February Runner of the Month: Ned Booth
Ned joined NBR in September 2016 after training with the Men’s Local Competitive team that summer. “That May, I reached out to the LC captain at the time […] after running my first road race in years at the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia and realized that I wanted to continue racing.” He was invited to meet up with the LC team and then began training with teammates for other races that eventually culminated with age group victories. His first official NBR race was a win at the road mile, which has led to a great running career with the team. Most recently, Ned won the NBR Virtual Mile with a time of 4:51.
Image by Drew Reynolds
What do you do when you're not running?
I'm an aspiring film critic, so almost all of my time outside of running is devoted to career and craft: countless screenings, late nights writing, and massive piles of books to sift through. I typically read two books a week if I stay on top of things. My topics of interest are broad but interrelated: lots of literature and philosophy. I also love to cook and find it incredibly relaxing and therapeutic.
How did you initially get into running?
When I entered middle school, soccer and cross country were the only Fall sports my school district offered. I was terrible at soccer, so the decision to try out for XC. Growing up, my friends and I were very active and outdoorsy, so it was easy for me to excel at running initially. I struggled to improve until I hit puberty, though. I was roughly the same height and weight from sixth grade through the end of my sophomore year in high school. It wasn't until the summer of 2004, when I suddenly grew eight inches, put on five pounds, and started training more seriously because of a physically demanding job, that I began to see results from the cumulative seasons of track and cross country. Two lessons in running wisdom there: stay persistent in training despite plateaus, and no matter how much training you do, genetics dictate peak performance.
What is your favorite race distance?
My friend and honorary NBR team member David Alm describes the 5k and 10k distances as the "true racing distances," and I agree with him. Both races require that perfect blend of speed, strength, and toughness that every distance runner should aspire to have in their toolkit. However, seeing as I have yet to run a marathon, I may have no idea what I'm talking about.
Best running memory?
My first training cycle with James Chu as my coach has a couple of great moments. After battling a lingering piriformis issue that sidelined my running for a little over a year, James and I started training together in July 2018. At Percy Sutton 5k that August, I ran a huge negative split and outkicked five or six other runners over the last kilometer. It was a long-delayed payoff to a ton of base training I did two winters before that I never had the chance to utilize because of the piriformis issue.
Tim Jeffreys and I broke the NBR team record for 10 miles at the Bronx 10 Miler six weeks later, but that's not the best moment from that morning. It was five minutes after the race when Ciaran sauntered up to the two of us with a big grin on his face and told us the time he ran. After years of training together and our haphazard trip to the Bronx that morning (we nearly missed the race start due to erratic subway schedules), it was fantastic for Ciaran to have a breakthrough race.
Favorite running route in NYC?
The Red Hook/Prospect Park loop that's the standard for Sunday long runs with men's LC and is a great tour of various Brooklyn neighborhoods. I'm also a big fan of heading across the Koscziusko Bridge and running loops of Calvary Cemetery, both for the rolling hills and relative solitude. The cemetery is pretty perfect for running in the COVID era: rolling hills and next to no one in sight.
Any running-related superstitions?
I eat cold pasta without sauce out of a tupperware container every morning before races, usually during the commute to the race itself. Yes, it's a weird practice, but I never cramp up on race day because of it. Sometimes the desperate maneuvers you do when you're running late for the team bus in high school become rituals that last for decades.
What has running taught you or changed about you?
I could write something really longwinded here, but I'll settle for "Just run, baby." Any activity that requires hours of effort put into it a week to improve and excel is bound to change its participant and teach him or her invaluable lessons over the years. Running ritualizes behavior, both on and off the road/track, and there's a lot of wisdom to be gleaned from that alone. Everything else I want to dive into here may be found in those three words. Anyways, it's better to experience it for yourself than have me write some patronizing nonsense.
Favorite post-race food?
As many delicious cheeseburgers as possible.
Favorite song to run to make you want to run?
There are different motivators for different runs. Podcasts are essential on easy days. My favorite podcasts release new episodes on Wednesdays, so my easy run that afternoon is almost always one of my favorite runs of the week. A rock album I know by heart helps keep tempos and interval workouts evenly paced. I'm a big fan of tech-house, Green Velvet, and things of that nature on solo long runs 18-20 miles long.
Favorite running social media account?
I'm not very active on social media, but I'll plug Atreyu Running for their simple, no-frills, and philosophically-minded approach to running and life. Their subscription service for shoes is also a savvy, cost-effective way to make running more egalitarian and available to newcomers and veterans alike. Atreyu's base model could be a tad less harsh on the legs for runs longer than 45 minutes, but I really like what those guys are doing. Morgan McDonald's YouTube videos are also refreshing for their low-key and honest look at elite-level training and nutrition, with none of the excess, gimmicky marketing that goes along with the likes of Tinman Elite and big-name brands.
What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?
Being a serious runner involves commitment, particularly a time commitment. My current training has me on the roads for 9-10+ hours every week. Those 9-10+ hours is time I could use to write more, be a better friend, and get involved in other things. However, that time on the road also keeps me grounded and makes me a better person.
It comes down to two things: life amounts to the sum of what we repeatedly do, and significance involves both sacrifice and sustenance. Remaining dedicated to running requires very particular sacrifices in other parts of life to derive meaning in a specific kind of athletic performance. If the cost isn't worth finding meaning in what's, after a certain point, essentially running on borrowed time before an unforeseen injury sidelines you or peak fitness fades and then, suddenly, you're old and slow, think about what you're giving up elsewhere.
However, if being out on the roads, alone most of the time, in deep engagement with your body and your conscious mind, is something that speaks to you, then the roads will have a lot to teach you, and you'll encounter things that can only be found out there. I'll eventually run less after achieving career success, I settle down with someone, and COVID is finally over and done with. Still, even with the inevitable runs where I'm worn out and feel terrible, I wouldn't trade my time out on the roads for anything.
Best advice to running newbies?
Run slow to run fast. Whatever your fitness level and aerobic/anaerobic capacities are, easy running is the foundation that everything else is built on. Cherish easy/recovery runs, and do them the right way: as slow as is necessary.
Also, your body keeps the score. Listen to it because your body speaks clearer and more loudly than your mind ever will about what's going well and what isn't. That applies to life as much as running.
Finally, when first starting to run, a little goes a long way. Simply getting used to the experience of running every day is important. Pay attention to what's going on when you run: being in continual motion for prolonged periods of time, the rhythmic changes in breathing and cadence at both fast and slower paces, or how a particular stretch or exercise modifies your stride and range of motion. Running begins and ends with an intimate experience of your body and what it's capable of. That's a beautiful thing. Learn to enjoy running for that sake alone, and it becomes an endlessly valuable activity.
The current running goal?
I spent the last year slowly getting back in shape after a herniated disc injury in November 2019 almost brought my running career to an end. I'm fully recovered and fit now, but I'm still very much in the mindset where I'm grateful I'm getting out the door every morning and afternoon to do something I love. Once a post-COVID racing calendar begins to emerge, I'll start to sharpen up for races. Until then, my sights are on OSR30, tentatively on March 28th.
Any other fun running facts about you?
I discovered last summer that I have lots of untapped potential in the beer mile, and I look forward to tapping it, pun totally intended, once the weather gets warmer.
