Sports
Perrier Run
By Jerry Trently
Editor's note: The following
is a narrative of a trip to the
Perrier 10 kilometer run - in
Central Park, New York.
The story takes the point of
view of the trip as it relates
to the author and to the
group.
Amidst a maze of tower
ing structures and concrete
roadways is New York's
Central Park, a beautiful
park with its winding
sidewalks and trellises, and
itself a part of the New York
experience. On March 27,
about 15 faculty and
students from the Hazleton
Campus went there to com
pete in the Perrier 10
lilometer run.
Needless to say, the ar
chitecture, people, and
overall environment were
much different than
Hazleton, and we all en
joyed the change of
scenery. It was not long that
we were in New York that
we met Stuart Erwin, who
had gone down earlier to
reserve our places in the
run. He joined us, and we
headed for the park.
The park was full of run
ners stretching, jogging,
and talking of the race
while we drove around look
ing for a parking place.
Parking spaces in New
York City are harder to find
than clocks in the
Classroom Building. I'm
glad that Dr. Jerry Covert
was driving and not myself.
As soon as I got out of the
van, I was certain that we
had made a wrong turn and
had gone to Anchorage,
Alaska, or should I say
Hazleton, Pennsylvania?
The climate seemed similar
to that spring snowstorm
weather that closed the
campus a couple of weeks
ago.
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Tuaiguck Tine Sewice, Sae.
MEM
was personal and group experience
ew York City's freezing cold weather was not enough to stop Penn State's
At any rate, we became
accustomed to the
temperature, which ac
cording to a bank
clock/thermometer was 27
degrees F. They have bank
clock/thermometers in
New York too.
As race time was nearing,
we set out,to take care of
necessary obligations. The
portable toilets were lined
up, about one dozen of them
in a row. The trick was
determining which ones
were• being used and which
ones were not. We beat the
system by finding two that
were unoccupied, and lined
up near them.
Before the race, the
theme from "Chariots of
Fire" was played over
speakers in the park, and
someone, that none of us
could see, did his own ver
sion of the Richard Sim
mons show. I never liked
Richard Simmons, but
every runner should warm
up before a race, and if this
is the way that New York
runners do it, more power
Hogefsg• Pa.
Siam 1935
to them
Next, it was time to line
up at the starting line. We
Hazleton runners tended to
be conservative, and stayed
back in the pack a little bit
in fear of being trampled to
death once the race actually
began. The start went .off
rather smoothly, consider
ing there were over 5,000
runners involved.
As spectators watched
from all areas, we ran
through the park, past the
Metropolitan Museum of
Art, and on over the win
ding course. At the end of
the race, some of us, myself
included, realized that we
were not in the shape that
we should have been in for
the race. But, Stu Erwin,
for example, set his per
sonal best time.
after the race, we headed
for Greenwich Village,
and it was here that we split
into two groups. About six
of us decided to go back
through New York to
Chinatown. Of course, this
meant that we had to ride
Diocetudand U.S.A. 9w..
22nd & Vine Sts.
Hazleton, PA 18201
the New York subway. The
ride was fun, at least I
thought sO, but apparently
Kim Long did not. She sat
close by us and watched for
would-be muggers.
Once off the subway, we
encountered a man
demonstrating a card game
on a street corner near
Macy's department store.
A few of us kept walking,
but one of our group
became entrigued by the
card shark. About three
minutes later, he was out of
twenty dollars and the man
had disappeared into the
crowd. I guess our street
wise acting was not too
good.
We strolled through
Macy's, and then through
Chinatown to Madison
Square Garden, the round
buildixig. Anyway, after
passing three Chinamen, a
begger, and a shopping bag
lady, we got back on the
subway and headed back to
Greenwich Village.
'Meanwhile, while we
were spending time looking
at nothing in particular at
Macy's, the rest of our
troop went to the World
Trade Center. Perhaps
their trip was a bit more ex
citing, for up there with
them in ~one of the world's
ANGUS LUNCIENETTE
10th & Alter Streets
Hazleton
Phone: 459-3064
Take-out Orders
Open Daily 5:30 a.m.
to 9 p.m.
Open Sunday 5:30 a.m.
to 1 p.m.
"Also serving a variety
of hoagies"
Page 23
runners
tallest buildings was Woody
Allen. They did not get his
autograph, but at least they
got his gum wrapper.
Our whole group reunited
back at Greenwich
Village, and went for
something to eat. Six of us
at one table glanced over
the menu. Included with our
meal was what looked to be
pea pods. No peas, just the
pods. We later learned from
Dr. Covert they were "snow
peas," and are considered a
delicacy. Kim called them
"no peas."
After supper, our evening
was not yet over. Not far
from where we were was
the erotic bakery. Some of
us had seen a story of this
bakery on NBC's Real Peo
ple show, and the bakery
lived up to its X-rated
reputation when we were
there.
Soon after that we board
ed the van again and head
ed back to Hazleton. The
race itself was run, com
petitive, and probably one
of the most exciting races I
will ever run. New York
was as interesting as can be
imagined, and combined
with the run, the Perrier 10
kilometer run trip was as
much a personal as it was a
group experience.
Paceso Bowels Supper
568 Alter Street
Hazleton
Phone: 454-2991
fm" Balls, Bags,
Shoes
Trophies
& Accessories
•