JOE MCVEIGH-can you help?

How about concentrating on your daughters meet and not having to worry about an unfamiliar neighborhood. Seriously. 7-10 miles plus a shower...what, are you planning to bring the poor girl to the meet an hour and a half before it starts?

Thanks for the parenting advice, but I think I've got that part covered. For those not familiar with swimming, she has to be there 1.5 hours before the event, warm ups etc... so in lieu of reading the newspaper, I'll get in my run. And for those with special interest in my personal hygiene, I usually wait til I get home to shower.

Now, back to that running route in Summit. please.

Turtle,

I'm not McVeigh, not even close. But you can find Watchung reservation just south of Summit, (I think it's mostly in Mountainside) between Rt 22 & I 78. It has extensive trails and is fairly large and even the roads (quite narrow) are mostly lightly travelled. You can probably find some more info by Googling Union County Parks. You should probably park by the ballfields or near the deserted village. To get there, take the Glenside exit off 78 and go right, then left by Lake Surprise or to the village or take New Providence Rd north from 22, then right on Tracy Dr. to get up to the fields. I hope this is helpful, and I;m interested in what Joe has to say.

It's been awhile since I've been back in Jersey, but from what I remember, Watchung trails can get pretty wet this time of year with a lot of the trails under water. I'm not sure what the weathers been like back there, but it has rained in the last week I would stick to the roads around Mountainside, Short Hills, or Summit.

Wayne B and Prata-

Thanks for the reply. I have been to the Watchung res. a few times but, I agree with Prata about the conditions, it may be too wet this time of year. Also, just heard on the radio about more snow tomorrow night: 3-6 inches so even though I'd love to run on trails, I'm more inclined to run on the roads. Would like to start/end the run at the Y so I don't miss my daughter's events.

Thanks again.

I used to live in Summit years ago on Beechwood Road, and those neighborhoods are good for running. Unfortunately, that was a phase of my life where I was all work, no run, and so I never had any courses or routes figured out. But the general area just 1/2 mile up from the train station is nice.

"Wayne B" has it right. Best, safest running area convenient to the Summit YMCA is the Watchung Reservation. Even if the trails are mud/snow, or teeming with horseback riders, the roads are narrow but lightly trafficked (except Glenside Ave, which is busy).

From the map at this link, find the spot toward the upper right corner of the park with the bridge that had the black line crossing the stream/pond (directly above the "North" Arrow) -- there is a small parking area there, about 20 feet downhill from the broadest, best trail, or you can pick up the road loop. It's hard to get lost if you stay within the park, as you can keep your bearings by listening for highway noise (I-78), and the stream runs through the lowest elevation, so just head downhill (on this map, upstream is to the right).

http://www.unioncountynj.org/svcsgov/parksrec/wrmap804.pdf

Excellent! Sorry Wayne B, I misunderstood your comments about running ON the res. roads.

Thanks to all.

Just read the "starting/ending at the Y" part -- if you leave the Y, run on Maple St away from downtown (library on your right) after half a mile or so it ends at Mountain Ave, turn right and then the 1st or 2nd left onto Primrose Place, which is 1 block long -- turn right at the end (Oak Ridge Ave), and look for a small path that takes you down the steep hill to Glenside Ave. Turn right, past the soccer field, over the highway/past the traffic light, and the next left will bring you down to the pond/stream.

Leave a trail of breadcrumbs or something to find your way back...

Alternately, if you stay on Oak Ridge, it goes for a little over a mile, you can just do back-and-forths or switchbacks in that nieghborhood between Oak Ridge and Mountain...if in doubt, ask, everyone knows where the Summit YMCA is.

Alternately still, from the Y, turn left out of the Y, cross the RR tracks, and the next light is Springfield Ave. Turn left and it goes for more miles than you can run. It's a farily busy road but gets wide enough to be runner-friendly and makes for a very simple out & back.

Wish yr daughter good luck in the meet.

Joe-

Got it. BTW, I met your brother-in-law? at a small Ct. race last year. He said something about coming down to race in NJ but was waiting for an invite from you (just jesting).

Joe,

May I quote you on my website? It's for trails in Westchester, but I'm trying to add other trails in the Metro area.

Feel free to quote.

We will get my bro-in-law down to the Jersey League one of these days. Would be a lot easier if he coached less than 72 sports and had a free weekend every 2 or 3 years.

Turtle,

I took a good look at the map Joe linked to. I often run up on New Providence & Tracy, then down to Lake Surprise, Up Glenside, Down Baltusrol/Summit (probably the most heavily travelled of the bunch), then in Summit Lane to the circle. This loop is probably roughly 5 miles (just guesstimating off times I recall - perhaps poorly - from last summer. You could jump on as Joe suggests on Glenside and go either way around the loop.

Turtle,

If you want to add some additional distance and don't mind hills, you can go down (up) Ackerman to left on Deer Path, make left onto Tracy to climb back to the circle. Ackerman is near the nature center and is the steeper of these two roads. Tracy is marked as the route to Rt 22 when in the circle.