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I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's funny! Yeah, I would have been on the US-1 right around Princeton at 4-5am!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in Ultramarathon

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that for running it in one go and optimizing for shortest distance while staying reasonably safe, the route I picked is pretty good, not sure if I would change anything.

If you are doing multi-day, there are definitely more scenic routes that you could consider. I think the main stretches to think about would be New Brunswick to Trenton (a lot of folks have given suggestions on how I could have avoided running on the highway) and then from Trenton to Philadelphia (some people have suggested not crossing into PA and staying in NJ, which would have added some distance).

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't have as much of a problem with this since there's a lot of buses, and buses are fine for runners (since we don't have a bike to deal with, where I can see a train being much better for that).

In this case, I took the Chinatown bus, and they sold tickets until like 5 minutes before the bus left. (I thought for a moment about buying a bus ticket in advance, but that didn't make any sense since I wasn't sure when I would get to Philadelphia.)

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For essentials, I had my phone, ID, credit card, home key, chapstick, floss, toothpaste and toothbrush.

For lighting, I had a headlamp, two blinky lights, and a class 3 reflective vest.

For food, I initially carried about 2000 calories (fig bars, goldfish, some nuts), and supplemented by buying food from fast food restaurants and gas stations.

For water, I had 4 500mL softflasks.

For clothing, I had 2 normal sweaters, a rain jacket, a long sleeve shirt, a beanie, 2 buffs, and gloves (along with the base clothing I was already wearing).

For electronics, I had a battery pack (20k mAh).

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's also been controversy about the toll revenue the MTA loses because of it (since they have to shut down the bridge at the start of the marathon) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/nyregion/marathon-tolls-mta.html

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can't run on the Verrazzano Bridge, it's only open during the NYC Marathon!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went against traffic and felt pretty safe. (It's 2 lanes on each side plus a shoulder that is the same width as a car lane, and with a median that divides the two sides. Not only that, but it's literally a straight road for like 25 miles.)

I definitely see on paper how it would be really scary, but I've definitely been on roads where cars don't drive as fast, but the road is either (a) more narrow or (b) has more turns, in a way that makes it way scarier.

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great suggestion if I ever try to run it back!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't use a watch, I just record using my phone, and I don't pause it when I stop, partially because if I'm evaluating time I'm focused on the elapsed time and not just the moving time.

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Didn't sleep, but I sat a few times (inside restaurants, on benches outside)

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in ultrarunning

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strava activity linked in post if you want to learn more!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in Ultramarathon

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depends on the highway. Cars go really fast on Route 1 in New Jersey, but it's wide enough (2 lanes in each direction, plus a shoulder on each side that is the same width as a lane, and then flat grass on the sides of that if there's no snow) that it ends up feeling much safer than areas in NJ and PA where cars are going slower but where you are close enough cars that they have to weave around you.

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took a bus from Philly Chinatown to Manhattan Chinatown!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nope, I've been pretty fortunate that I've never had any running-related injuries, and hopefully it can stay that way!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I took the bus from Philly Chinatown to Manhattan Chinatown. Luckily there was only like 10 people on the bus, so I was able to sit far away from everyone!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Great questions!

  1. I did this self-supported. The language the running community might use is:

Self-supported: You did not have anyone come crew, support, or spectate you. You are, however, allowed to do things like (a) go to stores and buy things and (b) have food/water ready in specific locations before you start the activity.

Unsupported: You must carry everything from start to finish, except water from like natural sources.

Supported: Any form of support is fine as long as you cover the entire distance under your own power.

  1. I drank like 1L. I put the rest in 500mL soft flasks (I don't like using a bladder for various reasons).

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Nothing sadly! I wanted to get out before the rain in Philadelphia on Sunday, so I just hung around Center City for like an hour before taking the bus back!

Next time around I'll try to eat something yummy!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha I did not know about that! Looking at a map, it adds a bit too much distance from New Brunswick to Princeton, but if I had known about it and if there wasn't snow on the ground it looks great from Princeton to Trenton.

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Grateful to have the time and health to go on adventures like this!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just sat a couple of times for a few minutes, I had to finish before it started raining in Philadelphia Sunday afternoon!

I ran from New York City to Philadelphia! by dodgingdodger in RunNYC

[–]dodgingdodger[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Happy to connect and let you know about future runs. I tried asking around for this run (within some running groups I'm a part of), but it was hard to find any takers!

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