iCandybyWangC

• Cerebrun effort and more •

[2½ MIN READ]

TONIGHT [INVITATION]

Forecast says 82° with 100% chance of CtC being at Jenkintown Running Company to join the masses yearning to run free tonight (see Cerebrun for more).*

6/8/2022, W, 6:30 p.m., RUN REPORT

Having just run our usual Sunset 5K route for the actual Jenkintown Sunset 5K race the day before (06’07’T), we turned our aspirations in the other direction, toward Alverthorpe Park whence a few of us also ran the loop inside for what might be among the last couple of times, for variations of 3.2 and 4.8-mile efforts (again, see Cerebrun for more).

[THOUGHT] CEREBRUN

One of the running routes of the legacy Growlers Group Run (before its most-recent renaissance) has been the one that includes Alverthorpe Park. One appeal of said route is the ability to include the interior loop to extend the approximately 3-mile over-to-and-back with multiples of approximately 1.6 miles. That appeal has allowed group members at different levels of conditioning to add on at will, even if at the expense of post-run store (and beer!? Why?!) time.

Another appeal of said run has been that pedestrians have been able to use it without showing proof of residency: residency in Abington township, that is. Alverthorpe Park is an exclusive recreational space that otherwise requires proof of residency (historically, specifically by drivers of motor vehicles). Last week, as we loitered at the front gate awaiting everyone across our inclusive spectrum of running paces, we learned from the township’s version of border control that it will soon be requiring ID’s even of pedestrians, unless they are guests of a resident: max 5, per. Guess what we don’t have enough of in the running group?

This residency policy might seem unnecessarily exclusive, but exclusiveness exists for various reasons. Some of those reasons might be financial, political, practical, or social. Financially, who pays taxes to maintain a “public” space? Politically, how does the leadership of Abington respond to the concerns of its residents? Practically, how do authorities control the large number of people who could otherwise be using said space? Socially, how much obligation do the taxpayers have to those outside its doors? And do they even like them?

It might appear insincere, and ingratiatingly political, to compare GGR’s running mass to the huddled masses of the world outside America’s doors, but there are practical concerns in both cases that constantly have to bend to the winds of political change.

As far as GGR is concerned, we either have to find another attractive alternate running destination or recruit more members from Abington township. Sigh, for better or for worse, membership has its privilege.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative split or positive splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
¶*Inspired by Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus. ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: (1) Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run (2022’06’15’W Run Message), (2) GGR email list, (3) Cerebruns by CtCloser

 

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Republished: 2023’06’14’W (Individual blogpost from previous webpage block with minor edits)