Bridge of the Week #43: Stillwell Ave. Bridge

Staying in the Coney Island area, this week's bridge is the Stillwell Ave. Bridge in Brooklyn. It carries Stillwell Ave. over Coney Island Creek between Shore PArkway on the north and Neptune Ave. on the south. It is just a few blocks east of the Cropsey Ave. bridge, from my last post.

I have had a hard time finding stats on the bridge, but it's a fixed steel and concrete bridge with two lanes of traffic in each direction and a sidewalk on each side. It's not real long and not real old and not real interesting in and of itself.

This is a good time to mention that while Coney Island isn't actually an island any more, it used to be. It was the westernmost of the barrier islands off the southern coast of Long Island, separated from Long Island by Coney Island Creek, which ran from Gravesend bay on the west to Sheepshead Bay on the east. Part of it was little more than tidal flats. Officials at one time considered dredging and straightening it for a ship canal, as was done on the Harlem River, but instead it was filled in between Shell Road and East 15th St. in the 1930's as the Belt Parkway was being constructed. But the name Coney Island remained, as Coney Peninsula doesn't have that same ring.

Stillwell Ave. was named after Nicholas Stillwell (1603-1671) who had a farm in the area and was patriarch of a prominent Brooklyn family.

Bridge of the Week #42: Cropsey Ave. Bridge

OK, back to the bridges, and a little catching up to do. And moving away from the Bronx, we're back in Brooklyn for the Cropsey Ave. Bridge. This is a double twin-leaf bascule drawbridge (two twin-leaf bridges side by side) over Coney Island Creek on Cropsey Ave. between Bay 54 St. on the north and Hart Place on the south, or just a little farther to the north is Shore Parkway and the Belt Parkway, and a little to the south is Neptune Ave. In fact, just a few blocks to the south is the Coney Island Boardwalk, the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium and the Parachute Jump (visible in the top picture).

The bridge was opened on December 20, 1931, each side carries three lanes of traffic and a sidewalk. Cropsey Ave. carries a lot of traffic as one of the main roads to Coney Island.

For the runner, as for anyone, there is plenty to do at Coney Island, less in winter, but still a good place to run as long as you have a little patience with the traffic. The Cropsey Ave. Bridge can be a connector between the Shore Road pathway, a 4-mile sidewalk/bike path along the Brooklyn waterfront from Owl's Head Park under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (remember that one?) to Bay Parkway, and about another mile along Shore Parkway to the Cropsey Ave. Bridge. For a good long run, you can continue east on Neptune Ave. about a mile and a half when it becomes Emmons Ave. at Sheepshead Bay, and catch a bike path that can take you miles along the waters of Gateway National Recreation Area, and the bridges to the Rockaways, which I'll discuss later.

Race Report: Across the Years

The venerable race Across the Years was back in 2010, after a year's absence, held at Nardini Manor outside Phoenix. I was excited to go out there and try my hand at my second 48-hour race. My first 48 was way back in 2008 in Surgeres, France, and there I got 135 miles, so hopes were high that I might be able to take a shot at John Geesler's 400K (248 mile) mark that he set at ATY in 2003. He would be there again this year running the 72-hour race, so if I could accomplish it, I'd be even more honored. But not to get ahead of myself!

I flew into Phoenix from Omaha (via Denver) on the 28th, giving myself an extra day to relax and allow for bad weather. Omaha and Denver had good weather, but Phoneix not so much, at least at the start for the day 1 runners on the 29th. It rained on them most of the day, but apparently it was after midnight when the real heavy stuff came, the rain and very strong winds. By the time I got to Nardini Manor on the 30th for the day 2 start, the rains had let up, but the course was still pretty muddy. But the Coury brothers worked diligently hauling wheelbarrows full of dirt and using shovels and rakes to clean up the course. After a couple of hours, the mud was mostly a memory. The weather was looking pretty good for the start, too, except for some strong winds from the west. I was watching Jamie Donaldson finish up her awesome 24-hour run, which would become the overall winning performance. Deb Horn was looking gerat halfway through her first 48, and John had a good first day as well, although the rain, wind and mud took a lot out of him. Davy Crockett also had a great first-day total and was leading the men's 48-hour race at that point.

The race started well for me, I hit my first 50K mark on schedule at 5 hours and my 100K mark, just over 10 hours, was ahead of schedule. By then it was after 7 pm and time to start putting on warmer clothes to prepare for the cold night predicted. Soon I had a most welcome visit from Carilyn and Tim Johnson and their boys Grant and Spencer, who stopped by for a few hours on their way from El Paso to LA. Carilyn helped crew me a while, and their visit lifted my spirits.

But I understimated how much the cold would affect me. All the layers I had couldn't keep me warm enough, and by 11:00 pm I had to take a 10-minute power break in the heated tent. It's easy to forget that although this is Arizona, it's still winter, and temperatures would dip into the 20's. With the onset of fatigue, the occasional warmup breaks in the tent, although I was still running well when I was running it was becoming clear through the night that I was not going to break John's record. But I was still on track for a great race, and as the sun came up in the morning I got renewed energy. I started to feel some soreness in my left Achilles, but it didn't bother me much or seem to affect my stride. But as the 24-hour mark neared, the pain intensified quickly. The first 48-hour and second 24-hour runners were finishing, the third 24-hour runners were about to start, and I stopped in to see Dr. Andy. He tried a few different remedies, but the pain got worse with every lap, and I made the decision to pull out rather than risk a serious injury. I finished with a little over 115 miles. Dave ended up with the 48-hour win with just a few miles over Deb's women's win. George Biondic pulled ahead of Ed Ettinghausen for the 72-hour win, with Kena Yutz taking the women's title. Jamie won the 24 overall, with Matthew Watts winning the men's race. In the 24, women took the top 2 (Jamie and Melissa Williams) and 5 of the top 8!

After my pullout I took a little nap, got some food and hung out for a while to cheer on the runners. The best part of the race was seeing all the people I'm privileged to count among my friends from around the country and beyond, and to make new friends too. There was a lot of good cheer out there, and a good way to ring in 2011.

Bridge of the Week #41: E. Gun Hill Road Bridge

Not surprisingly, this week's bridge is another over the Bronx River, in close proximity to the last two bridges on this blog. In fact, it is adjacent and perpendicular to the Bronx Blvd. Bridge 2 (as I call it). The E. Gun Hill Road Bridge carries E. Gun Hill Road over the Bronx River between Olinville Ave. and Webster Ave. It is a concrete arch bridge, built in 1918 and has a total length of 93.8 feet. It carries vehicular traffic and has sidewalks on both sides.

This bridge is a nice way to get to or from the pathways in Bronx Park. Van Cortlandt Park is about a mile to the northwest on Gun Hill Road, there is a Metro North station, Williamsbridge, just to the west of the bridge, and the 2 and 5 lines stop at White Plains Road, a couple blocks to the east.

Gun Hill Road is one of the main thoroughfares in the northern Bronx. In the revolutionary war, the American army would use the road to push (or pull) their cannons up to the top of the hill, to a spot currently located in Woodlawn Cemetery, hence Gun Hill. The road itself was called Kingsbridge Road, and was part of the original Boston Post Road. In 1875 it was renamed Gun Hill Road. In the 1940's a highway "upgrade", called Gun Hill Crosstown Highway, was proposed for the corridor, but never came to fruition.

I don't promise a big, exciting bridge for next week's bridge (in fact, I know it won't be), but I do promise it will be in another borough at least.

Bridge of the Week #40: Bronx Blvd. Bridge 2

This week's second bridge is another bridge on Bronx Blvd. over the Bronx River, this one located immediately north of Gun Hill Road just south of 211th St. I could also find no name for this bridge or any information on it at all, really. But it is, like the Bronx Blvd. Bridge 1 (see last post) a pair of concrete arch bridges, very likely built about the same time as the Bronx Blvd. Bridge 1 or the adjacent Gun Hill Road Bridge, 1918-1920. Very charming and attractive, and a nice area to run.

Bridge of the Week #39: Bronx Blvd. Bridge 1

Still in the Bronx, over the Bronx River, this week's bridge is actually a pair of bridges, one for each direction of traffic, on Bronx Blvd. just north of Duncomb Ave., itself just north of Magenta St. I've had trouble finding an official name for the bridge, so I just call it the Bronx Blvd. Bridge 1, leaving room for another bridge on Bronx Blvd. just a little farther north.

This is a pair of concrete arch bridges with a total length of 75 feet, and was built in 1920. There is a sidewalk on each side. It lies within Bronx Park, just south of Gun Hill Road, where there are plenty of nice paths to run on. Not much else to mention, but a very nice area of the city.

Bridge of the Week #37: Burke Bridge

When I started this bridge series, I intended to do only the bigger bridges over major waterways. I certainly wouldn't waste my time with little bridges that you barely even know you cross over, like the 9th St. Bridge over the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn (Bridge #21). But then I decided some of those little bridges have some interest, either in terms of history, engineering, geography, neighborhood, etc. Plus I realized that in some cases I can run across a handful of those little bridges in one run and be good for several weeks. So I decided to do them all. But only the ones over water - no overpasses, viaducts (except one which I'll do later as a bonus) - since this is a city of waterways. And no little footbridges in the parks. Except this one. I chose to do this one, and not ones like Bow Bridge in Central Park, because this at least crosses a river, and upriver and downriver are larger roadway bridges, drawbridges even. Plus, it does connect paths that are good for running, as opposed to the footpaths in Central Park.

The Burke Bridge is a footbridge in Bronx Park over the Bronx River. It's a few blocks north of the Kazimiroff Boulevard Bridge and is even with Burke Ave. to the east, to which it connects by a footpath and stairway. I don't have any specs on it, but it's a stone and concrete arch bridge. The current bridge on the site is fairly new or at least newly renovated. I has a wide, smooth path and nice benches on both sides. It's a very pleasant little spot on the tranquil Bronx River. It also features an informational plaque telling about restoration of the Bronx River floodplain. Much of the area around the Bronx River, especially this section, had been abandoned for decades, used as a dumping ground, but is now cleaned up and a new haven for wildlife, not to mention a nice park area.