• All local, even •
[2 MIN READ]
The weird 22 miler I did last Saturday (in lieu of joining SRC) turned my mind to other atypical running events. We all know them, ones that are destination races, have catchy names, or have quirky themes.
As far as destination races, we know the majors, like Berlin and Tokyo. Some of us have even run them (Just Gene @ Berlin, September: Congrats-a-Mundo to All). But for destination races, what about Antarctica and Great Wall Marathons? I’m not likely to do either one, but the idea stirs the imagination. Maybe the most unusual I did was the End of the Road Half Marathon in Central PA with its out-and-back traverse of 2 abandoned PA Turnpike tunnels (Cerebruns, 2022).
For ones with catchy names, Queen of Prussia 10K, Hot Chocolate Run, and Frostbite 5 Miler fit the bill well for local ones. My experience with one with a catchy name was doing the Fraud Street Run with $teve (Cerebruns, 2020).
A quirky local one that came to mind was the Rocky 50K (not to be confused with last month’s Rocky Run in Philadelphia) which maps Rocky Balboa’s combined effort across multiple non-contiguous neighborhoods and a couple of movies. Movie aficionados have strung them all together and even executed one publicized effort (The Daily Pennsylvanian, 2022).
The annual Rocky Runs are official, that 50K is not. The 22 miler I did isn’t either, but it’s generated its own attention across the years. The ORC Relay connects the 3 stores associated with Jenkintown Running Company from Jenkintown to Philly’s Fairmount neighborhood to Ridley Park (Cerebruns, 2019). Amazingly, each location is roughly equidistant from each other. And halving that distance makes for 4 tidy 5½-mile relay segments. Frostbite 5 Milers those segments aren’t, but any one of them is achievable for most runners. Three segments (16½ miles) are well within reach for the average Shawmonter. And the entire distance is a great marathon-training effort. I didn’t use it for one this fall, but when we return it to its usual spring time in 2024 (specifically 03’16’S), it’ll set me up for the Jersey City Marathon, 04’14’U (Sunday).
The achievable distances make for ORC Relay’s quirky theme. For destinations, the ORC Relay’s survey of Philadelphia’s urban and suburban neighborhoods is unparalleled (for better and for worse). And for catchy names, what’s not to love about the connection to a lumbering Lord-of-the-Rings monster?
Finally, the attention it’s generated that I mentioned earlier means that I’ve never done it solo. Even if I’m the only runner who’s done the whole thing across the 4 years of its existence. And counting.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe) “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT
Text by Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-published: Facebook Shawmont Running Club (ZY Weekly Newsletter 12/2/23), Shawmont Running Club website, Ruminations by CtCloser.
Updated: 2023’12’08’F (Correction of “aficionados” spelling.)
Corrected: 2024’03’19’T (“22” from “21.6,” “5½” from “5.4,” “16½” from “16.2,” “4’14’U” from “4’16’U,” and “4” from “5.”)
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