FOR ME AT LEAST, there was no calm before the storm, and certainly none after it. Hurricane Sandy hit in the middle of the most intense and surprising two weeks of my running life. Over 17 days, I experienced in vivid detail the uniquely unifying power of running—or at least running in races—as well as the limits of that power.
It began on October 19 at the Runner’s World Half & Festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The weather had been dicey most of the week, but on Friday afternoon, the clouds parted and the sun came out as if on cue. It stayed that way all weekend, tweaking the fall foliage like a real-world Instagram filter. More than 6,500 runners took part in the 5-K, 10-K, half-marathon, and kids races, all…
