Some Running Links
The local running store: Westchester Road Runner
This is the store, not the club. It’s on Route 22 (Old Post Road) in White Plains, just north of Mamaroneck Avenue, with a parking lot around the corner on Waller. For the most part, the service is helpful and knowledgeable. If you’re a member of one of the clubs, there’s a 10% discount on non-sale items. I often buy stuff on-line, but it turns out that with the discount the store is just about as cheap as, say, RoadRunnerSports. And you get to try the shoes on and take them out front for a spin.
During the winter (December to March), runners leave the store at 6:30 on Wednesday for a group run down to Scarsdale. (Saturday and Sunday group runs at the Rockefeller meet at Sleepy Hollow High School.)
Westchester
Westchester Track Club
I know very little about this club. Its calendar is a go-to place for races in Westchester, including races that it doesn’t put on. It does manage a number of good local races. The members that I have met at local races have all been friendly.
Westchester is unusual among the other clubs in the area in having an “elite” club as well as one for “recreational runners.” But I don’t know how that translates into work-outs. When I have worked out with Warren Street, Central Park, or Van Cortlandt, there has never been any discrimination among sexes or speeds. If you’re faster, you run faster. But beyond that, the club works together.
Sound Shore Runners and Multi-Sport
This is a based in Mamaroneck, with runners along the Sound. It also has a fair number of athletes who ride and do triathlons or duathlons. The Club also tries to do family-orientated events. It has become a major force in support of one of my favorite races, the Mamaroneck Turkey Trot 5-miler. Eric Turkewitz of the Club has taken me out on a journey connecting a number of trails, many of which I knew of, some of which I didn’t.
New York City
New York Road Runners
Not a “club” like the others here; the NYRRC is more of the City’s main sponsor of races. It used to put on some races in Westchester, including the Westchester and New Rochelle half-marathons, but I don’t think it does any more. It has a calendar but it is limited to NYRRC races or races.
Central Park Track Club
I joined CPTC in October 2004 after a long stint with Warren Street in order to run work-outs with a friend at Columbia University. It turns out to be remarkably easy to get there from the train in Fleetwood, and takes me maybe 20 minutes to drive home. I find myself in the middle-distance group coached by Devon Martin. This is a smaller group than the bigger group of distance people that meets elsewhere and with which I have had few dealings.
Warren Street Social and Athletic Club
I was a member of Warren Street from 1983 until 2004, but faced the difficulty of getting to work-outs in the City while living in Westchester. Largely because of that and association with other members of CPTC, I joined that other club, which I always viewed as the chief WSSAC rival for years and years. In a sense I felt like a long-time Met joining the Braves. This club is coached by Rick Pascarella, who is tireless in support of his troops.
Van Cortlandt Track Club
I’ve run with VCTC a number of times on Saturday mornings at 8 for runs through Van Cortlandt and onto the Old Croton Aqueduct; I learned about some of the trails described on this site on these runs. As with the other clubs, the people on VCTC are very friendly. And the Club performs a very valuable service by having a 5K X-C race at Van Cortlandt every 2 weeks on Thursday nights from June through August, with Carrot Cake from Lloyd’s for award winners. These are low-key but competitive at my level and a good way to re-discover X-C or to take advantage of the opportunity to race. In April, the Club also puts on a 6.3 mile trail run trail run in Van Cortlandt, largely on trails on which you’d never run otherwise (including a stream-crossing).
Other Clubs
There are many additional clubs in and around New York City. A slew are listed at the end of this CPTC link. I’ve limited myself to describing clubs with which I have had some dealings.
Web-Sites
Cool Running
This site has a good running log; I’ve been using it for over 2 years. It also has a community which, unlike Let's Run, is divided up into sub-groups. Also unlike Let’s Run, you must be registered to post and things sometimes get nasty. I haven’t been into the Clubhouse, which is for non-running items, in about a year.
John Intorcio at Cool Running has creatd a very nice pbWiki for Newbies.
Let’s Run and Let’s Run Forum
This is a wide-ranging site. The homepage is a regularly-updated compilation of articles on running and races. The Forum is a good place to post a question, and the particpants include some world-renowned coaches and runners. It is a single Bulletin Board, i.e., it is not broken down into topics. There is some non-running stuff posted as well as some interesting threads. Unlike Cool Running, Let’s Run does not require registration for posting, so you get a fair chunk of anonymous posting, for good or ill. Inappropriate posts can get removed and their posters banned; I was banned once for about a week.
The Central Park Track Club has a comprehensive Links Page.
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California
I happened upon a very nice, comprehensive site for California. It has trail descriptions (I put this one on the NavBar), tracks in Cal. and Nevada, and a whole slew of other great categories.
London
Who can afford it? Actually, I was there recently, and it was not so crazy-expensive. Sure, most stuff is cheaper in New York, so you don’t spend a lot on, say, clothing purchases, but we got a good hotel deal and had a great time. I was unable to run on this trip. But I have on prior trips, particularly in Hyde Park/Kennsington Gardens (they are connected). I stumbled on a site for the Serpentine Running Club, a London running club, which also has a list of clubs in London and elsewhere in the UK. I assume that there would be no problem hooking up with the club if you happen to be there.
Running Blogs
Runners, of course, are the most boring of people. Except for anyone else. A few years back, a friend set me up for a Sunday run with a former world-record holder and World champ. Our conversation was pretty much the same type of stuff as I’ve had with any other runner. It was fun. Anyway, I found a list of Running Blogs. I don’ know her, but “Becky” runs on some of these trails and reports on them periodically. There is a Google Map with a number of running blogs, and their locations (including mine).
Last edited on ... January 21, 2006
