WEEKLY CLUB RUNS

Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Track (Speed) Workouts
Summer: Northport High School Track, Northport, NY
Winter: Greenlawn Railroad Station

This event is a staple of the NRC activities, and is geared towards ability of all levels. Typically anywhere between 15 and 40 members (and guests) attend.  During daylight savings months the club meets at 6:30pm at the Northport High School.  During the winter months if weather conditions dictate, the workout is moved to the Greenlawn Railroad Station, which remains lit throughout the winter months. Otherwise the workout remains at the High School track. The workout includes a 1-mile warm-up, an organized track workout, and a 1-mile cool-down. During the workout we do intervals of varying distances (200 meters to 1 mile), each followed by a slow jog "recovery" which allows runners of all abilities to regroup before the next interval. There is usually plenty of competition for the front of the pack (5 - 6 min/mile pace), however, this workout is not just for the fleet of feet. You can always find someone that does your pace (7-10 min/mile pace) and on most nights there are runners that simply jog (fast runners please excuse the term) around the outside of the track, in lieu of running on the roads. The event can be grueling workout, or an easy recovery from an injury, depending on your preference. Following the workout, one can find most runners ingesting refreshments in a local pub, nursing injuries, talking about upcoming races, planning future events, and (hopefully) talking about things that have nothing to do with running.

The Thursday hill workouts meet during the summer months at the Harborfields High School for a run that goes north through the hills of Greenlawn and Centerport. During winter months runners meet at the Laurel Avenue School for a run through Northport's hills. This can be a tough workout with the pace typically between 9:00 and 10:30. Runners that expect to run a slower pace than this should coordinate with other runners of similar pace to run the hills.

During the summer months these runs start at the Kings Park L.I.R.R. Station. For the rest of the year, when there is no charge for parking, the run starts at Sunken Meadow State Park. These runs go through Kings Park & San Remo, occasionally loop back to Sunken Meadow Park, and vary from 6 to 8 miles depending on the week. The pace is typically 8:15 to 9:30 minutes/mile. There are quite a few places to cut it short if you’re not up to it, or the weather gets too hot. During July, August and September these runs sometimes wind up in the 12-20 mile range for those that are training for Fall Marathons. At the end of the runs after changing the runners get a bagel and coffee breakfast at the local bagel shop on Main Street in Kings Park.

Most weeks these runs start at the Laurel Avenue School, and generally are "recovery or fun runs". These are usually leisurely paced runs of 9:30 to 10:30 minutes/mile. Some of the courses take us through/to downtown Northport, the Northport "Pits", Crab Meadow Beach, Makamah Beach, Middleville, Fort Salonga, Greenlawn, and East Northport. Leader Charlie Merlino usually suggests where you're headed.  Ocassionally on the last Sunday of each month at 8:00am Charlie Merlino leads the Club on runs of 6 to 9 miles at various locations at a leisurely 9:30 to 10:30 pace.  This run replaces the normal Sunday Morning Training Run.  The group has traveled to Smithtown, Huntington Bay, Selden, Farmingdale, Caumsett State Park, Blydenburgh Park etc., for a "Change of Scenery Run". At the end of the runs after changing into dry clothes the group gets breakfast at a local diner or pancake house to replace those lost carbohydrates.