Midnight mileage for runners in 2014

NEW YORK – If you are a runner, what better time to kick off your New Year?s 2014 mileage than 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2013?For 4,500 runners in Central Park last night, they had a chance to do just that in the four-mile “Midnight Run.”My girlfriend Laura and I were finishing up a tasty dinner of arugula salad, mussels and margherita pizza at the Riposo 72 Restaurant on the Upper West Side when we learned about the race, which would begin just a few blocks eastward. We decided to walk over and check out the scene, which included a pre-race dance party and costume contest at the Central Park Bandshell, as well as a fireworks display at midnight.A DJ and band, including a saxophonist and violinist, helped the crowd stay warm on a freezing night with Top 40 dance tunes from artists like Pitbull, Ke$ha and Macklemore. It was a big difference from the music of Tchaikovsky?s “The Nutcracker,” which we?d heard earlier that day at Lincoln Center.On the way to the dance party, we passed the starting point of the race, as well as people dressed up in butler uniforms passing out Breakfast on the Go Yogurt Bites from race sponsor Emerald Nuts. The race itself was organized by the New York Road Runners, the same folks who put on the NYC Marathon.The DJ asked for a show of hands from everyone who would be running, and not many people held their hands up. It seemed like most people were just there to dance the hours away heading into the New Year, like their counterparts in Times Square.Although we had never heard about the race before last night, the DJ informed the crowd that it had been going on for 34 years. Digital images of runners in motion, as well as the “NYRR” logo, flashed by on the Bandshell.When Laura and I regretfully decided it was time to go (we wanted to beat the traffic back to Massachusetts), we started seeing more runners on our way out. Some were jogging through the park in preparation, occasionally in costume. We saw one group with colorful wigs, and another group decked out in flashing lights, accompanied by the Frank Sinatra version of “New York, New York.” There were even little kids running, and at least one dog. We saw runners heading toward the park long after we had walked out.Our original plan had been to leave the city a few hours before midnight, but when we got back to our car, we decided to drive by the park to catch the fireworks. We parked on a street corner and joined a small crowd watching the fireworks burst over the park.Somewhere inside the park, the runners had taken off. Instead of Champagne, party hats and noisemakers, they were celebrating the start of a new year simply by participating in the pastime they loved.It?s funny what running can do to a person. If I?d heard about a New Year?s run through Central Park a few years ago, before becoming a runner and doing events like the Lynn Woods Races, I?d have thought, “these people are crazy.” Now, I thought, “these people are crazy … and I?d like to join them next time.”Maybe we?ve already figured out our plans for Dec. 31, 2014.