K, a person who is physically active but doesn’t race was amazed at how fast I had run. When I told him that I used to regularly run in the 18’s for the time, he said “That’s world class”. I responded “What world is that?” I was going to continue with the usual retort “It’s all relative” but I figured what’s the use.
So it’s going to continue to happen as long as there’s the dichotomy between the running obsessed on one side and the running ignorant on the other side and the best thing we can try to do is politely say thank you and avoid the word relativity.

Unless we’re talking physics.

Running and Baseball

And on the sixth day I slept. and slept and slept some more. Thankfully the series ended because I couldn’t take much more. It was like running five marathons in five days but my legs weren’t sore just my eyes. Because of a rainout Friday night the Yankees and Red Sox played five straight days of riveting baseball games that ran the whole gamut of emotions. I won’t reveal which side I was rooting for but like most of the Eastern Seaboard I was entranced by what transpired in the best rivalry in sports. There is no second best. There is nothing even close that approaches the history, the different cultures of the two cities and the huge chasm between the unparalleled success on one side and the unmatched anguish and heartbreak on the other. And if New York and Boston aren’t big enough rivals just consider this; Their marathons occur approximately a week after baseball ends in the fall and a week after baseball resumes in the spring. The Yankees and Boston even fought it out last spring during the Boston Marathon in the annual Patriot’s Day game.


. So why is this in a running newsletter?

Well for starters, there are probably no two activities different than going out for a run and following a baseball game. Running is relentless, inexorably moving forward, usually with a finite goal of either time or distance. Baseball, on the other hand, takes its sweet time delivering its story uncaring whether you need to be somewhere, or whether you should be asleep or whether things should be getting done. And for me the game isn’t enough. I have to hear the commentary and the fan reaction and see if I’m thinking the same way the experts are. And at work, everybody has an opinion and people take sides.
Some take it more seriously than others. Some don’t realize their lives won’t change no matter who wins. I’m happy to see that I finally have that awareness although it took a long time.

. So why is this in a running newsletter?

Well for starters, the weather for most of the series was pretty awful for spectators sitting in those ancient open air stadiums-cool and clammy in the high 40’s to low 50’s . You saw them huddled in their winter clothes hoping they would eventually remember what their hands felt like.
Beer and soda were disdained. Hot chocolate and coffee were hoarded just for hand warmers. By the end of a game a spectator could have spent enough money keeping warm and well fed to afford a pair of good running shoes. And all I kept thinking was could I please get weather like this for all my races especially my marathons.

Great! But why is this in a running newsletter?

When I figure that out, I’ll let you know but right now I’m too drained and going through withdrawal. It’s going to be five long months before the Yankees and Red Sox play again. Thankfully I’ll have running to sustain me through the baseball free winter.