My dad has a habit of saying 'Stop me if you've heard this one'. And then telling the same story for the nth time. Well any TTB veteran knows the story that our first race (Queensboro 2015) had 17 finishers - 9 men and 8 women. It was the result of our weeks of our cajoling (some say harassing) our friends to run. And yes you can stop me if I ever tell you the story again.
So let's tell a new one. Take The Bridge : NYC vs The World boasts 80 runners across three races. They represent 30 clubs and crews. 6 states + DC. 4 countries. Many are racing the marathon Sunday. But they're running our race too, whether to run fast or to check out a new piece of running culture on the best running weekend our city has to offer.
Get to know the amazing out-of-town runners who are coming from far and wide to see what local NYC runners have built. You'll be glad you did. Some run with their own crews in London and San Fran, or with local chapters of November Project. Another is a marathon pacer. One is doing his third marathon in two months. Others have run a TTB and then moved to a new city.
All have a cool story. Can't wait to meet them.
Thank you to Jennie Cohen (a 2x TTB winner) for doing these writeups!
— Adam
EMMA RAVIV
HOMETOWN: Washington, D.C.
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HER: Emma is entering TTB after a series of solid performances. She recently completed Ironman 70.3 Timberman, and ran an evenly split PR in the 5k which she said “felt awesome.”
RUNNING BACKGROUND: A relative latecomer to running, Emma ran her first half marathon just as she graduated from college. During law school, her training revolved around competing in the Boston Half Marathon . Once she joined November Project, her training picked up, and she knocked nearly a half hour off her average half marathon time (her half PR stands at 1:42:35).
TTB EXPERIENCE: Even though she’s from out of town, this is not Emma’s TTB debut. While living in NYC, She ran TTB: Manhattan and Williamsburg, placing in the top 10. Now that she’s in DC, she admits she has “more of a life.” Does extra free time mean extra training? We’ll see this Friday.
WHEN SHE’S NOT RUNNING: Emma is a lawyer who works in policy at the US Copyright Office.
CREW/CLUB: November Project DC
MILE PR: 6:03
5K PR: 20:59
Photo credit: Ben Ko, @benkophoto
Photo credit: Spencer Cotton, @spencercotton
JENNI DUBMAN
HOMETOWN: San Francisco, CA
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HER: Jenni has been collecting PRs with lighting speed. She knocked 30 minutes off her 2016 Chicago marathon time, and just ran her first sub-8 min half this year.
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Jenni’s post-college move to San Francisco in 2010 marked the beginning of her running career. New to the city and short on funds, Jenni found running to be an inexpensive activity that also allowed her to explore her new hometown. Soon she became enamored with running and tried the SF half, and then found herself competing the full 26.2.
CREW/CLUB: Concrete Runners
WHAT BRINGS HER TO NYC: Competing in her first NYC marathon
WHEN SHE’S NOT RUNNING: Jenni likes going to Warriors games, comedy shows, and exploring San Fran’s culinary scene.
WHITNEY SUFLAS
HOMETOWN: Washington, DC.
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HER: Whitney is a badass -- even if she’s fighting a cold, she’ll show up to race. Add to that, she’s had success in the boroughs before, running a PR in the Brooklyn Half, so there’s no reason that she won’t lay it all out there on the Williamsburg Bridge.
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Whitney started to run half marathons in college, and then ramped up her running even more once she moved to D.c.
WHAT BRINGS HER TO NYC: After running several marathons, Whitney decided that it is “time to give back.” She’s coming to cheer on friends in the marathon and volunteer at a water station.
CREW/CLUB: November Project
WHEN SHE’S NOT RUNNING: Whitney is a law student who divIdes her time between running, studying, and “maybe some Netflix.”
PILVI MUSCHITIELLO
HOMETOWN: STOCKHOLM (though a NYC resident as of a few weeks ago)
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HER: While Pilvi isn’t one who is all about speed, she is serious about technique and efficiency. And talk about the ultimate in efficiency: Pilvi ran her half marathon PR during a six hour layover and said the run felt “somehow natural.”
RUNNING BACKGROUND: She started running as a child in Finland, then went straight into competing in orienteering. A former elite swimmer, Pilvi started running again a few years ago.
CREW/CLUB: Ssideline CIty Run Club (That extra s stands for speed)!
HALF PR: 1:41:49
WHEN SHE’S NOT RUNNING: Learning Italian and Norwegian.
RYAN PERRICH
HOMETOWN: Fort Collins, Colorado
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HIM: As an elite runner from Fort Collins, Colorado, Ryan travels around the country to pace races (can we sign up for that please?). With killer speed and some serious race strategy, Ryan is definitely one to keep an eye out for on the course.
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Ryan played soccer in college. He transitioned to running to keep his fitness up, but developed an itch for more intensity and began racing. He quickly became a competitive racer for a local elite team in Colorado.
WHAT BRINGS HIM TO NYC: 3:10 pacer for the NYC marathon (he just paced 3:10 in Chicago and came in 3:09:30, running in about a dozen Boston qualifiers).
TTB EXPERIENCE: This is Ryan’s debut! He credits a friend with cluing him in to TTB, and admits he is “all about such a cool urban underground movement.”
CREW/CLUB: FOCO Roosters (Runners Roost Fort Collins, Colorado)
MILE PR: 4:43
5K PR: 15:46
RUNE REVSBAEK
HOMETOWN: London
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Rune started running four years ago when he quit smoking. Now he is a globe trotting runner with a sick racing streak: he ran London, Berlin and Chicago all this year! And he’s ready to take on his fourth World Major of 2016 in NYC.
CREW/CLUB: Run Dem Crew
WHAT BRINGS HIM TO NYC: Racing the NYC Marathon. Rune also says that TTB is “obviously a must when in NYC.”
MARATHON PR: 2:58 (Berlin 2016)
WHEN HE’S NOT RUNNING: Head of Supply Chain within the food sector.
JOON WONG
HOMETOWN: London
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HIM: Joon hasn’t been to NYC in 7 years. Will letting loose on the city streets after a long absence bring out his inner speed demon?
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Running to work in the summer of 2014 morphed into a solid running hobby, including running a recent 5k in just a shade over 20 minutes.
CREW/CLUB: November Project
WHAT BRINGS HIM TO NYC: Racing the marathon this Sunday.
WHEN HE’S NOT RUNNING: Joon does yoga and drinks whiskey (at the same time? We aren’t sure.)
CHARLIE DARK
HOMETOWN: London
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HIM: We’re sad to say Charlie is missing the race due to a hamstring injury. That just means we’ll see more of him at the cheersquad! Look for Charlie’s Run Dem Crew to have a big presence at this race.
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Charlie is the founder of Run Dem Crew, a large (and growing larger) crew in London that champions hard running, creativity, and also provides mentoring for young people in London.
TTB EXPERIENCE: First time at a Take The Bridge race, but firmly believes “it’s currently the best race on the planet.”
CREW/CLUB: Run Dem Crew
HALF PR: 1:34 (at the NYC half “many moons ago”)
WHEN HE’S NOT RUNNING: Makes music, DJs, and travels the world “spreading #crewlove and the power of Run Dem.”
Photo credit: Josh Campbell, @joshcampbellphoto
HEMAYAT CHOWDHURY
HOMETOWN: Dhaka, Bangladesh (lives in Boston)
WHY WE ARE WATCHING HIM: Running his third marathon in two months, with a little TTB in between. We are watching him because he makes your race directors feel lazy and we want to see if he has any weakness. But we don’t think so.
RUNNING BACKGROUND: Moved to Boston after college and got into distance running through NIKE Boston.
TTB EXPERIENCE: Debut! Heard about us through buddy and Nike pacer Jared Calabrese.
CREW/CLUB: The Heartbreakers
PR HE’S PROUD OF: 3:00:42 at Chicago Marathon last month, his first BQ, just 4 weeks after running the Lehigh Valley Marathon in Pennsylvania. Dude is a beast.
WHEN HE’S NOT RUNNING: Thinks about running. And what to eat. And then he goes running and eats something.
WHAT BRINGS HIM TO NYC: You guessed it! Racing the marathon this Sunday.