Thank you for bringing Shel Silverstein into the conversation--he’s one of the most dynamic and under celebrated or explored artists of our time. And thank you for asking the question “how do you know you’re a runner?” I never thought about running unless it had to do with chasing a ball, running the bases, or to tackle or escape being tackled, until I was forced to run a mile by my high-school P.E. teacher. “One lap at a time” he said. Not long after I found myself running the hills near my home to blow off steam and deal with stress of being a young father and quickly found that where the roads and sidewalks ended were where I loved to run most. Cascading down the undeveloped former oil-drill sites of “porcupine hill” (see There Will Be Blood) that used to exist before the homes and roads and sidewalks came about. Nowadays I run barefoot--only on unpaved surfaces. Private property aside, where the sidewalk ends,might be a good starting point for a great run ;-)
I appreciated your running story but what you forgot to mention are the people who--rain or sun, summer or winter--insist upon running in the middle of the road (and think there are bonus points for doing it wearing all black clothes at 5:30 am). We need more infrastructure but we also need people to use that infrastructure once it exists.
I loved your running story about Florida and running near the Disney parks. Brings back memories of our daughter running her first marathon at Disney and my wife and I thinking only Disney could get away with staging a marathon where most of the race is run outside of the parks on connector roads with little to see. Looking forward to your next column!
I'm a Mayor Pete fan as well!
Thank you Hannah for bringing this to the surface again. I think your writing is extremely important.
Love your writing, Hannah! This is good stuff.
Thank you for bringing Shel Silverstein into the conversation--he’s one of the most dynamic and under celebrated or explored artists of our time. And thank you for asking the question “how do you know you’re a runner?” I never thought about running unless it had to do with chasing a ball, running the bases, or to tackle or escape being tackled, until I was forced to run a mile by my high-school P.E. teacher. “One lap at a time” he said. Not long after I found myself running the hills near my home to blow off steam and deal with stress of being a young father and quickly found that where the roads and sidewalks ended were where I loved to run most. Cascading down the undeveloped former oil-drill sites of “porcupine hill” (see There Will Be Blood) that used to exist before the homes and roads and sidewalks came about. Nowadays I run barefoot--only on unpaved surfaces. Private property aside, where the sidewalk ends,might be a good starting point for a great run ;-)
I appreciated your running story but what you forgot to mention are the people who--rain or sun, summer or winter--insist upon running in the middle of the road (and think there are bonus points for doing it wearing all black clothes at 5:30 am). We need more infrastructure but we also need people to use that infrastructure once it exists.
I loved your running story about Florida and running near the Disney parks. Brings back memories of our daughter running her first marathon at Disney and my wife and I thinking only Disney could get away with staging a marathon where most of the race is run outside of the parks on connector roads with little to see. Looking forward to your next column!
I loved this issue, Hannah! The way you wove the story about finding the end of a sidewalk into urban design -- that was fascinating.