Run50 #2 | Ohio: Cleveland Marathon, From Night to Daylight

| Rock 'n roll |

Melancholy Cleveland, birthplace of rock and roll

▲ Hot in Cleveland @ Arsenan

- Cleveland -

LeBron James and rock and roll

Preface

Leaving tasty Columbus, we set off for Cleveland.

Compared with the road to Chicago, there were noticeably fewer heavy trucks on this drive, and people were pretty polite. Hardly anyone hogged the far-left lane.

After rolling along I-76 through Ohio's deepening autumn, Cleveland finally appeared in front of me.

01

Melancholy Cleveland

By "melancholy," I mean Cleveland witnessed and shared in the glory of America's industrial age, and then unfortunately lived through the whole decline that followed deindustrialization. Like bankrupt Detroit, Cleveland still does not feel especially prosperous today.

There are plenty of jokes about Cleveland. American media once called it "the mistake on the lake." In American pop culture, Cleveland can mean a place worse than hell, the kind of place people joke they would rather avoid at all costs.

But in China, like most people, my impression of Cleveland probably still begins with LeBron James and his Cavaliers.

In middle school, I often played basketball with Lao Fei from the class next door. He always wore a red-and-white Cavaliers No. 23 jersey. Besides McGrady, LeBron was the biggest star for us kids, though I personally liked Ginobili more.

Whether it was EA's NBA Live or sports news on CCTV5, Cleveland showed up around me constantly in that era.

But Cleveland's pro sports history is, in its own way, as melancholy as the city's development. From the Browns' last title in 1964 to the Cavaliers' championship in 2016, more than half a century passed.

So you can imagine how proud Clevelanders felt when LeBron shouted, "Cleveland! This is for you!"

02

Birthplace of rock and roll

But melancholy is not pity.

Even now, with LeBron gone, Cleveland in the post-LeBron era has no use for anyone's pity, because this is the birthplace of rock and roll.

However rock-and-roll this city is, its people are just as stubborn.

In 1951, Cleveland radio host Alan Freed helped popularize the term "rock 'n' roll" from the rhythm-and-blues song "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll." Cleveland has been called the capital of the rock world because of it.

I have always been drawn to the rock world. Compared with polished arrangements and delicate vocals, those undergrounders singing with ragged voices are just insanely charismatic.

No need to build some persona. Just be real enough. Rock music starts from rebellion but eventually returns to life. To me, music is not some museum object. It should give people strength.

Of course, for those artists, I have respect.

Now, finally, about my Cleveland trip. I am not a hardcore music nerd, but the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland was a must.

I did not know most of the people inside, but it still felt cool. The classic performance reel in the small theater was especially good. St. Vincent's performance had so much tension it made my blood heat up.

Behind the museum is Lake Erie. From there you can see the Cleveland skyline, the big cruise ship, and the Cleveland sign that is perfect for photos.

This time I had no desire to taste the water of Lake Erie, because it really looked dirty. I had heard that, back in the day, the Cuyahoga River running through downtown Cleveland caught fire dozens of times because of pollution.

On the way back to the Comfort Inn, feeling Cleveland's autumn colors and quiet neighborhoods, I found the city actually quite beautiful. It is a city that has gone through big rises and hard falls, but as long as rock and roll does not die, this old industrial city in the Rust Belt will have its day to shine again.

It made me think of my hometown, Northeast China: another old industrial region, another place that rose brilliantly and then fell quickly. If Cleveland can use rock and roll as its spiritual core, what does the Northeast have? Errenzhuan, maybe? At least we can still entertain ourselves.

03

At the Cavaliers' home court

Before coming to Cleveland, I noticed there happened to be a Cavaliers-Hawks game that day. More than watching the Cavaliers, I actually wanted to see Trae Young from the Hawks.

This time I bought a lower-bowl ticket, so I finally did not have to watch from the mountaintop. Thinking back to Indiana, what impressed me most was the huge screen below, big and clear, probably better than watching TV at home. But the ticket was only $20, so I could not ask for too much.

This felt like a real NBA experience: player introductions, the national anthem, all the between-quarter games and crowd interactions. The atmosphere at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was excellent, and American fan culture is honestly impressive.

Compared with the atmosphere, the game itself and the final result did not seem that important. I think the Cavaliers ended up getting their first win of the season. Rubio was the MVP of the night, and the Spaniard hit a few threes too.

Some moments in the game were still moving, especially veteran Kevin Love, once part of the Big Three. When he came off the bench in the second quarter, the whole arena thundered with applause. It made me think of the Transformers movie The Last Knight. For our generation, Love is probably the last knight on this young team, the afterglow of an era.

Postscript

After the game, I walked back to the hotel among the fans.

In the distance, Cleveland's Tower City Center was clearly visible. When it was built, it was once the second-tallest skyscraper in the world.

Now it stands above the city, as if still telling stories of Cleveland's own industrial glory.

But the younger generation of Clevelanders does not seem to have much time for melancholy. They love rock and roll and the NBA, and they are busy working hard for life.

We moved forward with the crowd, with the joy of a win hanging in the air around us.

I think Cleveland today has, at least, a little less sorrow and a little more of that free-and-easy American-dream feeling.

- End -

Words | Arsenan

Photos | Arsenan

Design | Arsenan

| Cleveland |

Cleveland, fired up for 42.195

▲ Cleveland Marathon by Arsenan

- Cleveland Run -

Running from night into daylight

Preface

The 2021 Cleveland Marathon was originally scheduled for May, but because of the pandemic it was postponed to October.

I was still hesitating about whether to go when I suddenly saw on WeChat Moments that the 2021 Wuhan Marathon was on the same day as Cleveland. The idea of running a marathon from afar together with old friends was too appealing. I had to go.

The story later took a twist: Wuhan Marathon was canceled the day before the race. But I still went to Cleveland. It lost a little of the ceremonial feeling, but the run itself was still a lot of fun.

Cleveland Marathon

The Cleveland Marathon start was near Tower City Center. I headed out in the dark, and when I reached the start, the red tower spire looked spectacular.

Early-morning Cleveland made people shiver. Runners had to start in the dark.

That was not exactly new to me. Singapore and Bangkok were like that too. But Southeast Asian marathons run from midnight into morning, while Cleveland simply had a late sunrise and was several levels colder.

I wore a thin long-sleeve layer and thought I would take it off once I warmed up. Once I started running, though, I really could not take it off.

After the gun, everyone started running immediately because it was truly cold. I quickly got my legs moving too, and all the runners headed southwest along Detroit Road.

Only later did I learn that in Cleveland, there is not only Detroit Road, but also Detroit Shoreway.

Cleveland and Detroit, two Rust Belt cities on the Great Lakes, seem to have found reasons to keep each other company through the tide of deindustrialization.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with today's marathon.

Continuing forward, after looping through 25th Street, 48th Street, and Franklin Boulevard, we returned to Detroit Road, this time heading toward downtown.

The sky was still not fully bright. The distant high-rises stood firm and upright, backed by morning clouds, giving the whole scene a powerful presence. This stretch was the toughest-looking, most memorable part of the journey.

After running over Veterans Memorial Bridge and a stretch of concrete road downtown, we turned toward the long elevated section by Lake Erie.

On the right, trains moved along Lake Erie, blue water and pink clouds reflecting each other. On the left, the sun had just risen, and the city's silhouette stood clear in the morning light, drawing Cleveland's skyline.

After crossing the elevated section, we reached the waterfront park. By then it was daylight. I felt good, and the energy gels were plentiful.

After the park, we entered a lakeside residential area. Residents, adults and kids alike, came out to cheer for us, and there were all kinds of unofficial aid.

The road was not wide, so we could feel the enthusiasm of Cleveland residents up close. At the end of the neighborhood, everyone turned back. By then we had run roughly a quarter of the course.

The return was almost the same as the way out. Because it was an out-and-back, there was not much novelty. But when I ran back to the blue overpass by the lake, the downtown view from the other angle felt completely different.

At a glance, the city's hard-edged industrial feel was fully on display. In front of the concrete-and-steel forest, the Cuyahoga River flowed slowly, as if it had already shed its old industrial traces and replaced them with a few leisurely boats.

Without the marathon, it would be hard to see Cleveland from this kind of angle. We crossed the bridge back into the city, then turned around again, beginning the second half of the journey.

There were noticeably fewer runners in the second half, and the scenery was similar to the first pass, so the urge to take photos faded. That actually made it easier to focus on the running itself.

I grabbed a pile of gels downtown, mostly because having gels in hand made me feel calm. They really worked. At every aid station I took another one, and the effect was pretty good, at least delaying the wall by quite a bit.

In the second half, I also grabbed a banana in the residential area and finally got through the hardest stretch. Once the wall passed, it was not so painful anymore, and I could enjoy the final miles more calmly.

I finished Cleveland in under five hours. That counted as my best recent result, because after coming to the U.S. I had honestly become pretty weak.

47 had been waiting at the finish for ages and even captured my heroic look after I crossed the line.

The Cleveland medal was genuinely beautiful. The cutout design and metallic texture had a strong industrial feel, which felt very Cleveland.

Wearing the medal, I took a lot of photos in Public Square. At the start it had been too dark to see the place clearly. Only now did I realize how refined Public Square actually was.

Postscript

After the race, I went to Planet Fitness for a shower. PF, as a nationwide chain, is truly convenient. Compared with Chicago, the Cleveland location was clearly nicer.

After freshening up, it was time to head back. The drive to Louisville was nearly six hours.

On the way, we drove through heavy Ohio rain, then ate a Chinese buffet in Cincinnati after the sky cleared, and finally arrived safely.

Looking back on those few days, it really was a dusty, road-worn weekend. Choosing to drive across Ohio was definitely a bit rushed.

It was hurried, but the satisfaction that 42.195 brought me was unmatched.

- End -

Words | Arsenan

Photos | Arsenan

Design | Arsenan