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Nonactuarial Pursuits of Casualty Actuaries
Walking the Big Apple by Marty Adler
While many identify the first Saturday in May with the Kentucky Derby, to a group of health-conscious environmentalists it is the day of The Great Saunter. On that day, hundreds of Shorewalkers and drop-in participants walk 32 miles around the island of Manhattan. The undertaking is expected to last 12 or more hours. (The headline entertainer at my college freshman smoker said that she had planned to participate in our chug-a-lug contest until she learned that it was for speed and not distance.) Unlike the Derby and the smoker, The Great Saunter is definitely for distance, not speed. One of our Fellows became such an enthusiast that he is now vice president of Shorewalkers and coordinator of The Great Saunter. He had always enjoyed hiking and was fascinated by a 1991 article by a New York Times reporter who set out with two friends to walk the perimeter of Manhattan. He did nothing about it at the time, but one day in April 1999, after moving back to New York, he joined an acquaintance who was walking with a group along the Bronx River from the northern to the southern Bronx boundaries. He saw what he now realizes are common sights on any long walk in NYC: beautiful areas, like the New York Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo, as well as some ugly spots like those underneath bridges where clean hypodermic needles were left for homeless drug addicts. Another participant told him about a big walk the next weekend around the coastline of Manhattan. Bingo! He remembered the New York Times article.
The mission of Shorewalkers, which was founded in 1982, is to enhance, enjoy, and protect the parks, promenades, and paths along the waters in and around New York City, downstate New York, and northern New Jersey. It sponsors hundreds of walks every year, usually one or two on every Saturday and Sunday. Shorewalkers has held The Great Saunter, its biggest event, since 1986. Those who participate for the entire hike can walk through a dozen parks and observe various cultures in different neighborhoods. They see the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey, the Palisades, and all four outer boroughs, as well as people fishing in the rivers, and cherry trees and spring flowers in bloom. They start at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Fulton and Water Streets near the South Street Seaport and walk clockwise around Manhattan, with other walkers joining along the way. They end with a rendezvous and celebrations, lasting till well after the arrival of the slowest walkers, at a pub or restaurant near where they started.
When Walt Wright and his wife first went on the walk in 1999, he had not expected to complete it. At the lunch stop, which is roughly halfway to the end, he reassessed his aching feet and decided to continue. In an area of Harlem where the route takes many twists and turns, he and a group of about 30 others lost the main pack. Most of them quit and hopped on the nearest subway. Walt doggedly continued, determined to walk to the end in order to complain about the poor organization of the walk and the apparent irresponsibility of the walk leaders.
He was asked if he would help organize the walk the following year. He volunteered—the only one to do so—and thus became coordinator of The Great Saunter. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), his administrative responsibilities—greeting people at checkpoints and checking for laggards—have kept him from completing the entire walk since the first time that he walked it.
Walt has inspired fellow CAS members to participate. John Robertson did it this year. John recalls a lovely day for the walk, but ached a lot for three days afterwards, a little for another week, and had blisters. But he saw parts of Manhattan that he never would have otherwise, including a small lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge, which is the subject of the children's book, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.
Early into the hike, he started chatting with a woman who came up alongside him. During the discussion she said that her most recent running had been in a little race she organized between the math departments at Rutgers and Princeton. At that point he took a closer look at her, and said, "You're Jean Taylor." She looked a little surprised, but confirmed the identification. Professor Taylor is a mathematician, famous for both the professional work she has done on quasi-crystals and her leadership roles in the women's movement. A few years back she and John served together on the committee overeeing the 2001 International Mathematics Olympiad, a contest involving high-school students from 85 different countries. John was on the committee as CAS Liaison to the Mathematical Association of America. They walked the rest of the way together, neither wanting to be the first to stop. He had not expected to spend the day walking with and talking to a famous mathematician. And certainly Jean Taylor had never expected to spend the day with the managing editor of The Actuarial Review!
Steve Gapp walked it in 2001. It was memorable as his last visit to the World Trade Center Towers. The walk also impressed upon him how well maintained Manhattan is, from the underside of the West Side Highway to the local parks in Harlem. Of course the 32-mile hike around the island of his birth—sometime home and sometime workplace—was reward in itself. Aside from a few light showers, the weather was excellent for walking. Stretching on the occasional lawn was a pleasure and plenty of time was taken for lunch. At journey's end, nearly 12 hours after he began, Steve was also delighted to find his car still parked near Wall Street.
Walt encourages everyone who is able to join in The Great Saunter. Steve says that it is only one of many "borough" journeys that New Yorkers might make to celebrate their hometown and their health.
