May 3, 2017 - For Chico and the Gang!

Today's run was sponsored by Chico! Thanks so much for continuing to help fund the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship Endowment. We're getting so close to fully funding the endowment, I appreciate your help! Soon, YMCA Camp Miller will be able to send a deserving camper to camp for free every year in honor of an amazing man.

This dedicated run had to be this classic. It's the kind of run that needs to be run with a friend, so when I met Laura at the gate and she suggested the Back Door Five Miler, I couldn't have been happier. It's a classic route that sneaks its way through not one, not two or three, but four places that seem like you shouldn't be allowed to go. I last wrote about this route almost three years ago to the day!

The first back door is the best. We ran through the open gate on the back side of the Safdarjung Railway Station. "Just act like what you're doing is totally okay," is the mantra of this run. Unfortunately, the entrance was the easy part that day. A huge, fat mama monkey was with her baby on the stairs to the bridge that took us over the tracks. "What do we do here?" I asked. "Just go," was Laura's nervous reply, followed by, "Don't look at it." Obviously, I've written this post, so you know I made it. The bridge leads right to the platform and before we knew it, we were like the sultry muse of Prince's Raspberry Beret in reverse as we ran out through the in door. In door.

Running to the train station for Harry Potter themed 9 3/4km race

Back door number two is behind the Leela Hotel. Over the years, this has slowly turned from a small door, to a bigger door, to no door, to what I expect will soon become a full-fledged road. Can't stop progress I guess.

The third back door is the rear entrance to a sprawling government employee housing complex. Complete with bungalows, apartment towers, underground parking and their own park and shops, New Moti Bagh feels like it could easily be in Anytown, USA. It's always a trip running there, but today was special. The back door wasn't just the normal red and white barrier arm, but a full-fledged locked metal gate across the whole entrance. Having arrived to the seemingly impenetrable wall just behind a man on a bike, we decided to wait. He pounded on the door, we all waited. The gate was opened and we cruised past the guard, no questions asked. "Just act like you belong here."

The final back door is a door in the fence that opens to a private walkway between the Railroad Officer's Bungalows and a golf course. It parallels a public park and actually offers vertical rise in a mostly flat city. It ends at another bridge over the tracks to another government housing development.

RUN STATS

Distance: 6.24 miles

Duration: 57:49

April 14, 2017 - For Pat and Jack!

Today's run was sponsored by Pat and Jack! Thanks so much for continuing to help fund the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship Endowment. We're getting so close to fully funding the endowment, I appreciate your help! Soon, YMCA Camp Miller will be able to send a deserving camper to camp for free every year in honor of an amazing man.

Everyone else can get their dedicated run by clicking here and allocating the donation to the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship.

This year I've been thinking a lot about what my dedicated run posts will look like. It's the end of an era for me here in Delhi. Our family is leaving after nine years and we're heading on to Ghana in July. I'm also hoping we can bring closure to the fundraising that started so long ago. With those things in mind, I'm hoping to not only capture my waning moments in this amazing city, but also honor those of you who have continued to support me through the years.

So...

...Pat and Jack, you get my go-to route. It's the one I can always count on. Just like you. When I was lucky enough to have you become part of my life, I was immediately struck by how quickly you let me in and by how willing you both were to support me. I know that you'll always be ready to help, and for that, I'm eternally grateful. Thank you.

The go-to route is, of course, Nehru Park. We're lucky to have Nehru Park so close to campus. It's only a kilometer away, and it's a wonderful green respite in the craziness that can be India. In a lot of ways, Nehru is our Central Park, although it's only 1/10th of the size. On any given morning, there are people jogging, walking, doing yoga, playing cricket or otherwise enjoying some time for themselves.

For me, that's what a run in Nehru has been over the years. It's familiar. It's predictable. It's a time to go on autopilot and meditate on a morning run. Now that it's April, it's crowded at five o'clock, but in the winter, it's often dark and abandoned. It's a perfect time to unplug and recharge at the same time.

It's the painted reggae bridge, the Lenin statue, the fountain that was fixed for some reason last month and now flows with renewed energy and commitment. It's the contests from 2014 to be the fastest lap around. It's food festivals, three ancient temples and hidden idols.

It's Arlo zipping around on his bike, Amos and Kate and I following behind. It's comfortable. It's my backyard. It's home.




RUN STATS:

Distance - 6.16 miles
Time - 54:26
Temperature at 5:42am - 79°F

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For Lynnea! - Lodi Garden

Lynnea is an old friend from Camp Miller. She was also close friends of Ty and she understands why raising the money for a recurring campship in his name is so important. If you want to see some crazy photos of her from back in our camp days, check out the Camp Miller Facebook Page. If you want to offer the opportunities that camp gave us to a lucky camper in the future, donate here - http://www.ymcacampmiller.org/donate/ty-taylor-campship-endowment/.  Thanks!

Lynnea's dedicated run is a 6.5 mile loop that is terrain well-trod for our running group. We left this morning at 5:10am and headed out for Lodi Garden. I've written about Lodi runs a few times in the past - read about them here and here. In a great coincidence, another Lodi run was dedicated to Julie, another former Miller counselor.

SIDE NOTE: The group that ran this morning is most of my core support group. Of the five us that went running, these are the ones that are almost always up at 5am, ready to run. Of the five of us that went running this morning, four will come across the finish line in Canal Park this June. And that's something that I'm really excited about. This summer, four of my Delhi friends are coming to stay at our summer house for the race! 3 of them will do the Bjorklund and 1 will do Grandma's with me. I love it when my world's overlap. Hosting this group at the house, going for a pontoon cruise, playing some bags or horseshoes, hanging out in Murphy's on the Lake is something that I can't wait to share. I'm proud of my little piece of America and I love these people, so I'm expecting a good time. For Saturday night. Friday night we have to be responsible. Spaghetti and water!

I have to say, I'd love to host a Camp reunion at the house too. What say you Miller alum?

Back to the run.

I took the opportunity to use today's run as a pace training run for the marathon. Luckily, my friends were up for it. We picked up our pace a bit and cruised out of school. We were to the park before we knew it. It's hot already and we noticed. On the way, we passed Safdarjung's Tomb.

We can't see this view, but here's a shot a took several years ago.

The park was cooler, the temps always drop in the shadows of the lush, leafy trees, and we were grateful. I had one of those moments in today's run where you look around and even though you've been there a million times, everything seems different. A slight change in light, or visiting at a different time of day and the path seems different. Strange.

Wikipedia reports that Lodi Garden houses buildings and tombs from the 15th century. In those times, small villages surrounded the tombs, but the villages were relocated in the 1930s in order to allow Lady Willingdon the opportunity to landscape the entire area into a park. After independence, the Park was renamed Lodi Garden in honor of the original architects of the monuments. Speaking of architects, Joseph Stein, the architect that designed buildings at our school, re-landscaped the park in the 1970s and included a greenhouse.

That greenhouse is the first thing we see on our loop of the park.

As we continue clockwise, we can just spy a glimpse of the Shisha Gumbad, which was originally covered in shiny blue tiles. You can just make them out in this photo I took in 2011 (to the left).

Below is a shot from inside the walls of the park's namesake, Sikander Lodi. It's a popular spot for family photos, including some of mine!



The next landmark on the route is the Athpula or "8 Piered Bridge." It was the last of the Mughal structures constructed in Delhi. We often run across it, not wondering why there is a bridge in the middle of a park, seemingly going over a lake. A guest of the eighth grade a few years ago that came to talk to the students about water explained to us that at one point in history, there was a waterway that connected Lodi's tomb to the Yamuna river which is at least 3-4 miles away.

The loop off of the bridge brings us around toward the main entrance of the park where the Bada Gumbad and attached mosque dominate the scenery. There are always large groups of people in the grassy lawns surrounding the Bara Gumbad and this morning was no exception. Lodi is a magnet for the city's early risers.

The final leg of the loop passes the last tomb in the park, that of Mohammed Shah, built in 1444. This is the first time that I've done any research on the buildings in the Garden. I've been too many times to count, but seeing that date gives me a new appreciation for our running route. Also, the morning light at Shah's tomb is always great. The photo of Mohammed Shah's tomb below is from a group run in August of 2015.

After that, it's back to the glasshouse and out of the park. Then we zipped home.

RUN STATS

Distance: 6.54 miles

Duration: 57:04

Soundtrack: Joan Shelly, Over and Even