BY ALFONSO ABREU
The NY Roadrunners’ Open Runs have a clear goal: to create a close-knit community in each borough to promote healthy habits and connections. They achieve this by setting up weekly runs all year long.
On Tuesday, September 2nd, they gathered at Brooklyn Bridge Park for the opening run of the Fall season. They will also sponsor runs in other parks, including Canarsie and Highland in Brooklyn, Inwood Hill and Morningside in Manhattan, and Astoria Park in Queens.
JP, who preferred not to give his last name, has been volunteering with the Road Runners for almost a year at Brooklyn Bridge Park. He described a typical open run. “This park is a 5K,” he said, meaning five kilometers, or about three miles. “We do several loops. We might skip some of the piers, but they ultimately meet back at the start. I just stay here and watch everyone’s bags.”
While he jokingly downplayed his responsibilities, the NY Roadrunners volunteers do more than making sure everyone’s property is in safe hands. They make sure the runners are checked in and hand them slips of paper that confirm their involvement. The first open run was held in 2015, and since then they’ve welcomed volunteers
As JP finishes checking in runners – who range from children to the elderly – he turns to an older gentleman named Larry Sillen who is away from the pack stretching. With friendly small talk, JP confirms Sillen’s involvement before wishing him luck.
Sillen is a longtime runner and has been participating at open runs since the beginning. His ties with the organization go back even further.
“I’ve been with the roadrunners since 1979, when they started putting on races, which are very popular,” he said. The New York City Marathon is “their baby,” Sillen continued. “This year and last year, they had 52,000 runners do the marathon, both male and female.” Sillen himself has run the New York City Marathon eight times. “I did it for health and losing weight,” he said. “lost about fifty pounds. It’s a love now, you get addicted to it.”
Sillen believes that the NYC Roadrunner’s goal is met, as the weekly runs do assist in keeping New York locals healthy. “Well people keep at it, you can go to different parks on different days.”
In Brooklyn Bridge Park on Sept. 2 about 25 runners showed up. According to JP, “It varies, there’s always a core group of people who show up week in and week out, no matter the weather.”
The open run goes on smoothly as the first runner finishes the run 30 minutes after it has commenced, with others trailing behind.
On Tuesday, October 14th at 7pm, NY Roadrunners will celebrate 10 years of their open runs, since the event’s inception in 2015.