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I am not a runner, unless there is a fun element to it—be it bubbles, color or even pizza. Really, I just need something to get my mind off the sound of my breathing and feet slapping the pavement. But hearing that New York’s next fun run will involve a tour of some of the city's best baked goods, let's just say I just might lace up my shoes for a lap.
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The first-ever NYC Bakery Run is coming to New York this fall, racing to streets on Sunday, September 21. The half-marathon invites carb lovers of all kinds to pound the pavement over pastries with designated pitstops at some of the city’s finest makers of bread and croissants. Hosted by Copenhagen and New York-based media company TIPSTER, this is the second iteration of the run, as the brand introduced The Fastelavn Bun Run in Copenhagen this past February. New York's inaugural fun run hopes to bring the same energy, fueled by carbohydrates, of course.
"New York City is falling in love with bakeries, and a new generation of bakers is redefining the city's baking culture,” said Simon Evers, founder of TIPSTER, in a press release. “The NYC BAKERY RUN celebrates their craft and pairs it with running, another quintessential daily ritual for many New Yorkers, and the interest is overwhelming.” Overwhelming is certainly one way to put it, as within two hours of yesterday's announcement, Evers stated they had over 1,000 sign-ups. 24 hours later, over 5,000 runners have pledged to the pastry-fueled run.
So what does New York’s first bakery run entail? The route will kick off at Bushwick’s La Cabra, circling through a total of eight top-notch bakeries throughout Brooklyn and the city, including Radio Bakery, Librae Bakery, L'Appartement 4F, Elbow Bread, Gem Home, Raf's and La Bicyclette. Participating runners will get a chance to skip the line at each bakery, snagging a coveted pastry for free. Now, do you have to finish each baked good to continue on? We’d reason no, as the event offers no prize for the top breadwinner other than carbs.
But before your hopes rise at the thought of carb-loading while running, keep in mind, only 100 runners will be invited to participate. Chosen at random by lottery, entries will be raffled off in pairs of two and runners will be notified by September 12. The cut-off to enter is September 10 at 11:59pm, so make sure to enter here for a chance to race.
And for the several thousand who won’t be chosen? Drumming up your own bakery crawl is always an option.