September 18, 2026
Previous snapshots of Om's running adventures: I half assed a half marathon, Mile time trial on the MIT track
This evening, I completed the Charlie Card Challenge. In this unofficial road race, runners start from Boston College, the terminus of the Green Line's B branch, and race departing Green Line B trains all the way to Park Street. It is somewhat similar--albeit at a much larger scale--to my "Om Joshi catches the bus" shenanigans from my time in Zürich, if I have ever told you about those.
There were around five hundred participants, and the race was divided into waves by intended pace. Each was spaced 8 minutes apart, in alignment with average Green Line B departure timing, from wave 1 (starting at 6:00pm with a >9:44/mi pace target) to wave 8 (starting at 6:56pm with a <6:44/mi pace target).
I met some grad student friends and fellow racers at Kendall/MIT, and we took the Red Line to Park Street, transferred to the GL B, and went all the way to Boston College. In some sense, we were scouting our competition. We also had a nice long conversation about a variety of interesting topics. We reached BC by 6pm, ready to race.
The first couple trains departed, and the first couple waves of runners gave chase. Growing antsy from all the standing around, I decided to join wave 4 (starting at 6:24pm with an 8:00-8:30/mi pace target) despite my intent to run faster. I put on my headphones, started my playlist, and prepared myself for the start.
Our train left right at 6:26pm, and I took off faster than I expected: I ran my first half-mile in around three minutes. This was not quite sustainable, and I finished the first mile in 6:26.
At around 1.1mi in, I brushed past the low-hanging branch of a tree on my right side, and at around 1.2mi in, I noticed that the noise cancellation on my headphones was not as good as usual. My right ear also felt lighter.
Evidently, the tree branch had removed my right Galaxy Bud3 from my right ear. I turned around and walked back a little to go look for my missing earbud. Unfortunately, I couldn't even identify the correct tree (maybe I didn't go back far enough), so I soon gave up, turned around, and continued the race.
The rest of my race was unremarkable. My splits weren't particularly great compared to previous races, and I slowed down considerably over the course of the race (from 6:26 to 8:33). In general, I don't run much, and the previous two entries on my Strava were a quick down-and-back sprint to Star Market two weeks ago and a mile sprint around our neighborhood loop from when I was home in May. I played pickup basketball a couple times this summer but apparently not enough to maintain the pace I sought. I also made the mistake of bringing a large water bottle along, which ended up being a bit of an arm workout given my physique.
Nevertheless, I finished the roughly six mile course in 47:38 elapsed time. This was a worthwhile experience, and I am glad I was able to participate this year after missing last year's due to a schedule conflict. It was also a recurring reminder that I enjoy racing and should probably do more training in between races. I definitely plan to participate next year and will try to bring even more friends along.