There’s 6 miles of trails in Central Park and, for me, that is the best part of this magical city. You just have to experience it if you don’t believe me: it’s an oasis in a very crowded, busy, and loud city. I also think Running on dirt makes my balance better, I get to use a wider array of muscles and my legs don’t get that much pavement pounding on them.

I usually get to Central Park early, around 6 am before work, or around 7 pm, after work. The colors in the morning light are more than a sight, and it’s never the same; and at 7 pm, when the sun is setting, it’s even better.

I don’t usually go on the trails unless there’s daylight as there is not much lighting in there. But last night I wanted to do 6 miles and as the sun was setting, I told myself I’d stay on the trails until I could see and then I’d switch to the road. For a few minutes I started seeing things I hadn’t seen before in the daylight: all the lit trees in the Tavern on the Green, the lit Museum of Natural History, fabulous!

That’s when the magic happened. A few minutes later, I was running in the dark. I fought with my idea of switching to the road and I won.

Have you ever run in the complete utter darkness?

There are a few bridges in the trails I cross through, some are tunnel-like… and at night it’s completely dark in there, you don’t see the road, you don’t know where you are, all you see is the “light at the end of the tunnel”. I had never run in the dark like this, but I thought that is what heaven must be like. With no road in view, I felt I was running on air, I was floating but with speed… it was strange and amazing. I closed my eyes and kept going. Yes, it’s stupid and dangerous, but oh my god was it exhilarating…