March Runner of the Month: The Shovelers
When a winter storm buried the McCarren Park track under snow for the third time this winter, most people waited for it to melt, except for this crew. A group of NBR members grabbed shovels and got to work clearing the track so the rest of us could keep running. The 2026 McCarren Track shovel-out team includes: Winn Koster, Claire Rolfes, Thomas Kelsey, Nick Gawry, James Dye, Ken Allen, Orla Brady, Georgia Barrett, Emily Johnson, and Evie.
Culton Koster and his dog Hugo did most of the heavy lifting
Winn, who coordinated the effort (and who you may remember from his December 2023 Runner of the Month feature), answered some questions on behalf of the group.
In what ways have you been involved with NBR?
I've worn a lot of different hats in the four-ish years I've been running with the club. Previously I've been on the board serving as a team captain, I was a social coordinator and helped plan a few galas, and for a few years you could catch me at the bins on Wednesday nights as a run leader for WNRR. Right now I have no official roles, but the beauty of a free volunteer run club is that you can always just pitch in to help get stuff done (like shoveling out the track, for example) when you feel motivated and have the time.
The team, having “fun” instead of making progress
What do you do when you're not running?
Clearly, the group all enjoys shoveling when they’re not running, even though this was left out of their responses.
I work in tech as a data scientist and I'm also a member of a local astronomy club, so you can sometimes catch me with a telescope doing public observing. It turns out running is kind of a gateway drug into all forms of extreme aerobic activities, so in the last few years I've also gotten into backcountry skiing, backpacking, and cycling to various degrees.
Best running memory?
The best running weekend I've ever had was Brooklyn's annual offsite to Duluth, MN, aka Grandma's Marathon.
Favorite running route in NYC?
The new Queensboro Bridge goes crazy, plus Central Park to the West Side Highway for miles of continuous running with no cars or traffic lights. It's a cliche for a reason.
Any running-related superstitions?
My low-stakes conspiracy theory is that all carbohydrates are kind of the same. Pizza, doughnuts, bread, it's all viable nutrition and you don't need some specific superfood to fuel your run. I've fueled plenty of long runs with poptarts and bodega coffee.
Favorite post-race food?
The current reigning breakfast burrito champion is the one from Santa Fe BK, and we love to see healthy competition on this front.
What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?
I don't really think of myself as a runner, I am just a person who runs (and occasionally shovels out the track). But it's definitely the food. If you run you have to really think about what foods might digest well the night before a long run, how much food to eat in the morning, etc etc. In backcountry skiing or cycling you can pretty much eat whatever and it'll be fine.
Best advice to running newbies?
I think it's important to realize that if you set a huge PR in a big goal marathon or whatever you'll still be the exact same person you are now just with a faster marathon PR. In the years I've been running I've seen people attach their sense of self-worth to running goals or define their identity through the club roles they have, and it can be detrimental when things don't go your way. Find joy in the run itself.
Claire, pictured above, somehow finding the joy in shoveling itself.
For more on Winn, including how he got into running, his favorite race distance, and the story of going from zero to a marathon in 52 weeks, check out his December 2023 Runner of the Month post.
