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Ultra-Runner Traces Tesla’s Haunts From Manhattan to Shoreham

tesla science center
Nikola Tesla, left, and Wardenclyffe Laboratory and Tower in Shoreham. The tower has since been demolished, but the lab still stands.

Todd Aydelotte ran more than 70 miles from Manhattan to Tesla Science Center on Long Island in Shoreham, tracing the visionary inventor’s achievements along the way.

Aydelotte’s self-described ultra-running journey along some of Tesla’s famed historic hot spots started Wednesday at the former site of Columbia College on 45th Street, where Tesla gave three historic lectures and demonstrations.

He then ran to the former site of the Gerlach Hotel, where Tesla once lived and tested his transmission equipment on the roof. From there, he ran to The New Yorker Hotel, where Tesla lived for the last decade of his life. His next stop was The Waldorf Astoria, where Tesla lived for many years at the height of the Gilded Age.

After that, Aydelotte ran to Edison Machine Works, where Tesla briefly worked before striking out on his own, and Delmonico’s, the famed New York City eatery where Tesla often wined and dined potential investors. He also ran to the former site of Tesla’s famous lab on South Fifth Avenue, where Mark Twain visited to see experiments.

His run concluded Thursday at the Tesla Science Center in Shoreham, former site of the famous Tesla Tower and of Wardenclyffe, Tesla’s last surviving laboratory.

Aydelotte developed an innovative approach to ultra-running, blending his love for endurance training with his deep interest in history. Prior “historical ultra-runs” include The Teddy Roosevelt, a 49-mile run tracing Roosevelt’s homes and achievements, and The PT Barnum, a 64.5-mile run tracing the history of Barnum in New York and Connecticut.