The Great Saunter - A Slow 32 Mile Walk Around Manhattan

                                                

We Did It! To See Our Walk Click HERE!

Have you ever heard of the Great Saunter? 

First of all saunter means to walk along in a slow, relaxed manner. What makes it great is that you walk 32 miles through more than 20 parks and along the beautiful waterfront of Manhattan's incredible shoreline.

 Yep 32 miles and it's not a race or a competition. If you make it to the finish line all you'll get is a certificate and the satisfaction of knowing you did it!

Apparently about a thousand people participate in this urban hike that's been held the first Saturday in May for 25 years. The Great Saunter is put on by the Shorewalkers, a non profit group dedicated to preserving New York City's shores and wetlands.  

We Took the Plunge!

I first read about the saunter a couple years ago and although the idea intrigued me the thought of walking 32 miles sounded a bit much. Not to mention the cost of getting from Florida to New York. For some reason everything came together this year and we decided to take the plunge and sign up. 

I've never visited New York other than to change planes and one night spent in a very expensive hotel near the airport due to a canceled flight. John on the other hands has been there many times on business. He's never wanted to spend vacation time somewhere associated with work but he agreed the Great Saunter sounded interesting. 

So we paid $30 to join the Shorewalkers club, lucked out on two fairly cheap plane tickets and reserved a hotel near the start/finish line. We're committed now!

Training Time!

Now we love to walk. A couple of miles after dinner at night and a 10 or 12 mile walk on the weekend. But 32 miles in one day?

Whew! We knew we'd need to work up to it so training time began.

We've been working on adding distance to our walks plus keeping up a good pace. The Great Saunter starts at 7:30am and we hope to finish within 12 hours. We'll have to keep a 3 mph pace so we'll have time for a few breaks along the way.

It's a little scary committing to such a long walk. But we're going to give it our best shot! If we don't complete the 32 miles we'll still have a weekend in New York including a stop at Junior's Cheesecake.

Tomorrow we'll tackle a 17 mile walk. I'll update our progress as we move towards the Great Saunter!


This year's Great Saunter will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2016. For more information about The Great Saunter check out the Shorewalkers site.



Will we see you there?