But I snuck in a quick run this afternoon. I’m staying at the Newark, NJ Airport Hilton. I started running in what appeared to be a working class neighborhood (not particularly nice, but it seemed safe) that was directly behind the hotel. I wanted to get in 6 miles or so so I just headed down the same street to minimize the possibility of getting lost.
The neighborhood started getting worse and worse. I told myself, “I’m sure it gets better once I get past this section”. It didn’t. Anyway, I ended up at Elizabeth High School. It was not looking good. Everyone was staring at me. I could read their minds, “he’s either very brave, or very stupid”. I was very stupid.
Some notable highlights:
a bunch of middle school kids threw rocks at me.
a middle school girl tried to pull off my running shorts (seriously)
I heard many comments (I guess they don’t get many white dudes in their 30’s running in the area)
I really started to worry that my red running shorts would associate me with some gang affiliation
when I got to the high school I was doing everything I could to get out of there fast!
Newark is a *&%^ tough hood. I’ve ridden through some of New Yorks finest for years, but I know how to hide under a dumpster and change a flat at the same time. I’ve run at night in some marginal neighborhoods in LA but I know gang signs and I carried a white flag. The best I’ve got is a homeless guy in a wheelchair who said to me, “Are you fast or just stupid? I’m betting on just stupid”.
No, you are not the only one. Running in unfamiliar places can get you in trouble.
Years ago I stayed at the Hilton near JFK airport. It was surrounded by concertina and had a real guard shack to enter the compound.
I asked the desk if it was OK to run in the neighborhood - they said … well … probably in the daytime.
I took off for a run - nice day - along the way in a vacant field near the street two small black kids about 9 or 10 years old were shooting with what looked like a .38 pistol at cans they threw in the air and at bottles in the field.
I knew then that I had made a mistake and after a few cat calls along the way returned to the hotel via a different route. I didn’t run there again.
Another time on a 4 hour layover at Taipei Airport I stripped off my uniform, put on my shorts and started a run around the outer perimeter of the airport.
About 1/2 way around the road left the fenced part of the airport and went on to city streets. There was a guard shack there with a sleeping guard in it. I banged on the window to wake him and show him my ID card so he would know to let me back in again on my return loop.
He pulled his gun and called his superior. I was captured and taken to an interrogation room. The scene was like an old movie. The guard reversed his chair to face my chair, put his face close to me and started screaming at me - “What were you doing” over and over in broken English. Fortunately the US Embassy had been notified and our Country Manager bailed me out just in time to depart on schedule. I was admonished to never go running there again, and that if I asked, the Manager would give me a pass to his health club.
When we left I buzzed the police HQ at about 50 ft hoping I could break some windows.
I had to walk away from my computer. Your post is completely insulting to the people of Newark and Elizabeth. I grew up in Newark and recently worked for Newark Housing Authority for three years teaching kids from NHA properties to become Union Carpenters. I’ve run through almost every neighborhood in Newark, early in the morning, at lunch, and later in the afternoon with not one problem, ever. So while you’re telling your friends about you dangerous day in the hood, just remember that it was only your fear that made it so frightening.
Why did I leave NHA? The Bush administration cancelled our funding.
In a city (particularly) like Newark, the hotel treadmill is the way to go. I got lost off the Turnpike in Newark (coming from the airport in a rental car) at night about 2 months ago and I didn’t think I’d make it out alive. I think I saw Tony Soprano and Paulie Walnut though.
Try running through some parts of Washington DC. And I don’t mean the Mall, which is a nice place to run. I ran through a bad neighborhood in DC once about 7 years ago, and that pretty much took out all the adventure that I ever had in running through our fine cities.
Are you serious? It sounds, from the tone of your post, that you are. But I find that hard to believe. It isn’t just someone’s fear that makes Newark dangerous, and if you’re from Newark, you know that. And if you’ve really run through every neighborhood in Newark, without being chased, you’re both crazy and lucky to be alive.
Give me a break. It’s nice to defend the honor of your hometown, I guess, but get a grip.
I had to walk away from my computer. Your post is completely insulting to the people of Newark and Elizabeth. I grew up in Newark and recently worked for Newark Housing Authority for three years teaching kids from NHA properties to become Union Carpenters. I’ve run through almost every neighborhood in Newark, early in the morning, at lunch, and later in the afternoon with not one problem, ever. So while you’re telling your friends about you dangerous day in the hood, just remember that it was only your fear that made it so frightening.
Why did I leave NHA? The Bush administration cancelled our funding.
Buddy …Kudos to you for giving back to the community , Personally I respect that tremendously.
But you are entirely out of line. Going for a run , getting rocks thrown at you , your running shorts pulled off you… this is not normal behaviour and IS ENTIRELY UNACCEPTABLE.
The original poster is perfectly correct in highlighting , obviously dangerous areas ( as the Newark airport employee agreed ) for fellow triathletes to attempt to train.
Your posting is insulting and ignorant. Good day !
Its only early March and we have already retired the Dubious Achievement Award for 2007. I am on the road running in the morning but I know where I am going.
You must be a troll.
I worked as a pilot at Newark Airport and it’s a FACT that Newark is a dangerous place. Just look at the statistics for Murders there. And why would you get mad if he stated what happened to him? He had rocks thrown at him, which is totally believable. It is dangerous just for the fact that it’s consistently in the top 5 or 10 for murder rates.
I used to work in Harlem and sometimes I would take the train into the city and then ride my bike to work. During the day, it wasnt so bad, but when you are a white guy riding a road bike through Harlem at midnight you def get some looks. Never had any problems though and now I work in Central Park so its a bit of change.
I think that Newark might be worse than Harlem though Harlem has the rep.
Sweeney…Hate to say it but you are out of touch with reality Newark is one of the most dangerous cities in the country
right behind that other New Jersey gem…Camden
I only hope Cory Booker (the new mayor) cleans that cesspool up
.
Agreed that it is a mes in Newark. I have hope that Cory Booker will make a difference. I knew him when I lived on the East coast and he is the right guy for the kob in my opinion.
BTDT!! Here’s one trick to running in the ghetto: Run BEFORE 8:00 a.m. when most of the bangers are still in bed.
Some years ago I stayed in a motel in LA near the Colliseum. As you did, I took a jog (very early) and when I walked back in through the lobby, the desk clerk basically asked WTF was I thinking running in Watts with whiteness all over me… Didn’t have any problems.
Some years later did the same thing in another part of LA. Who knew LA had multiple ghettos?
I had to walk away from my computer. Your post is completely insulting to the people of Newark and Elizabeth. I grew up in Newark and recently worked for Newark Housing Authority for three years teaching kids from NHA properties to become Union Carpenters. I’ve run through almost every neighborhood in Newark, early in the morning, at lunch, and later in the afternoon with not one problem, ever. So while you’re telling your friends about you dangerous day in the hood, just remember that it was only your fear that made it so frightening.
Why did I leave NHA? The Bush administration cancelled our funding.
I’ve never run at the Newark airport, but I did get the runs FROM the Newark airport. It was Monday, to be exact. 11 days in freaking India and I get the green apple splatters from eating a breakfast sammich in Newark.
Newark’s only redeeming quality is that it’s not Dehli.
I am on the road running in the morning but I know where I am going.