Running trail in the Bronx is no walk in the park despite lush scenery

Can serenity come from suffering?

For that matter, can serenity be found in New York City, specifically, in this case, the Bronx?

Those are the questions I pondered as I ran the back hills of Van Cortlandt Park's famed cross-country trails. I was in the middle of a race put on by the Van Cortlandt Park Track Club, a 5-km run that began with a sprint across the flats and a dash into the hills of New York City's third-largest park, which sprawls for more than 1,000 acres across the northeast corner of the Bronx.