Running and Place: a Conversation with Allan Steinfeld

Courtesy NYRR

Allan Steinfeld is the former race director of the New York City Marathon and president of New York Road Runners. I am fortunate to say that he is also a mentor and a friend. I had an email conversation with him about the relationship between running and sense of place, a few days prior to his induction into the NYRR Hall of Fame and the Marathon’s 44th running.

Peter: To know a place you must get out of the car, but when most people say that they’re usually thinking of walkers. How does one’s perspective about a place [neighborhood, park, road, etc] change as a runner, as opposed to walking, riding a bike or driving through it?

Allan: I believe that running in a place gives a new perspective of that place. By car or bike you go through it fast. Walking or running allows you to "feel" as well as see this environment and concentrate on your surroundings.

There’s doubtless a deeper appreciation but what about new, non-running, behaviors within the space such as trash-picking, social interaction or even safer driving?

Hopefully, all thee will occur.

Does the presence of runners change the place as well?

It certainly does. It gets its character from the runners like no other modality.

Looking Good at 50

What an honor to get training tips from the legendary Bill Rodgers!
And he's so cool and humble!

Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of a historic date: the founding of New York Road Runners, my employer for the last nine years. The good they have done and the countless lives they have changed are well-documented. For me personally they’ve been dream employers and have done more for me than I could ever recount.

Interesting, meaningful (and at times, exciting) work on a flexible, part-time basis; real interest in my family and my many diverse areas of passion; a real family environment; active encouragement to live a happy, balanced life. People ask me if I actually get paid for what I do and I have to pinch myself to remember it’s true. Like any family, we sometimes have to be patient with each other at NYRR—and Lord knows I’m not always a model employee. The atmosphere at Road Runners can sometimes feel manic and it’s irrepressibly maniacal in pursuit of its mission. But that’s why I love it there and I could imagine being anywhere else. That’s not some naive cliche—I’ve been other places and I know of what I speak.

When I moved to New York, I prepared myself to suspend my running campaign—concrete jungle, asthma-inducing air quality and all the other obstacles just seemed too much. I literally stumbled into NYRR (thanks to S-Doug) and they flat-out wouldn’t let me quit my running. They’ve helped me create this wonderfully balanced life that combines art, work, family, and healthy living (listed in arbitrary order). It’s a life full of wonderful and unusual yet consummately New York things. For example, my Wednesday began with a swim at the Met Pool, included stops at Tavern on the Green, some fast-paced work at my office across the street from the Guggenheim, canapés at NASDAQ, a track meet in the shadow of a prison, and it finished with a run in Central Park. Not a typical day but par for the course at NYRR.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy Birthday NYRR and THANK YOU!!!

The Ramble's Still Wild!

Sebastian made a pilgrimage to introduce his dino toys to their much larger relatives.

Sebastian and I were taking a break from the Natural History Museum and he was playing idyllically by the edge of the Lake in Central Park when I looked down and saw a condom wrapper. Instead of the usual mixture of delight and revulsion I feel when I find them at the playgound (which is often) I felt unmitigated of elation. It was a sort of validation that New York is not dead yet. People are still turning tricks in the Ramble, and doing it safely to boot! What could be better?

Nearby, I also had confirmation that New Yorkers are still rude, which was less encouraging. This woman was seated in a rock, deep in thought. Who knows what she was pondering but it seemed pretty heavy so Sebastian and I gave her some space. Soon, and inexplicably, another woman marched up and sprawled herself on a rock directly in front of the woman (who was having her moment). I guess in retrospect, it might have been a gesture of some kind and it's possible that neither woman was a New Yorker. Either way, it's wack.

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*When I find a condom wrapper on the playground (or its less savory cousin the Dirty Johnnie) I have very mixed feelings. On the one hand there's nuisance and potentially gross cleanup. On the other, one must appreciate the nearly undeniable evidence that someone just got lucky. The Dali Lama says that we should celebrate our neighbor's good fortune.