By Christina Horsten


Before departing into the wilds of Manhattan, you need a bit of sustenance. Looking at the Statue of Liberty gleaming in the morning sunshine, participant Number 915 is sipping coffee from a paper cup. Next to her is Number 916, leaning on a fence of Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, eating a banana.  “I’m wondering what we’re up against,” she says.
 “52km is more than a marathon, but instead of running you’re walking. So maybe it can be done.”
The two young women work at the New York Times. “Our boss talked us into this,” Number 915 says. “The whole thing is crazy - 52km in a day. I’ll probably drop out at some point.”
It’s a special day on New York City’s main island, measuring 22km north-to-south and up to 4km wide. Once a year, a bunch of people gather to walk its entire shoreline. That is the 52-km course. And it is easier said than done.
The event is organised by the Shorewalkers Club. For a small fee, participants get a number, a map, T-shirt and baseball cap. Then they head off on what the Shorewalkers call the Great Saunter.
This year, once again, only around one-third of the field of more than 1,000 will complete the entire distance. According to CY Adler, a co-founder of Shorewalkers and the initiator of the Great Saunter, today’s walk is almost a paradise compared with past times. “Back then, the first Saunter of 28 years ago, it was still rough,” he says.
“There were no paths whatsoever along the shore. It was all industry, harbour and wasteland. We had to clamber over railroad tracks and crawl through holes in the fences. And there were other dangers, too. Once, in Harlem, bottles were thrown at us.”
But Adler wasn’t going to be deterred. “I was young back then and newly married,” says the man now well past 80 years of age.
“I was a bit bored, so I took off on my own. I simply liked discovering new things. Then I put a small ad in the newspaper for anyone interested in joining me. At first only a few answered, but then there were more and more.”
Adler led his group along all the shores of New York and soon became the city’s most devoted and best-known walker.
“Nobody should ever die without first walking across the George Washington Bridge,” he says of the crossing over the Hudson River.
Now at his age he no longer does the Great Saunter but instead is found at various points along the way, handing out granola bars and, if needed, advice. “There’s a subway station over there if you can’t go on,” he tells some walkers.
Manhattan’s west side is the better and prettier one for walking. Starting from the financial district in the south of Manhattan, the route passes by the chic district of Chelsea, then Midtown, the Upper West Side, Harlem and finally Inwood Park at the northern tip.
Almost all of the shoreline trail seems like one large park.
And it’s a colourful scene along the asphalt-paved trail, one used by numerous joggers, bicyclists and people out for a simple stroll. On a pier jutting out into the Hudson River a sports club is dancing to samba music, while in the shade of the George Washington Bridge, an Indian family is celebrating a child’s birthday.
Numbers 579 and 580 are sitting on a bench in front of the bridge, bandaging their feet and taking a quick souvenir snapshot. Then comes the first and only climb of the tour, up to Inwood Park at the northern tip of Manhattan.
It was here that Dutch explorer Peter Minuit is said to have made his deal with the original inhabitants in the early 1600s, trading trinkets for the island - at least according to a plaque marking the spot. It is noontime and the half-way point has been reached.
But it’s the second half that stretches on and on. While the sun was setting deeper and deeper in the western sky, an ever-dwindling number of walkers were heading southwards.
The route hugs the East River shore, but past Harlem, fences and a lack of paths force the walkers to make some detours.
Then on past the Upper East Side, Midtown, Chinatown, the East Village and finally, the financial district.
More and more people are dropping out, heading for any nearby subway stop and home. “My son is just 8 years old,” Number 322 says, pointing to a small lad next to her. “We’ve had enough.”
Number 730 picks up his dog — wearing 731 — in his arms.
 “The last time I had to carry him three miles. This time it’s going to be more. After all, he’s already 10 years old.”
Further south, the walkers slowly pass by the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. “I always thought the three bridges were close together, but they are really far apart,” sighs walker Number 991.
Further ahead, a small figure is bending into a wind that in the meantime has turned chilly.  “I’m 72 and am doing the Great Saunter for the fourth time,” the woman says, trudging heavily along, one foot after the other.  “I must be crazy.” — DPA