Cult gang film sends runners on 28-mile overnight New York dash
About 100 costumed runners ran from the Bronx toward Coney Island in the annual Warriors UltraRun, Rolling Stone reported.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
At 1 a.m. last weekend, about 100 runners turned up in gang-inspired costumes at an abandoned stadium in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, according to Rolling Stone.
They were not there for a film shoot or a regular road race. Rolling Stone reported that the group was taking part in the annual Warriors UltraRun, an unsanctioned underground run modeled on Walter Hill’s 1979 cult movie The Warriors.
The race covers roughly 28 miles through New York City overnight, according to the report. The route takes runners along a large section of Broadway and across the Brooklyn Bridge as they make the long push toward Coney Island.
A movie chase turned into a midnight run
Hill’s film follows a gang trying to get back from the Bronx to its Coney Island turf after being wrongly blamed for killing a gang leader. The UltraRun borrows that basic citywide journey and turns it into an endurance event for runners willing to trade sleep for pavement.
Rolling Stone described the start as a gathering of runners dressed like gang members from the movie, though their real supplies were more marathon than mayhem: running vests, gels and electrolytes.
The event is not presented as a standard, permitted race. Rolling Stone called it unsanctioned and underground, a fitting label for a run built around a gritty late-night trip through the city and a movie with a long-running cult following.
Locals and out-of-towners hit the route
The report said the field included New Yorkers as well as people who flew across the country specifically to join the run. For those who took it on, the appeal was not only the distance, but also the unusual chance to see the city at night while tracing a famous screen route.
The UltraRun’s movie connection also shaped the mood. Rolling Stone said participants spent the night quoting the film, turning the route into both a long-distance challenge and a rolling tribute to The Warriors.
Running about 28 miles through the city after midnight is a niche hobby by any measure. The Warriors UltraRun makes that niche even narrower: part ultramarathon, part fan pilgrimage, part New York after-hours tour.
Rolling Stone featured the event in a photo gallery, showing scenes from what it called one of the country’s most unusual races.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.