December Runner of the Month: Gregg Baldinger
After a 10 year break from running, Gregg Baldinger decided he was ready to get moving again. He joined NBR casually in 2013, and by 2015, was a fully invested member of the club.
Gregg spent a year and a half on the NBR Board, has been a Sunday Funday Run leader, is the (self-anointed) Men’s Masters Team Captain, and is part of the triumvirate that runs the most unofficially unofficial run of the year, The Holiday Handicap.
What he does when he’s not running: “I play with my dog, Ollie (he’s a sprinter not a marathoner so opposites CAN get along), I’m an amateur going on semi-pro chef, and currently trying to convince Q (that’s Quang to his family) to eat more green vegetables and drink beet juice.”
How he initially got into running: “I played sports in prep and high school and in college – I was captain of my basketball team, played a year of college soccer, was a competitive freestyle skier, and had illusions of being the starting QB for the NY Giants, but alas I was “good” but not good enough.
Running came naturally to me, though. I was a failed club kid who liked to party a bit too much. I needed to find something to keep me moving separate from Danceteria or Studio 54’s dance floor. So in 1990, it was my dad – a two-time NYC Marathoner with reconstructed knees – who convinced and inspired me to give it a more serious go.”
Favorite race distance: “Has to be the marathon. Plenty of time to screw up and rectify the mistakes made earlier in races, which I do often. The first 15 marathons in my career were trial and error. Now, I’m on to perfecting the imperfections and seemingly getting it right”
Best running memory? “Racing in Havana, Cuba in 2015 or it may be more recent when Meb Keflezghi and Joan Benoit both shook my hands immediately after my first sub-3 hour marathon in NYC. They weren’t there for me alone, but I can delude myself a bit.”
Favorite running route in NYC: “When I was a Manhattan snob: Central Park. Now that I’m a Brooklyn snob: the run down from Williamsburg to and around Prospect Park on a cool (not freezing) winter afternoon. Perfection.”
Any running-related superstitions: “Not really, although ironically, I can be superstitious, so if you see me avoiding sidewalk cracks on a run just understand I don’t want my mother’s back to crack, I presume. Actually, rush me to Bellevue if you see me doing this.”
What running has taught him and changed about him: “Patience, Patience, Patience. And I can change from Clark Kent into Superman in 3 seconds in any race port-a-potty (oh no! did I just reveal my true self?).
Favorite post-race food: “Noodles, any and all kinds and French Fries. I’m whole foods, plant-strong, so anything savory and comforting from a plant. Johnnie Walker Black is from a plant, isn’t it? Please say yes. (Must note, though that drinking has taken a significant back seat. The cocktails are few and far between and I’m a better runner and person for it). This public message was brought to you by.......”
Favorite song to run to make you want to run: “With one more mile to go on a tempo run - give me the opening to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” with Brian Johnson screaming at me to move my butt to finish FAST.”
For long endurance runs on cold winters days: Yo-Yo-Ma playing Bach. (And yes, my mix has Bach AND AC/DC on it.)”
Favorite running social media account:
“NBR, of course. I follow them all but I’m letting Hal Higdon, Matt Fitzgerald, Des Linden, Mario Fraioli, and Kara Goucher speak to me now.”
The worst part about being a runner: “Thinking about where, how, when I’m going to pee. Yes, I’m really a six-year old boy.”
Best advice to running newbies: “Breathe, smile, be sweet and kind. Wave to your fellow runners. Cheer on your fellow runners. High five a little kid at a race. Take a week, day, month or years off if you’re not feeling it, knowing you can always put one foot in front of the other at any time in your life. It’s a marathon not a sprint (no disrespect to our speedy milers and mid-distance racers; maybe I’m just jealous?).”
Current running goal? “A 2:50 marathon. Hey, why not?”
Fun fact: “I was on Al Jazeera as America’s running representative in Havana in 2015.”