January 31, 2010 Team Walk- Winter Garden

Wow! Due to some very nasty weather last month, for the first time, our Memorial Miles walk was cancelled (snowed out!!) and pushed back to the following month. SO, we did the February 2010 monthly walk on March 5, 2010.

In light of such nasty, cold weather, we were on the prowl for something warm. What better than a walk to the Winter Garden to enjoy some tropical palm trees! In addition, it was Frederic Chopin's 200th Birthday, so we were treated to live piano music playing his music in celebration. All in all, a great way to beat the nasty weather our there!



Here, Malik, Amadou and Vinny (our newest Miler) enjoy the tropical heat coming from the palm trees inside the winter Garden.

Coogan's Salsa, Blues & Shamrocks 5K Run

Coogan’s 12th Annual SALSA, BLUES & SHAMROCK 5K RUN
(begins at Fort Washington Avenue and West 173rd Street)
March 7, 2010

What a beautiful day to kick-off the 2010 running season and how better to do it then with another famous New York City run, the Coogan’s Salas-Blues, Shamrock 5K Run starting at West 173rd Street and Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Height’s. The scenic route circles the historic Cloisters and returns to 169th Street. New York City Road Runners calls this “the best road race outside of Central Park”. The run starts at 173rd Street a few blocks North of the New York Armory, and for those of you who know running history, this is an indoor track facility that has seen it’s fair share of world class runners come through its doors, in addition it house the USA TRACK AND FIELD HALL OF FAME. This race is a celebration of the strong community ties and rich cultural diversity of northern Manhattan.

There must have been over 4,000 runners of all ages running toady including world class competitors, local celebrities and hundreds of kids running their hearts out. The course is hilly and starts in a very urban New York City setting of Washington Heights in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, it eventually takes you into Fort Tyron Park, which is a very wooded park with spectacular views of the Harlem River to the East and the Hudson River and the Palisade Cliff’s of New Jersey to the West. If you did not know better when you get to Fort Tyron Park you would not know you were in NYC! Another treat of running in this race is along the course there were Salas Bands, Meringue Bands, Klezmer Bands, Blues and Jazz Bands, Bagpipes and Brass Bands, as well as groups of cheerleader squads and local high school marching bands, this is a real neighborhood celebration!

Proceeds from the race will benefit the newly opened USA TRACK AND FIELD HALL OF FAME and the ARMORY TRACK AND FIELD CENTER.

Races “within the race” also include the Captain Frederick III Jr. race, created in memory of a local firefighter who lost his life in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Captain III had founded this race, a competition among uniformed service. This year, Captain III’s wife was there to start the race alongside other local dignitaries.

January 31, 2010 Team Walk

SKYSCAPER MUSEUM
January 31, 2010

On a bitter cold January day, Memorial Milers Clarelle DeGraffe, Tom Grassi, Malik Goodson, Kamron Khan, Sochieta Moth and Paul Pietropaolo began their THIRD calendar year (2008, 2009, and now 2010!!!), with a team walk to the Skyscraper Museum located at the tip of Manhattan.

Since so much of what we lost and what we are rebuilding involves skyscrapers, this was another fascinating place right here in Lower Manhattan ($5 entrance fee) that we could walk to.

https://email.panynj.gov/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.skyscraper.org/home_flash.htm


Tom & Malik get ready to head out on the January Memorial Miles team walk.













Kamron and Tom do a little racing to keep warm.
You can see the steel frame for the Tower One (Freedom Tower) rising in the background.

Getting ready to enter the museum, you can tell by the looks on our faces and the empty streets, it was really cold down at the tip of Manhattan Island! The wind whipping off the New York Bay cut through you like a knife.

Happy Memorial Miles inside the exhibit hall!

This was our seventeenth monthly walk!!!

Look at the places we have been as a group:

2008

September- WTC Site October- Battery Park/ Koenig Sphere

November- Police Memorial, Battery Park City

December- South Street Seaport

2009

January- Federal Hall National Memorial

February- The African Burial Ground

March- Hunger Memorial

April- Lincoln Tunnel 5k

May- The Brooklyn Bridge

June- East Coast Memorial

July- Bowling Green Park

August- St. Paul's Chapel

September- National 9/11 Memorial and Museum's Preview Site

October- Trinity Church "Trinity Tree Root"

November- US Custom House

December- US Stock Exchange Christmas Tree

In addition, don't forget that Memorial Miles was the first charity organization featured on the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum's "Supporter Spotlight". Please be sure to continue to spread the word via the attached link:

https://email.panynj.gov/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.national911memorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=memorialmiles

Miles Through December 2009

Total Miles Walk/Run Through December 2009: 12,804.5 Miles