I'm Running The Nyc Marathon For Electronic Dance Music

[piscespoet]

To all clubbers whom it may concern:

This is my first post here on clubplanet, despite the fact that I've been going to this site religiously for the last 2 or 3 years. One of my friends got me into EDM - that's what I'm gonna call it for now, regardless of all genres and sub-genres - about 5 years ago, and have literally been hooked ever since. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn about this art, to the various nuances that go with the various forms, but I've grown to appreciate this kind of music and the scene that goes along with it as some type of rarified freedom that can't be found anywhere else - something ethereal, cathartic, energizing...something beautiful. I've literally grown to love this culture, finally finding music that I can enjoy dancing to over the years. I've tried pitching articles and stories about this music time and time again for the newspaper I work for (I won't say which one, but it's a major one), and people still seem to disregard it as just another arena for drug use, having no idea of what the music actually stands for. And they usually minimize the music down to Adam's apple high-hat beat-making. Yea, drugs go with the culture and the environment that come with it, but taking drugs away from club culture is the same as taking away heroin from rock n' roll..it won't, or should not, happen. People should just leave it be. I've learned that the dancefloor and the dance music that goes along with it helps induce a magical paradox upon people: a place where one simultaneously loses oneself and finds oneself. I don't wanna run the risk of sounding like some philosophizing free spirit like Patrick Swayze's Bodey from "Point Break," but it's fucking intense and has given me a totally positive perspective on this whole scene, not pigeonholeing it as some homogenous-looking guido/guidette (not hating on them either) haven. But if you really meet the people that are true to the culture, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

I'm sure he doesn't remember, but I remember bumping into Silverbull almost two years ago at Cellar and asking him, "Man, how many times a week do you go clubbing?" and he literally said, without hesitation..."5, Thursday thru Monday (or something like that)." That's where it hit me that people really are out there every week in and week out, dancing to and for the music they love. That's fucking passion and it can't be taken away from anyone. I really feel that there's no greater virtue than having passion for something you truly love. And actually living that passion is even greater.

So, why am I running the marathon? or why do you people even give a shit? Well, about three months ago, a young 17 year-old girl whom I had worked with at my other job (also double as a waiter) passed away due to a MRSA Staph infection acquired in a hospital after suffering a series of infections, pnemonia, mono, etc.. I wasn't close with the girl, but had worked with her for close to a year and had always remembered her to be someone nice and innocent. Thousands of people die every day, but seeing such a young girl in a casket really had an impact on me, and almost was a slap in the face, about how much people take life for granted. Here's a girl that did nothing wrong, didn't even have time to live life, or have a chance to see the world, and she was just dealt a bad hand of cards. That's life unfortunately. So, I found myself training for the marathon two weeks later on the Monday after Paul Van Dyk in Central Park weekend - a night I almost got arrested. I'm no martyr by any fucking means, as I almost got arrested three times, fled two hospitals, got temporarily fired from my other job (the restaurant), fired my trainer (the motherfucker cancelled out on me last minute, he was supposed to be my pacer), suffered an innumerable mountain of credit card debt, battled a addiction, temporarily fell in love with a one night stand (thank you Crobar once again), and almost lost my mind. But these ten weeks have been quite amazing and the meaning behind this run has turned into something so DEEP, that it's coming to represent everything that has ever meant anything to me. And electronic dance music is one of those things - trance, techno, house, progressive, tribal, electro, etc., etc. Call it what you will.

The DJs, producers and artists that have inspired: Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Sander Kleinenberg, Deep Dish, Orbital, Sasha, Digweed, old Oakenfold, Lawler, Underworld, Max Graham, Mauro Picotto, Danny Howells, Lisa Lashes, Morillo, etc, etc....and yes, Prodigy. With all of those talented aforementioned artists listed, Axl Rose is still my god and will always be.

"In a real dark night of the soul, it's 3 o'clock in the morning, day after day."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Clubland helped me find solace over the years, and continues to help me find that all-elusive phenomenon that people tend to overlook and completely forget about.....HOPE.

And that's what the marathon has come to mean for me. It's given me a sense of hope...

- Chris, 23

[sidoolongo]

Wear comfortable shoes.

[piscespoet]

Will do...I'm running with an injury too, but I'm so adrenalized I probably won't even feel it.

[sidoolongo]

How did the shoes hold out?

[piscespoet]

They held up fine. My body slowly but surely started breaking down around miles 19-22 and then I just gave it my all for the last 4 miles after that, to finish in 4:24 (10 minute a mile pace), with minimal training. Surprisingly and fortunately my injured right leg was able to withstand all 26.2 miles. As of right now, I can't even walk on it. I feel like I got hit by a bus...twice. But this was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. And the music definitely kept me going. Listened to a lot of old shit (ancient in EDM terms): Armin Van Buuren's "Boundaries of Imagination" from start to finish, Tiesto's "Live at Innercity" start to finish, and I remember the last three songs being Jane's Addiction's "Three Days," Underworld's "Kittens" and Max Graham's Transport 4 remix of Conjure One's "Redemption." I totally recommend the marathon to anyone.

If you're interested in reading my article (as of last week's meeting), it should be running in this Sunday's edition of the Daily News (but with newspapers, dates are always tentative).

[bella53081]

good for u picses, that's a great accomplishment.....i dont know if i could ever do it, but u never know. sorry to hear re ur leg...i guess it was all worth it though right?

They held up fine. My body slowly but surely started breaking down around miles 19-22 and then I just gave it my all for the last 4 miles after that, to finish in 4:24 (10 minute a mile pace), with minimal training. Surprisingly and fortunately my injured right leg was able to withstand all 26.2 miles. As of right now, I can't even walk on it. I feel like I got hit by a bus...twice. But this was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. And the music definitely kept me going. Listened to a lot of old shit (ancient in EDM terms): Armin Van Buuren's "Boundaries of Imagination" from start to finish, Tiesto's "Live at Innercity" start to finish, and I remember the last three songs being Jane's Addiction's "Three Days," Underworld's "Kittens" and Max Graham's Transport 4 remix of Conjure One's "Redemption." I totally recommend the marathon to anyone.

If you're interested in reading my article (as of last week's meeting), it should be running in this Sunday's edition of the Daily News (but with newspapers, dates are always tentative).

[piscespoet]

Thank you. It was totally worth it. My leg actually feels ten times better than yesterday. And if you're thinking about doing it, you definitely should. Anyone with a spec of athletic ability can run a marathon. As I was running, I saw some guy wearing a t-shirt that said: "I didn't train." I wouldn't recommend his way, but people find amazing ways to complete the arduous thing. The beauty about this race is in the act of finishing it...time is completely irrelevant.

[ghhhhhost]

wtf good is it that u ran and didnt win? what did EDM gain by u running?

[sidoolongo]

If you had listened to some DnB, jungle, or hardcore I bet you would've finished sooner.

[someclown]

wtf good is it that u ran and didnt win? what did EDM gain by u running?

I hear that next year Tiesto and AVB are thinking about running.

[sidoolongo]

I hear that next year Tiesto and AVB are thinking about running.

AvB, maybe. Tiesto? He'll never be able to hold his arms up for all 26 miles.

[piscespoet]

Thx for the love...

If I had listened to some hardcore shit, I would've definitely had a faster pace, but would've burnt out after five miles.

In terms of winning a marathon, the top 20 runners run at a sub 5-minute per mile pace for all 26 miles (the winner this year finished in 2:09), which is fucking insane and practically superhuman. They run 80-100 miles a week all year round. Even Lance Armstrong said it was the hardest physical thing he had ever done in 20 years of professional sports (he finished in 2:59), and he won 7 straight Tour de Frances. I'm just happy I finished.

What did my running the marathon do for electronic dance music? Hmmm...good question. I'll try to explain it in detail.

A week and a half after this 17 year-old girl died (the girl I mentioned in my first post), whom I had worked with at my other job for nearly a year, I went to Paul Van Dyk in Central Park, got totally shitfaced, don't remember leaving Rumsey Playfield at all (was only there for an hour, and I had looked forward to the event for months), hopped in a cab in the hopes of being taken back to Jersey, and when the cabbie refused, I started cursing him out as I got out of the taxi, and then he sped away and side-swiped my right oblique with his sideview mirror (which I didn't even notice until the next day when I looked at it and a huge black wound was there - it was a popped blood vessel). When he dropped me off, somewhere in the west fifties, I started shouting and cursing in all directions like a complete fucking idiot, and then I see police sirens coming down the street. They were going to arrest me, but at that point I was just trying to cooperate with them. They then told me that they couldn't let me go with my hand being the way it was. I looked down at my left hand and it was bleeding like crazy (I was so fucked up that I didn't even notice it). I looked at my shirt and jeans and there was blood all over them, the wound apparently caused from falling. After I insisted that I not go to a hospital, irregardless of my condition, b/c of the fact that I didn't have health benefits, an ambulance came and they wrapped up my hand with sticky gauze (something I could've done for $10). They then took my blood pressure, which was like 200 something over like something in the 100s, telling me that I should really consider blood pressure medication b/c I could have a heart attack before the age of 30 if I continued in the direction I was going in. So, they take me to Lennox Hill hospital, and while they went to go sort things out in another room, I ran out the door and fled the hospital. Thinking I avoided a major unnecessary bill, I get a bill the next month for almost $800. Most people find the story funny, well, b/c it is, in the fact of how stupid I was. After that night, I woke up (feeling the equivalent of what I feel right now, of being hit by a bus - but at that time, for all the wrong reasons), and decided I had to change what the fuck I was doing with my life. Although I had a decent job at a major newspaper, graduated from college magna cum laude and pretty much convinced everyone of what a good person I was...I was a fucking loser as a person, trying to run away from all of my problems through escapism and not being able to face them head on. I didn't wanna deal with that shit. I needed to do something that would put me in the right direction and set me straight. As insane and almost unfathomably difficult as it sounded, the marathon sounded like the perfect short-term goal to set me straight again. And in the 8 weeks that I trained for it, my inspiration turned into something much deeper, where I learned to really cherish everything that has meant something important to me all my life...with music and the emotional power that comes with it being one of the most important. I ran this thing to get a sense of hope about life, b/c I had been practically indifferent to what could have possibly happened to me from all of the self-destructive things I kept on doing to myself. I'm no angel and still have my problems, and I'm not here to mope to you, but when you run a marathon out of having passion for certain things, it opens your eyes to a lot of things that had previously been in the shadows for a long, long time.

[fkornre]

AvB, maybe. Tiesto? He'll never be able to hold his arms up for all 26 miles.

:laugh:

[fkornre]

Thx for the love...

If I had listened to some hardcore shit, I would've definitely had a faster pace, but would've burnt out after five miles.

In terms of winning a marathon, the top 20 runners run at a sub 5-minute per mile pace for all 26 miles (the winner this year finished in 2:09), which is fucking insane and practically superhuman. They run 80-100 miles a week all year round. Even Lance Armstrong said it was the hardest physical thing he had ever done in 20 years of professional sports (he finished in 2:59), and he won 7 straight Tour de Frances. I'm just happy I finished.

What did my running the marathon do for electronic dance music? Hmmm...good question. I'll try to explain it in detail.

A week and a half after this 17 year-old girl died (the girl I mentioned in my first post), whom I had worked with at my other job for nearly a year, I went to Paul Van Dyk in Central Park, got totally shitfaced, don't remember leaving Rumsey Playfield at all (was only there for an hour, and I had looked forward to the event for months), hopped in a cab in the hopes of being taken back to Jersey, and when the cabbie refused, I started cursing him out as I got out of the taxi, and then he sped away and side-swiped my right oblique with his sideview mirror (which I didn't even notice until the next day when I looked at it and a huge black wound was there - it was a popped blood vessel). When he dropped me off, somewhere in the west fifties, I started shouting and cursing in all directions like a complete fucking idiot, and then I see police sirens coming down the street. They were going to arrest me, but at that point I was just trying to cooperate with them. They then told me that they couldn't let me go with my hand being the way it was. I looked down at my left hand and it was bleeding like crazy (I was so fucked up that I didn't even notice it). I looked at my shirt and jeans and there was blood all over them, the wound apparently caused from falling. After I insisted that I not go to a hospital, irregardless of my condition, b/c of the fact that I didn't have health benefits, an ambulance came and they wrapped up my hand with sticky gauze (something I could've done for $10). They then took my blood pressure, which was like 200 something over like something in the 100s, telling me that I should really consider blood pressure medication b/c I could have a heart attack before the age of 30 if I continued in the direction I was going in. So, they take me to Lennox Hill hospital, and while they went to go sort things out in another room, I ran out the door and fled the hospital. Thinking I avoided a major unnecessary bill, I get a bill the next month for almost $800. Most people find the story funny, well, b/c it is, in the fact of how stupid I was. After that night, I woke up (feeling the equivalent of what I feel right now, of being hit by a bus - but at that time, for all the wrong reasons), and decided I had to change what the fuck I was doing with my life. Although I had a decent job at a major newspaper, graduated from college magna cum laude and pretty much convinced everyone of what a good person I was...I was a fucking loser as a person, trying to run away from all of my problems through escapism and not being able to face them head on. I didn't wanna deal with that shit. I needed to do something that would put me in the right direction and set me straight. As insane and almost unfathomably difficult as it sounded, the marathon sounded like the perfect short-term goal to set me straight again. And in the 8 weeks that I trained for it, my inspiration turned into something much deeper, where I learned to really cherish everything that has meant something important to me all my life...with music and the emotional power that comes with it being one of the most important. I ran this thing to get a sense of hope about life, b/c I had been practically indifferent to what could have possibly happened to me from all of the self-destructive things I kept on doing to myself. I'm no angel and still have my problems, and I'm not here to mope to you, but when you run a marathon out of having passion for certain things, it opens your eyes to a lot of things that had previously been in the shadows for a long, long time.

thanx for writing a novel...i didnt really read it all but are you sure the cab didnt smash your head with the side-view mirror instead of your right oblique???

[nomembername]

Thx for the love...

If I had listened to some hardcore shit, I would've definitely had a faster pace, but would've burnt out after five miles.

In terms of winning a marathon, the top 20 runners run at a sub 5-minute per mile pace for all 26 miles (the winner this year finished in 2:09), which is fucking insane and practically superhuman. They run 80-100 miles a week all year round. Even Lance Armstrong said it was the hardest physical thing he had ever done in 20 years of professional sports (he finished in 2:59), and he won 7 straight Tour de Frances. I'm just happy I finished.

What did my running the marathon do for electronic dance music? Hmmm...good question. I'll try to explain it in detail.

A week and a half after this 17 year-old girl died (the girl I mentioned in my first post), whom I had worked with at my other job for nearly a year, I went to Paul Van Dyk in Central Park, got totally shitfaced, don't remember leaving Rumsey Playfield at all (was only there for an hour, and I had looked forward to the event for months), hopped in a cab in the hopes of being taken back to Jersey, and when the cabbie refused, I started cursing him out as I got out of the taxi, and then he sped away and side-swiped my right oblique with his sideview mirror (which I didn't even notice until the next day when I looked at it and a huge black wound was there - it was a popped blood vessel). When he dropped me off, somewhere in the west fifties, I started shouting and cursing in all directions like a complete fucking idiot, and then I see police sirens coming down the street. They were going to arrest me, but at that point I was just trying to cooperate with them. They then told me that they couldn't let me go with my hand being the way it was. I looked down at my left hand and it was bleeding like crazy (I was so fucked up that I didn't even notice it). I looked at my shirt and jeans and there was blood all over them, the wound apparently caused from falling. After I insisted that I not go to a hospital, irregardless of my condition, b/c of the fact that I didn't have health benefits, an ambulance came and they wrapped up my hand with sticky gauze (something I could've done for $10). They then took my blood pressure, which was like 200 something over like something in the 100s, telling me that I should really consider blood pressure medication b/c I could have a heart attack before the age of 30 if I continued in the direction I was going in. So, they take me to Lennox Hill hospital, and while they went to go sort things out in another room, I ran out the door and fled the hospital. Thinking I avoided a major unnecessary bill, I get a bill the next month for almost $800. Most people find the story funny, well, b/c it is, in the fact of how stupid I was. After that night, I woke up (feeling the equivalent of what I feel right now, of being hit by a bus - but at that time, for all the wrong reasons), and decided I had to change what the fuck I was doing with my life. Although I had a decent job at a major newspaper, graduated from college magna cum laude and pretty much convinced everyone of what a good person I was...I was a fucking loser as a person, trying to run away from all of my problems through escapism and not being able to face them head on. I didn't wanna deal with that shit. I needed to do something that would put me in the right direction and set me straight. As insane and almost unfathomably difficult as it sounded, the marathon sounded like the perfect short-term goal to set me straight again. And in the 8 weeks that I trained for it, my inspiration turned into something much deeper, where I learned to really cherish everything that has meant something important to me all my life...with music and the emotional power that comes with it being one of the most important. I ran this thing to get a sense of hope about life, b/c I had been practically indifferent to what could have possibly happened to me from all of the self-destructive things I kept on doing to myself. I'm no angel and still have my problems, and I'm not here to mope to you, but when you run a marathon out of having passion for certain things, it opens your eyes to a lot of things that had previously been in the shadows for a long, long time.

cliffnotes please?

i hope now that the marathon is over you will either retire you CP account or try to chill the fuck out and not be so serious because i can't deal with threads like these

[piscespoet]

Sorry for the length, this thing just meant a lot to me. I'm not this serious all the time. No reason to hate though, as I was trying to explain where I was coming from. If you can't stand threads like these, don't bother reading them.

[ghhhhhost]

we cool?

[piscespoet]

yea we're cool

[someclown]

we cool?

pussy

[silverbull]

wow i just readthis thread sorry to hear about that gril, but good to see your having a great time goin out and hearing the tunes.

Cant believe you ran that marathon i could never even think about doin it. So we met at celler bar huh, interesting. I dont go out 5 nights of the week now, i only manage to do 3 now sometimes more. And 2 yrs ago i was wearing only one knee brace per knee now i wear 3 on each knee lol. I also started throing my own parties, come thru one night and see what my jams are like.

[piscespoet]

Yea...I had just started dating my crazy ex-Colombian gf and the only other thing I remember from that night, was that there was some totally misplaced fat kid in a really bad K hole (there were still white remnants on his nose) walking around with his hands out through the dancefloor as if he were blind or something. It was pretty funny...he got kicked out soon after.

lol..wow three knee braces..that's intense..but then again, I've never seen anyone dance as hard as you do.

I honestly think anyone can run a marathon. I mean, I saw people with "I didn't train" shirts on and one-legged men finishing. So, it's possible. I only trained, half-assed, in like 8 weeks. The only reason I thought I could train in that amount of time is b/c I found out Diddy had done it in the same time frame - yet he completely gave up partying and drinking, and ran almost every day. I did the complete opposite, and actually think I went out more during this 8-week period than I had ever gone out in my life. I wouldn't recommend that method at all though (but it kept me sane throughout), b/c I got an injury three days before the race, and still ran on it...Right now, I'm still limping (so I may have done some long-term damage). But I still say it was totally worth it. You should try it. I used to watch the marathon on TV and be like, "that's something I'll never be able to do." It's really amazing what you can accomplish once you put your mind to it.

I'm totally down to go to one of your parties. Just let me know. I'll be at PVD on Thanksgiving Eve (although Roseland as a DJ venue totally blows)and he'll most likely finish early. Any other party recommendations that night? I'm usually out til the parade starts.

[silverbull]

I'm totally down to go to one of your parties. Just let me know. I'll be at PVD on Thanksgiving Eve (although Roseland as a DJ venue totally blows)and he'll most likely finish early. Any other party recommendations that night? I'm usually out til the parade starts.

my party on the 22nd is going till at least 8am

http://bbs.clubplanet.com/new-york/315957-kid-chris-love-thanksgiving-eve-nov-22nd.html