Thinman's World: Towpath Ramblings

Just finished an hour run on the towpath. This morning was perfect for a towpath run. It was cool and sunny for May 24th. The surface of the towpath was dusty and harder than usual. As any regular towpath runner knows, rain within a couple of days leaves the towpath with plenty of mud to dirty your new Brooks. Admitedly, an hour on the towpath is not a particularly long run, but I am a bit overtrained this week, and maybe I will race on Monday, so it is acceptable....

I have been running on the towpath since 1977, a freshman at Rutgers. When I moved into Demarest Dorm on College Avenue Campus, I didn't even know the towpath was there. I ran alone for a few days into my first semester, exploring New Brunswick and Buccleuch Park.

The towpath was shown to me after I became a cross-country team "walk-on", or rather "run-on" - I literally ran into them in Buccleuch Park and said, "can I join?" Shortly after joining, a Coach Wallach said to go for a towpath run. My mind heard that as "toe-path" -- as in it was a path for toes. But when we entered the path from Landing Lane, and headed south towards Interstate 287 and Bound Brook, I knew that it was a path for mules to tow barges in the canal.

Then some memories kicked-in. I remembered doing a run in my Junior year of high school on a path next to a canal near New Hope, Pennsylvania. My high school coach, Joe Murphy, took the team there. We ran about 20 miles that day. I remember that run to this day not only because it was unheard of for a cross- country practice to go so long at the time, but also because of its beauty. I believe that the section of the Delaware- Raritan Canal near New Hope is the "feeder canal" for our own local towpath. The section that extends north along the Delaware is unique. It is maintained well, it has bridges and viaducts. Running there is like a trip back to a more simple time.....

In third grade, Mrs. Haystack read books to us. I remember the setting details, but not the plot, title or author, of one novel that I loved. It was about a boy who lived around a town that depended on the canal for its livelihood. The vocabulary of barges, locks, and developing farm mercantilism, as well as relationships with local Native Americans painted a rich imagery of canal life for me. This fragmentary memory gives me feelings of history connected with the towpath. For me, running there renews a connection with the earth. Running on the towpath's dirt, rather than on the cold asphalt, creates for me a physical connection to that time. Regardless of the degree of accuracy of my knowledge of canal life, towpath runs never fail to take me out of the problems of modern life and transport me there.

So I feel like I have a deep relationship with the towpath. I have traversed, by actual estimate, about 1000 miles of running and mountain bike mileage on her. Easily 800 of which was running. I have traveled the entire length from New Brunswick to Princeton, south of which it has mostly been built over. I did spy a bit of towpath along Route 1 just north of Trenton last weekend, however. It was calling my feet to run on it, but they were busy pushing the gas pedal to get my family home.

WILDLIFE

The towpath has many forms of wildlife. I have seen deer, black snakes, and huge snapping turtles. My favorite are the water turtles that sun themselves on the canal side of the towpath. They sit on logs or at the edge of the water warming themselves. Running the towpath on warm days you may see and hear whole families of them plopping into the water as you approach. Then there is everybody's least favorite: the gnats. They swarm about the center of the towpath. I used to think this happened at specific times of the spring and fall, but I think their behavior also has to do with long-term weather conditions. So you may find yourself running through clouds of gnats at just about any time when it is warm enough to wear shorts! Many runs end with tiny black gnats plastered to your sweaty skin, in the corners of your eyes, inhaled and in your mouth. Experienced towpath runners know that for some surely evolutionary reason, they tend to swarm in the center of the towpath. So, the lesson is to run the edges to encounter fewer bugs. Of course, you can always make sure you run with a buddy and just lag behind him or her a bit.

FLORA

Yes there are trees and brush and cornfields, there are marshes and moss and plenty of algae in the canal. But I am here to tell you about the tons of poison ivy. Here is a poison ivy story for your edification. I was in college at the time, on a particularly long run out of College Avenue campus. I accessed the towpath at Landing Lane, heading south. After an hour or so I really had to use the non-existent bathroom facilities on the towpath. So I naturally hit the woods. Let me assure you, I am not now, nor was I at the time an inexperienced hiker and backpacker. I was used to using the natural facilities whenever the need arose. I fretted about the lack of toilet paper for no more than a few seconds. I found a good spot off the trail and did what needed to be done. I selected a choice large leaf -- clearly oak -- to take the place of the absent Charmin. That done, and now soaked with sweat, since I had stopped running, I continued on my long run. Do I need to tell you that the next day I had poison ivy from my ankles to my lower back? My movement through the PI-infested woods of the towpath combined with my profuse sweating to help spread it. I had the worst case of PI the Hurtado Health Center had ever seen! It took oral antihistamines, hourly sponge baths in Calamine Lotion, and the sacrifice of several great social and romantic activities to get rid of it. Since then my skin's natural resistance to poison ivy has been non-existent. To this day I compulsively avoid all contact with any green stuff lining the towpath, and suggest you do also....

©1997 by Thinman.