running in NYC

i should add that i'm going to be aiming for 10-milers, some of them quicker, and i don't give a crap if it's cold--i'll deal.

There's a greenway that runs up along almost the entire length of the Hudson River. If you're staying in Tribeca just head west until you get to West Street (a.k.a. the Westside Highway) and find a place to cross. It's mostly straight and completely flat, but it's an alternative to the park.

Cental Park has a 6-mile, moderately hilly loop. You can find the distances between various landmarks at

http://www.centralparktc.org/training/centpark.htm

As for neighborhoods to avoid: Stay out of midtown. It's full of tourists this time of year and there's barely room left on the sidewalk to move.

I agree with Mookie about avoiding the tourist-plagued neighborhoods, which includes midtown, Central Park, anything near the World Trade Center. I used to work in TriBeCa and do my lunchtime runs along the West Side path from Chambers Street up to the Lincoln Tunnel ventilation shafts and back, a six-mile round trip. There's a public rest room at the north end of the Chelsea Piers recreation complex, and a few other parks department facilities which aren't always open. You can keep on going north into Riverside Park as far as you want to get in any distance up to twenty miles. Downside is that it's flat, paved, and can get pretty windy along the river. Enjoy!

Running in CP is the best NYC has to offer. If you want to do 10 miles totally on dirt even in the dark you can. I would say head in at 59th and 7th ave and follow the dirt path that starts there and goes uptown along the West side of the park. You'll figure out the rest since the path is 10 feet wide. If you are talking about bad neighborhoods in terms of crowds, every sidewalk in NYC is crowded during the holidays stick to Central Park or the West Side greenway previously mentioned. If you are talking about bad neighbothoods in terms of saftety you have nothing to worry about if you are below 110th St.

great suggestions - but do try and run in Central Park. There's a recreational path and if you're there during weekday daylight hours the tourist interference is very minimal.

Don't go - there are just a bunch of drunks in NYC that will try to get you to join their running clubs

thanks for the great suggestions, guys

any recommendations on getting from TriBeCa to central park on foot (i.e. less crowded streets)? it'll probably make for more than a 10-miler but that's okay with me

Follow the directions to the Hudson River path. It's across the West Side highway. Run north until you get to 59th Street or higher. Not higher than 110th Street. Then run west (away from the river!) until you hit Central Park. Bring a Metr0-Card and you can take the subway home. The subway stop at Columbus Circle has a number of subway lines that are somewhat easy to navigate. You probably need to take the 1/9 train to Franklin Street.

do what has been suggested re the westside highway: run up the hudson river along the trail way - it extends from battery park in the S to inwood hill park at the northern tip of manhattan. You can just hop off at 72nd or so and run east to the park.

You might also think about going up to Van Cortlandt and running its famed back hills. You can also run on the abandoned railway bed up to tibbets brook park in yonkers.

In fact, if you want a real running treat and have access to a car, head up to Rockefeller State Park: best running in the tri-state area.

I'd go subway both ways -- The A from Canal would get you to 59th Street in about 10 minutes, and the 1/9 from Franklin or Canal would take 15-20. Don't worry about looking like a freak on the train in your running gear because quite frankly no one will care. If you have time to burn and want some variety, take the 1/9 to Van Cortlandt (last stop), where you can get 15+ miles in on trails.

Mostly good advice here, but the idea that you need to stay below 110th Street is nonsense. Your chance of being a victim of random crime (where you don't know your assailant) is much higher in midtown, or for that matter in almost any other American city, than it is in Harlem or Washington Heights. You'd have a great time running up the West Side all the way to Inwood Hill Park, across the Henry Hudson Bridge into the Bronx, then down to Van Cortlandt Park, and then taking the Broadway line subway back downtown.

Taking the train to Central Park or Van Cortlandt is great if you have enough time. You used to be able to check a bag at the NY Road Runners Club on East 89th Street 1/2 block from Central Park, but I don't know if they still do that.

taking the train to go running every day (in C.P.) isn't much fun, so if you want to run from your door, from tribeca -

if you stick to the edge of the city and run south along the water on the west side (hudson river), you can come up and around on the east side (east river) and cut across Houston St. to get back to the west side again. it's a 7M triangle. (around 2M across Houston, and 5M along the river.)

for 10M you could just run 5M around the bottom of manhattan from Houston on the west side to Houston on the east side, and then turn around.

(note: it does get pretty windy along the rivers, whereas CP is somewhat protected)

Using the route above (mcg), you could also add on an out-and back across the Brooklyn Bridge, which has a great pedestrian promendade, for an extra 2 miles or so. Another alternative would be to run into Brooklyn using the Brooklyn Bridge, then follow signs to the Manhattan Bridge pedestrian walkway and follow it back across. The Manhattan Bridge lets you out on Canal Street in Manhattan.

Who's the drunk?

Moody wrote:

Don't go - there are just a bunch of drunks in NYC that will try to get you to join their running clubs

the only drunks in new york city are the ones that come from indiana.

Rockefeller state park was great. i ran a couple of times on weekends that we didn't have invitationals in high school. the place was amazing. i think you could take one of the metronorth lines up to there but im not sure.

hey guys, thanks again for the detailed replies. this is the kind of thing that makes Letsrun a great resource.

on the minus side, I have less incentive to slack on training next week. :)

yes, that was exactly the answer i was looking for.

new york city wrote:

the only drunks in new york city are the ones that come from indiana.