2017 Van Cortlandt Track Club Run for Puerto Rico

This morning I drove down to Van Cortlandt Park for the VCTC Run for Puerto Rico - a fund raiser for hurricane victims.  Most of the runners were VCTC members, but there where a good number of friends participating as well.  The highlight, pre-run, was the singing of the Puerto Rican national anthem ("La Borinquena") before we set off across the flats to the start line!

The run itself was 2.5 loops of the parade grounds.  It worked out (according to my GPS) to slightly less than 3.7 miles.  But the more interesting aspect was the widely disparate running conditions on either side of the flats - wind tunnel like on the east side, calm with breaks of sun on the west side! 

Thanks to Hiroshi, I wound up running a much faster pace (couple of second over an 8 minute pace) than the easy run I had planned (e.g. 9+ minute miles).  All in all it was a great morning, and it was great that VCTC organized it.  I think Bobby said it raised over $1600 for the relief effort - which is outstanding!

I only took a handful of photos - but the event was covered by local cable news (channel 12, I believe) and a clip was posted on FB.

2017 5th Annual RVRR NYC Bridge Run

Another great event put together by Bob Tona and the Raritan Valley Road Runners - the 5th Annual NYC Bridges Run.  Yesterday, the Bridges Run moved downtown (last year it began in Midtown and concluded with a tram ride back to the City!) and covered roughly a half marathon+ distance (ending at Jeremy's Ale House, under the Brooklyn Bridge).  For me, it was essentially a 10K+ (instead of the Half) because I had to cut it short after the Manhattan Bridge. 

Still, it was a fantastic day to run (any distance) - after the wet, soupy conditions on Saturday.  The course was a bit close to home since it started down the block from my office - and ran past where I also teach!  In fact, given the Team races in Central Park the day before, coming back into the City on Sunday made for a rare 7 straight days commuting into Manhattan - and, then there's this week's commute to look forward to as well!

The Federal Hall shot was from Bob - and the Brooklyn Bridge selfie was from Elaine :D

The "4 Bridges, 3 Boroughs, 2 Islands, 1 Tram Run"

 

This morning I did an interesting tour of the city that included "four bridges, 3 boroughs, 2 islands, & 1 tram" - put together by an old friend, Bob Tona, and his Raritan Valley Road Runners Club.  It was one of the most fun group "fun" runs I've done in a long time!  The actual distance came in a bit longer than the projected (actually slightly more than half a marathon) - but included numerous stops for photo ops (and running thru a few sprinklers at some local kiddie parks)!

One of the highlights for NYC Marathon runners was covering familiar course ground in different directions.  The first bridge was the Queensboro - taking us out of the City instead of into (and on the pedestrian walkway instead of roadway).  Another site was running over the Pulaski Bridge, again in the opposite direction (and across the pedestrian walkway).

While we didn't "run" on the tram, it was the means back to NYC after we finished up at Roosevelt Island.  It's been decades since I've taken that tram ride!!

For those of you interested, the street by street (bridge to bridge) directions are posted below :D

 

 

 

 

 

2013 dash before the splash 5k+

for the second year in a row i headed over to compo beach in westport for an easy 5k fun run before a bunch on intrepid polar bears took their annual plunge into the long island sound.  and, for the second year in a row, i skipped the plunge - and stuck to the run (which, incidentally, stretched closer to 3.5 miles than a 5k) :D

maybe next year for the plunge :O

the rest of my photos up on facebook.

reservoir run half marathon course

since the new weston reservoir run half marathon kicks off the same day as the nyc marathon, there was no chance i'd get to run it.  instead, yesterday don, emmy and i ran the course on our own.  we had expected to run it with a group of runners - but they were nowhere to be found.  in fact, we did briefly meet up with another runner at the weston high school parking lot who had also expected to find a group run of the course.

be that as it may, we set off on the course and had a great time.  there were some fantastic views - aided no doubt by the colors of the fall foliage.  lots of hills - it was a pretty challenging loop, and took us a solid 2:10 to finish it. 

if you're not running the nyc marathon next weekend, check it out :D

the rest of my photos are posted on facebook.

leatherman's loop group fun run redux: photos

this was my second consecutive weekend back at wards pound ridege reservation to run the leatherman's loop course. it was even more fun this morning because i managed the water crossings without a fall - and stayed on course to avoid some bonus miles :D

i wish i was coming back next week for the actual 2012 edition of the race, but i'll be running the sybil ludington 50k on saturday (and the 4 miler in central park on sunday - to nab another nycm point).

to everyone running it next week - have a blast!

leatherman's loop 10k fun run: photos

what a great way to spend easter morning - running the leatherman's loop course at wards pound ridge reservation! great weather to boot! i managed to fall during the first water crossing - scraped knee aside - which made for a relatively wet run! the second and third crossings went w/out incident. but i did manage to log a few bonus miles going off course a couple of times (the course wasn't marked).

the main event is in two weeks!

new year's day dash and splash 5k fun run

what a great start to the new year - great weather and a great fun run at compo beach with a lot of good friends.  afterwards, the first of a pair of new year's day plunges into the unseasonably warm water took place.  but no swim for me, the run was plenty enough (although i did get in 10 more miles that afternoon).

here are the rest of my photos on facebook.