The Chili Marathon: How I Spent My Election Day Vacation

This Election Day break, not only was there no major election to follow, but it is quite likely that not a single Columbia student used the break to actually vote.

Rather, the Election Day break of 2003 would more appropriately be remembered as the Marathon break.

Columbia's women's cross country team won its second consecutive Ivy League Championship at Heps. This most impressive feat comes on the heels of a 20-year run, from 1977 to 1997, during which the women finished last in the Ivies every year.
The race, which was held in the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park, was of course not the only race in New York this weekend.

The 33rd Annual New York City Marathon was also held this weekend, with particular media attention being paid to it due to the P. Diddy effect.

But perhaps the most important marathon of the weekend was a five-day road trip of four Columbia students up the Eastern Seaboard.

You see, we were not racing some Kenyan superstar who does not need lungs to breathe, nor were we racing some snotty Princeton girl in pigtails.

No, we were racing a higher power: the chili gods. The rules of the road trip marathon were simple: avoid course-related conversation at all costs and eat as much chili as possible.

The trip started well with a quick dash to Philadelphia on Friday night to attend a Halloween party.

As soon as we pulled into Philadelphia and turned the car off, our first leg of the marathon had been completed.

This columnist went as Richard Nixon but the only trick of the night was to identify the out-of-place Columbia students at the Penn party.

Soon after, though, the real marathon began. This foursome was about as excited as a rambunctious kid who has not yet been prescribed his Ritalin when they pulled up to Wendy's along the New Jersey Turnpike.

There, the first bowl of chili was consumed.

The chili at Wendy's has always been an anomaly of fast food. Nevertheless, the two Styrofoam cauldrons satisfied the Subaru Outback group as we headed down to our nation's capital.

We further avoided the topic of school and New York during our fall break by going to a Georgetown bar whose maitre d' was a friend of one of the chili-eaters.

Of course, the group soon ordered more chili. The bar added the much-needed melted cheddar giving the stew a nice kick.

But perhaps the greatest leg of the run and the most impressive aspect of the group's ability to get away from Morningside Heights was a stay at Shenandoah National Park.

There, the group took a break from chili-eating for a bit to experience life outside of New York and just take it in.

Little did we know what was in store for us.

We had to do battle with deers to get to our room, and after taming them, we took in the sight of stars, something these New Yorkers had not seen since summer.

The thrill of living with deers wore off pretty quickly, as did the illusion of escape from school.

So the group had to get its druthers up, climb past the halfway marker of the marathon, and head back toward New York.

On the way back to D.C., though, the best chili of the trip was consumed. On the side of the road, the group realized what truly makes a great serving of chili: the bread bowl.

Thereafter, this Columbia foursome finished out the final leg of our marathon well ahead of the competition.

Indeed, we were not so happy to go back to classes, bloated from all the chili.

But it sure was nice to cross the finish line and return back to the city that is the home of Biggy and P. Diddy.

You know, that other marathoner.