The smell of dew on the damp grass field, the orange colored leaves falling over it, carried through the air by a brisk, but comfortable wind.   Yes, it is Fall and yes, it is November.  Making it to November is the goal of thousands of runners around the world, whether you are a high school runner looking to help your team make a state meet or a marathon runner looking to complete the New York City marathon.  November is it.  Even if you don't run everybody yearns for November; we have Thanksgiving and the official start to the holiday season to look forward too.  

For runners, November is identified with championship season.  November is peaking season.   November is the culmination of months of miles and trials.  For myself however, things were different this November.  Coming to New York City a few weeks ago from sunny California, I had left running behind.  There was no November as I knew it.  It was just another month, another blip on the radar of life.  I left a great job at UC-Santa Barbara and all the trails a runner could want in pursuit of another passion of mine; international development.  I left the beach, my '65 Volkswagen and traded it in for an urban jungle and an unlimited monthly ride metro card.  Could running ever play a role in my life like it had?  

It didn't take too long to find out.  I found myself with a friend at a prep school league x-country meet at storied Van Cortlandt Park in mid October.   I had heard so much about this mystic place just north of Manhattan Island, the last stop on the 1 train.  I thought to myself, 20 miles of trails, host to youth meets, national class high school meets, NCAA X-Country Regional Championships and USATF Championships.   Groomed trails, marked courses, it was all supposed to be x-country at its finest in one of the greatest cities.

Set…Go!  Wait, where are these kids starting?  There is no line there.   Where do they go?  Where do they turn?  Watch out for that soccer game in the middle of the field.   That white post in the distance is supposed to signify, "turn left here"? This is Van Cortlandt Park?         

Marc Bloom, editor of the Harrier, in his piece "Cross Country Running" wrote about Van Cortland Park as such.[1]

            "Van Cortlandt Park is America's cross country Mecca.  It is not paradise by any means. It has not the prettiest course nor the most difficult.  It does not have the best facilities.  It is just that it lies smack in the middle of the most populous megalopolis, in an area rich in cross country tradition, where sponsors and those of influence have chosen to operate." 

I still could not believe it, but I understood his sentiments.  What I found was a raw, unaltered park being run by hundreds of kids this particular afternoon for the pure sake of running.   It was the most organic scene I had witnessed in weeks after dealing day in and day out with the hordes of people in the Big Apple all looking to "make it".   And, the most organic scene I had witnessed in years after observing Mt. SAC, Woodward Park, Stanford and all that is West Coast running.  In New York City, every space has been bought, sold and marketed, except for here.   Not in a sport of simplicity, authenticity and pure guts.  This contrast could not be found anywhere else in the world.   I found my answer to the question of would running play the same role in my life. 

It is now November, and running plays as large of a role if not a larger one in the chaos that is New York City.   High School league meets, the Ivy League Championships, NCAA Div. I Regional Championships, Bad Boy III and the NYC Marathon.  I haven't missed them.   And 99.9% of the runners at these races all have one thing in common.  Not one had been sponsored.  Not one was making millions.  Why do we do it?  Why do we watch this sport?

The answer is as simple as the races we run.  November symbolizes everything that is right in the world.   It is the culmination of a long journey for thousands in the sport of x-country and road racing.  It is the most selfish thing one can do, yet the most selfless.   Ask a teams' No. 5 runner who gets no mention in the paper why he does it.  Ask all the marathon runners who did not make the headlines, but helped raise millions of dollars for various charities why they put themselves through it.   Ask the kid who took the subway from Brooklyn, a one and a half hour plus trip, to get to Van Cortlandt Park just to run for a few minutes.  While we are at it, also ask Peter Gilmore, top American finisher at the NYC Marathon and not sponsored or ask Weldon Johnson why he still laced up his shoes for Bad Boy III after a successful (without major sponsor) running career.     

It is a sport so difficult (see what Lance Armstrong's has to say about the marathon), yet so simple.  It is one of the few venues in life which somebody can break themselves down to the basic form of human being.     No matter what your ethnicity, your culture, your religion, it is what it is; running.  In New York City, amongst a lot that could be wrong with the world, I had found running again.   I had found what is right.

[1] Excerpt taken from website: http://www.armorytrack.com/xc99/vcp.htm

David Monico spent the last seven years at UC-Santa Barbara as an athlete, sports information director and coach for the x-country and track & field squads developing life-long relationships. He also feels the same way in June and well throughout the whole year in general..  He looks to athletics now as the simplest form of human being and a way to connect people peacefully for a better world.  He volunteers with three organizations promoting fitness and charity, World Runners, Run for a Healthy World and World Run Day.   You may email him with questions or comments at 

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