We Run. We Blog. We Mingle (like monkeys).

NEW YORK, NY — The virtual and material worlds collided last night behind an upright piano at Papillon Bistro in midtown Manhattan. (Wait, does that sound kind of dirty? Should I start over? Ah, fuck it. Er, I mean, nevermind!) This was the first gathering of the New York City Area Runners Who Blog, and yes, the dozen writing runners in attendance all wore name tags. 

Present at this meet-up of subnichers were the bloggers responsible for well-written and thoughtful sites (listed below) dedicated to recording the ups and downs, mileage, and philosophizing of individual runners, as well as one blog dedicated to aggregating information on all New York City-area running events and runner-related events. 

• 4:30 or Bust
• Absolut(ly) Fit
• Adventures of Cowboy Hazel
• Brandon’s Marathon
• Marci Runs the Marathon
• NYC in 3:10
• NYC Running Blog
• Pigtails Flying (um, that’s me!)
• Races Like a Girl
• Run Ansky Run
• Run Westchester
• Turfcasts (Running on Tilt)

Conversation ranged from the predictable (what are you training for?) to the arcane (which plug-ins do you use for WordPress?). It could have been an awkward gathering–take 12 people who spend a large part of their time running (alone) and then writing about their running (in solitude) and see if, when brought together they can actually converse–but everyone chattered like happy monkeys. 

(Yours truly was even called out by Julie: “So, you’re an extrovert.” Huh? Who, lil’ ole loner me, with the bright turquoise minidress and swinging crystal earrings? Not a chance!) 

Not wanting to compromise anyone’s personal boundaries, photographic documentation of this event was limited to a show of feet. Alas, two white wines and 24 hours later, the only shoe I can match up with an owner (apart from my own black boot) is that of podcaster Brenn, the rugged and lanky blonde who just BQed at Big Sur. His is the sneaker illuminated by my Blackberry’s flash; at least we know he won’t get plowed over when trotting by any feral photographers. 

And now for the shout-outs:

• Marci: You celeb. When’s the next ice bath?
• Matt: I salute you for your mission to democratize New York road running. Sign me up.
• Brandon: Flex! And no, I don’t want to swim. Or bike.
• Julie: We will crush those slow Pennsylvanian women!
• Joe: Love the suit. Seriously!
• Robert: See YOU June 19th; in the meantime rock Delaware
• Scott: You are my recovery pacer!
• Laura: Looking georgey, now mingle.
• Brenn: NewsCorp is gonna crush McGraw-Hill like a leetle grape. (Yes I realize I will receive karmic retribution for the trash-talking)
• Jason: How do you find the time to post so often? Do you have a clone? And if yes, how do I get one?
• Ari: I have one word for you, and it’s “huggable.”

Unrelated yet important: I ran for five minutes on the treadmill today! Pain-free; fingers crossed no aches develop overnight. And, Danielle put me on a weight machine. I felt so hardcore and macho. Ggrrah!