On walking around Manhattan

Reflecting on a fourth Great Saunter

Last Saturday was the annual Great Saunter. Longtime Pinch of Dirt readers will know that this is the 32+ mile walk around the perimeter of Manhattan. (32 is the official mileage but due to perpetual construction on the East River, it’s often a bit longer, closer to 33 or 34 miles, depending on the reroutes.)

In 2019, the first time I sauntered, there were still a few limited spots for walk-up registrants. In fact, I believe one of my friends registered day-of that year. No longer! This year was completely sold out well in advance, and by early February all but 600 slots were taken. There were also 3,000 registered walkers, to the 2,500 walkers last year, which had, at the time, record turnout.

Climbing in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge.

Consequently, this year felt noticeably bigger, not just at the start, but along the route and especially on the East Side. In past years, walkers have seemed to thin out quite a bit after mile 20, but this year we were still walking practically on top of each other all the way to the end. And the bathroom lines were much longer.

It’s clear that there is incredible demand for this event, and, I would argue, for more events like it. By “like it” I mean organized challenges that prioritize completion over competition (or even participation, period, as there are plenty of saunterers who intentionally drop out midway to avoid injury).

Take the marathon, for example. The event has soared in popularity over the past decade or two, as more new or casual runners enter these races, seeking a challenge. Consequently, average finishing times have gone up. Many of these established races have cut-off times, after which they can’t guarantee that support stations will still be staffed or even that the finish line will still be up. That puts runners who are just there to finish in an uncomfortable position. Some races have become more accommodating to slower runners; a group called Project Finish ensures every person who completes the New York City marathon gets a proper celebration at the end. But I would love to see more events that do away with finish times entirely, and where walking is the expectation.

The Great Saunter is a fantastic example. Simply the idea of circumnavigating the island of Manhattan is quite powerful. It introduces New Yorkers and tourists alike to parts of the city that they are otherwise unlikely to visit. And it is an incredibly physically and mentally challenging event; based on mileage alone, it actually could be described as an ultramarathon, so completing it is a remarkable feat.

I do think the ambitious distance is an important part of the appeal. I’ve previously written about how I ran a marathon because I wanted a “peak experience,” an idea that originated with the psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1964, who described them as “rare, exciting, oceanic, deeply moving, exhilarating, elevating experiences that generate an advanced form of perceiving reality, and are even mystic and magical in their effect upon the experimenter.”

The authors of the training program I followed, The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer, argued that training for and completing a marathon was a way to basically manufacture a peak experience, an idea I found extremely appealing. It sounds awful when I put it that way, like I’m some sort of tech-bro life hacker, but it’s honestly really true: When you aim to do something at the far edge of your personal limits, and then actually do it, it’s exhilarating. Running a marathon was a peak experience for me, but in a different way, so was my first Great Saunter.

By all means, if people want to challenge themselves with a marathon specifically, I’ll be the last person to discourage them. But the marathon is not the end-all, be-all, nor is running. I would love to see more organized events for walkers that are both challenging and ambitious, and visually stimulating or symbolically meaningful, but where, as I’ve written before, “the journey is the whole point, the only point.”

Three hardy veteran saunterers.

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Now that I’ve climbed down off of my soapbox, I have to admit: I’m once again questioning whether I want to do the Great Saunter again next year. Not whether I want to do the Saunter again at some point—that seems inevitable—but next year? I don’t know…

The forecast last Saturday could not have been more auspicious: cloudy, with a high of 61 degrees—not too hot, not too cold. It was perfect weather to walk 32 miles around Manhattan. Maybe too perfect. It took the edge off; it lacked novelty.

As far as I’m concerned, the two best reasons to do the Great Saunter a second (or third, or fourth) time are for the cap (I love those hats), and because your friends are doing it.

We had quite a crew at the outset: A baker’s dozen—seven veterans and six newbies, including friends who came from as far away as New Jersey (lol) and Texas.