Global Running Day in a Local Way: Route #1
Last year, for Global Running Day, the staff of The Run On wrote about our favorite places we've run around the globe. This year, we're writing about (and celebrating) Global Running Day under slightly different circumstances. With travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders in place in New York, we're taking a more local approach, using this time to explore the areas and the neighborhoods around us while following social-distancing guidelines.
From May 28 to June 7, we'll be posting a new one-mile route each day as a way to get creative for the NYRR Virtual Global Running Day 1M. Follow along with us here, and you might just find a few new loops to add to your long runs!
Hello, everyone! The worldwide celebration of running is already underway with the start of the NYRR Virtual Global Running Day 1M, a free, one-mile virtual race that you can run anywhere, anytime between May 28 and June 7.
With an 11-day window of time for this race, I proposed an idea of running one new route every other day of the race to show some unique places to run in my area (six total). But leaving it at one post every other day, and only showing spots within running distance of where I am in Brooklyn, felt like it wouldn't quite be enough, so on those days in between, I'll be taking part in the #Run1Tag1 challenge and inviting some of my fellow NYRR staffers to race their virtual mile.
With all that said, let's get to the actual running part.
The Route
For today's route, I wrote out a path that connects the two subway stations with the shortest distance between them in all of New York City. On the tracks themselves, the distance from the Beverley Road stop to the Cortelyou Road stop on the Q line is somewhere around 1,000 feet—short enough that, as the rear car of the train is leaving one station, the front car is nearly arriving at the next.
Beverley Road (L) and Cortelyou Road (R): Not only are they very close together, they're also very similar in design.
I designed a course that follows the streets around those two stations—starting from outside the Beverley stop, I'd then take Marlborough Road down to Cortelyou, turning left toward East 16th Street, and then left again to go back to Beverley. The route measured just less than half a mile, so I would be doing a little more than two loops to complete my virtual mile.
I also planned the course with a few additional safety precautions in mind, such as:
- Running at a time when fewer people would be out in that area
- Covering my nose and my mouth with a mask, in case I did come within close distance of anyone
- Running in a direction that faces oncoming traffic, staying as close to the side of the road as possible
So, what did I see along the way? Why else is this route notable, other than the fact that it presents an opportunity to race the subway in a safe way? Well, for one thing, what I like about this area (Prospect Park South / Flatbush / Ditmas Park) is that there are tree-lined streets and houses that seem more suited for the suburbs than what people might traditionally picture when they think of Brooklyn. (And being from suburban New Jersey, it does feel a little like home.)
Coming off of that first turn onto Marlborough, here's the view:
Once down at Cortelyou, you get a little more of that "normal" New York City look...
...but once you turn on to East 16th, you're back in a world of tree canopies and detached houses...
...including this absolute gem (to the left of frame), just a few yards before the turn back on to Beverley:
So, how did the race go?
I would say it went "fine." My Strava result gave me a time of 5:57, but my watch says that was a 6-flat at best. That's far from my personal best, but it's a perfectly fine result. Especially given a long, injury-based layoff this winter, I'll take running two relatively evenly paced half-miles back-to-back. Still, it left me wanting more, or it left me thinking I could do better.
I should note that I did have to slow myself down at one point—as I rounded one turn onto Cortelyou—because someone was standing in the crosswalk, getting ready to cross the street. That could have cost me a second or two overall, but they were going about their morning routine, and I was sprinting down the street for a silly stunt blog post about a free virtual race, so it's really the better move to give someone else the right of way there. (Remember: In all likelihood, you'll be running your virtual race in a place where you may not have full "clearance on the roadway.")
So, will I follow through and record a better time in another attempt? We'll see! We've got five more mile routes to run before this virtual race is over, folks. If nothing else, I'll get to run through some nice areas and (hopefully) snap a few good photos of the routes after each run.
In the meantime, though, I will close out this post by introducing our next runner/writer: For this part of the #Run1Tag1 challenge, I am challenging NYRR's editorial director, Gordon Bakoulis, to run one mile for the NYRR Virtual Global Running Day 1M (and for this post on The Run On). Check back tomorrow to see where she runs, and I'll be back with another route on Saturday!
One down, five to go!
Register for the free NYRR Virtual Global Running Day 1M, part of NYRR Volvo Virtual Racing Powered by Strava, and run one mile anywhere in the world between May 28 and June 7. Register by May 31 to be entered for the chance to win a one-on-one virtual coaching session with 2009 New York City Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi!
