The Long Run: A Cinnaminson Romance Novel
The story of how I found this book is profoundly amazing and requires a bit of history into the story of how I moved from New Jersey to the small city of Glens Falls, NY.
Around 2015, I received a message from a guy named Michael. It was during an annual family trip to Sea Isle, NJ. It started off pretty well, eventually leading to a date in September to NYC. We saw a Broadway show adaptation of the film, Finding Neverland. It starred Matthew Morrison, famous for Glee. Unfortunately, when we went, that actor was feeling under the weather and his understudy was performing. Still a lovely show and an excellent way to meet Michael for the first time. Since that first date until I decided to move into his apartment in 2017, we met at various places around New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He is the kindest, most intelligent guy I have ever known. And he helped and continues to help make me the man I am today. Even introducing me to the lovely supportive LGBTQIA+ community around us.
Moving in together was certainly a learning curve for myself, considering I had never lived away from my parents until that point in my life. But Michael’s patience and guidance allowed both of us to learn and adapt gracefully. Eventually allowing us to feel comfortable to purchase our first home in Glens Falls, NY. It truly was a perfect storm; it was the last lot on the block, in 2021, before interest rates and house prices started to rise.
We became involved with Glens Falls as it slowly started to transform into a vibrant community. There have been so many changes just in the last ten years. South Street, while still in construction, is nearly unrecognizable when I first drove up to Glens Falls in 2015. Nelson Street has a new dog park, after tearing down the children’s playground recently. Ridge Street has seen tons of new developments, from restaurants to bookstores to short-term living rentals. The Centennial Circle now has two wonderful murals that bring color to the area. City Hall now has a cover over the stair entrance, allowing the local Department of Public Works to prevent snow and ice from causing slip-and-falls. The Feeder Canal Trail now has two additional pedestrian bridges, with more trails, bridges, and park developments in the work at the nearby Haviland’s Cove Park.
In 2022, I decided to sign up for the Friends of Crandall Library. It is staffed with volunteers from around the area that help orchestrate the book sale events that support the Crandall Library. The funds raised have purchased a money change machine staged next to the printer, a monthly magazine called Book Page available to the public, and many more endeavors. I am the youngest volunteer, truthfully, and I help manage their Facebook and Instagram pages to promote the book sales as well as assist in the library basement to sort and organize the thousands of used books donated to the library for use in the book sales.
Last summer, during their outdoor book sale in August, I was perusing a collection of books when I stumbled upon James Acker’s The Long Run. I had been looking for a gay romance novel since my husband had mentioned never reading one earlier that summer. After reading the synopsis on the book, I opened to the first page and was instantly transfixed on a series of words: those Cinnaminson track kids.
My mouth was agape at the sheer insanity of finding this book nearly 250 miles north of the town I grew up, written in a gay romance novel, and found in a library book sale. On top of that madness was the fact that the book was a pre-release copy before it was officially published. I wish I could find out who donated it to the library to ask them its origins, but I am incredibly happy that I found it.
The story opens up at the Route 130 Diner, where one of the main characters, Sebastian “Bash the Flash” Villeda, works in-between his school and track commitments. He was resting in the back after dealing with a fight with “those Cinnaminson track kids”. While he was enjoying a small lunch break, he notices Sandro “The Italian Yeti” Miceli walking around on crutches nearby. They both stared at each other and then continued on in opposite directions. And it was a small moment that will spur a year of connection, struggles, growth, and love during their last year of high school.
James Acker’s The Long Run wonderfully encapsulates moments in high school, especially living in the suburban towns of Moorestown and Cinnaminson, that anyone who has lived through it can relate. I found an essay that the author had written back in 2023 about his book and how he tried to piece together the many moments of his childhood. As he put it, “connecting the dots between those snapshots of childhood. A morning on a rooftop. A night in a driveway. Flashbulbs of memories, finally put down to paper.
Through the thoughts and actions of Sebastian and Sandro, we are whisked back into the teenage experience, as the two boys explore their own sexual identities mixed with the trials of figuring out their futures near the end of high school. The book is laid out in a very accessible way, with each chapter detailing the thoughts of each character. The writing style really helps to illustrate the mindset and language of a typical high schooler, even though there are moments of uncomfortable feelings and difficult conversations. It definitely spurred my own memories of high school, leading to some uncomfortable feelings of my own.
I had a good childhood, from the outset. I went to a private Catholic School from elementary to middle school. Got a decent education at a public high school and a two-year associate’s degree from a community college. But mixed throughout was the incessantly relentless bullies throughout my school life. While bullies are common, it severely chipped away at my positive outlook on life. Creating a dark cloud that stayed with me for many years. There were moments of clarity and happiness, of course, but trying desperately to evade, allude, and numb the inner darkness that was clouding my judgement with anxiety and depression was, at times, too much to bear.
Reading this book as allowed me to process the traumatic moments of high school and imagine a possible future that could have been. James Acker felt the same way with his writing, stating in his essay, “I couldn’t write a memoir, so I wrote what could have happened. I used everything in my shopping cart, everyone I’d met and everything I did, and I wrote a different story. A familiar story. I filled my little New Jersey suburb with different boys in familiar houses. Different names with familiar struggles. I wrote about kids I wished I’d been friends with. Parties I wish I hadn’t skipped, meals I wish I’d eaten, conversations I wish I’d had. And if I couldn’t put myself on the page, I’d split that angry, crying boy into Sandro and Bash. Two parts of myself that never agreed. A lover and a fighter. An asshole and a crybaby. I wrote the love story I never got between two boys I always knew. If I couldn’t agree on my story, I could at least tell theirs.”
Regret seems to be a common theme for humanity as we look back on our lives in later years. Learning to live in the moment and step away from expectations is hard, especially in the growing pains of school. I learned relatively recently the wonders of mindful meditation. The simple practice allows anyone to hone into their inner self to gently change their mindset and focus away from distracted thoughts to their breath or body. For myself, it has transformed the way my sympathetic nervous system responds to distractions and stress, regaining an ability to live in the present moment. I have found that my desire to learn and try new things became more apparent; something that I really wish I had in high school.
But we can't change the past. We can only move forward, as James Acker and I continue to do. His novel shows that through writing, we can learn how to repair our internal struggles with rectifying our past and learn how to live out our past dreams in the future. If you or anyone you know is struggling with their own sexual identity, I highly recommend reading this book. It is a quick read, flows naturally through a year of high school, and will leave the reader with different perspectives on life.
