Since completing my first marathon in 2007/08 in New York – I longed to go back and enjoy the streets and memories from that race. So I was able to arrange a trip so I could complete some really cool runs treat my wife to her 30th birthday surprise.
I had spent a while researching routes from the hotel, googling if there were any races going to be on, searching the global heat maps to mark out routes I thought would take in some of the marathon route or see as many sights as possible. The running in New York was great but I wanted to pass on a few tips and also share some routes (r-outs – if your American) so you too can run the world.The first place I looked whilst searching was Running routes in New York I found that strava have a running club and they share the routes around Manhattan and upper Manhattan. This gave me the idea of doing the perimeters of Central Park and Manhattan.
The Centre Park loop (12 km +/- Hotel distance) that I did from door to door was around 12 kilometres which was ideal – I had planned to run for an hour and that was perfect as allowed me to drop past Times Square. I ran early morning (Jet Lag / Wife on her 30th Birthday not a running trip). This loop included running past The Museum of Natural History and a stretch called the Museum mile which included the Guggenheim Museum and many others on the route. This was easy to follow Three right turns and a left turn completed the square.
- Top Tip – Running early means less pedestrians and cars. As New York is basically a big block system of roads you do find your self stop starting if crossing over multiple blocks to get to the park. In the morning there are less cars so you can cross safely on the move.
- Top Tip – Run near the kerb – New Yorkers are scared of the road and seldom venture close to the kerb – clearer path to run.
The Manhattan Loop (20km +/- GPS loss at Downtown in the buildings) was great. The west coast on the Hudson has a running track which links with a cycling / roller-skate lane which is well maintained and lit. I ran in the early AM so saw 1 bike but I guess depending on time of day and day of the week this may vary. The loop took in a lot of sights which were great but the ultimate highlight was the sun coming up hitting firstly the buildings of New Jersey followed but the bridges on the east side.
- Top Tip – time sun rise into your run – its worth getting up that little bit earlier for as the views can be spectacular
- Top Tip – Know where you are in regards to the Empire State Building as I used this as my reference point
- Top Tip – The GPS goes funny downtown due to the buildings – faster ever 1 km logged but messes with distance ran, so beware of this.
- Top Tip – cutting up or over depending on the stop signs means that you don’t have to stop start running – i.e going along a block then up a block rather than waiting at lights to go over can keep the momentum in the run
- Top View – Under the Brooklyn Bridge with the sunrise.
I previously wrote a blog on running tourism and popping my trainers on, doing a small piece of research before running helped me smash out two fantastic runs which already have made their way into the top ten runs I have done. The memories of New York Marathon came flooding back, the joy relived and new memories made.
I hope you found this useful – next time you are in NYC – pack the trainers and giddy up.
Thanks for reading
Run Long and Prosper
James
