RESIDENT RUNNERS // NEW YORK CITY

To run in New York City is to run through chaos – to time the lights, to hurdle fetid puddles, to enrage cyclists. To do it alone could be a burden. But to do it alongside 25 others, all of you swarming past pedestrians over the Williamsburg Bridge at dusk on a Thursday, marking your progress by graffiti and strange smells (fried fish?), pushing yourself faster than you thought you could – well, that’s the challenge and joy of Resident Runners.

‘ Yeah, it’s a little reckless,’ says Rahsaan Rogers, who leads the crew [founded in 2013], along with his friends Eric Blevens and Raymond Hailes. ‘But it’s part of running in this city. That’s how we do it.’

This is how they do it: they run fast – tempo pace, whatever that speed is for each runner. ‘We tell people to chase whoever’s a bit faster than you,’ says Blevens. They don’t wait for stragglers. They don’t talk much. And yet, despite the tough facade, they keep the mood light. Because the run is the prelude to a party. Even if you get left behind, says Blevens. ‘We’re going to be there at the end, and we’re going to hang and get beers.’

Or tacos. Resident may be most famous for its monthly Taco Runs, relaxed fivemilers that end with 40-60 runners cramming into Brooklyn Taco joint Gueros for the Fried Avocado and Jalapeño specialty. Frozen margaritas, however, are ‘the underlying theme’, says Blevens. ‘They’re quite large, quite strong, and we have quite a few.’

WORDS WE LIVE BY

‘There’s nothing better than getting lost in New York when you’re running – it’s how you figure everything out,’ says Blevens.

OUR NEMESIS

‘The biggest beef, honestly, isn’t even with the cars – it’s cyclists who hate us,’ says Rogers. ‘There are a lot of times when we’re running in the bike lanes and some guy will come by and curse us out. It’s a nonstop battle.’

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