Backwards Mile


Last year's male winner wore bib # 1,
last year's female winner wore bib # 2,
this year's rookie Toby Tanser was given bib #5325

Toby Tanser

This year, the race was moved from the Delacorte Oval onto the road, with 4 times 400m between E84th Street & East 90th Street.  So the race is quite boring to watch.  As spectator, you see someone's back coming to you and then you see someone's front moving away from you, for four times.  O, what excitement!  (yawn)

Here are the collected reflections of Toby Tanser:

Toby's watch PRE-RACE
  • "Please hold onto my watch while I race.  I don't want to smash it if and when I fall over backwards."
  • "I like doing these odd races.  I missed the Empire State Building Run-Up, but I'm going to do the World Trade Center run."
  • "I thought it would be too tacky to bring a rear-view mirror."
  • "This is an out-and-back course.  I am less concerned about my time than about running into someone because I can't see them."

POST RACE

  • "This felt like the hardest thing that I've ever done."
  • "This is an unusual race because you see who's behind you rather than who's in front of you.  For the first quarter, I was most concerned that the first woman would overtake me."
  • "I ran into a woman, and it was completely my fault because I did not see her at all."
  • "If you are going to run this race, you should be prepared to suffer pain."
  • "Until I saw these photos, I never realized how terrible people look when they run backwards."
  • I would not recommend this event to anyone.  Five days after the race, I still cannot walk up the stairs.  If I can run backswards in time, I would have ran to erase that race from my life."

Yves-Marc Courtines

Yves-Marc Courtines arrived just one minute after the Open race, so he ran in the Masters race without a number.  In theory, he finished third master (assuming that he has grey hair under his bandana).

This race took place in the middle of East Drive, which meant that there were all sorts of people passing by.

  • Ross Galitsky said, "I can't believe real runners would get into this kind of race."  To which Toby replied, "I stopped calling myself a serious runner when I started wearing red wigs in public ... and, not learning from that experience, painting red dots on my cheek and running with Julia's toy Pokémon safety-pinned to my running shorts!"
  • Sylvie Kimché said, "I am just trying to get into better running shape after last week's fiasco at the relay."
  Walrus Internet