Run the Rock, and other adventures

Saturday morning I participated in a road race, or sorts. I did the Nike Run the Rock event, which involves running 69 flights of stairs to the top of the Rockefeller Center. It sounds nuts, I know, but it was so much fun! I've never done a stair race before, so I was extremely nervous. I was afraid everyone would be super-serious and in shape, neither of which I am at the moment.It wasn't really at all like I expected; I traveled upward at more like a fast, steady walk. Most of the other people I talked with were doing it for the first time. They started us off in heats of about 15 people. It was strange to be lined up at a starting line and facing a wall of stairs right in front of you. I didn't stop for water at the halfway point, so I ended up completely alone for the second half of the climb. Despite being in a closed stairwell, I still had the absurd thought that maybe I had wandered off course...

It took me 13 minutes and 23 seconds to make it to the top, and the view as you stopped onto the observation was worth every second of it! Finishing to the Empire State building staring at you and a bird's eye view of Central Park was definitely one of a kind. I felt like I had conquered the entire city in just 13 minutes. Also, the post-race party was sponsored by the Rainbow Room, the really fancy restaurant on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center. Apparently they are known for greeting their guests with Bellinis (some sort of drink. I'd never heard of it before, but it was explained to me by a woman who worked in the Rockefeller Center who decided to do the race...). For us, they modified the ritual with a guy in a tux handing out water bottles as you crossed the finish line, and later, Gatorade served in champagne glasses. There was also a huge spread of fresh fruit, bagels, pastries and jelly beans (not sure about the significance of the jelly beans...). It was lots of fun, although I didn't know a single other person. It would have been nice to share the view and moment with someone else, but I made a few new friends.

On Sunday I went to Coney Island with some of my fellow Fellows. The Fellows divide into an interesting mix of people who are new to New York City, people who have lived in New York City but haven't gone to all the classic NYC hotspots, and people from the city who are NYC experts. I think that will make outings fun, because some people are new and others know what they're doing. I, of course, fall somewhere in between. Luckily, this group is almost as frugal (although not quite) as my volunteers, so I think my free and dirt cheap experiences from last year will be useful. Anyway, we met at the boardwalk, ate a lot of fried food and hotdogs, stuck our toes in the water and even rode the ferris wheel! Which was genuinely scary, by the way. Anyway, fun outing and it was nice to see everyone in normal clothes. Business attire is still no fun...

The WonderWheel at Coney Island. Apparently it was built in 1920 and was declared an official NYC landmark in the 1980s.