Bridge of the Week #67: Mill Basin Bridge

We've finally arrived at the last bridge in the series along the Belt Parkway (Shore Parkway) in Brooklyn and Queens. The Mill Basin Bridge is the bridge west (actually more south) of the Paerdegat Basin Bridge and east of the Gerritsen Inlet Bridge and Flatbush Ave.

This is the only drawbridge along the Belt, a Bascule drawbridge, but it won't be for long. This is one of the bridges along the Belt undergoing or about to undergo total reconstruction. Apparently, the current bridge (including sidewalk) will remain open while the new bridge is being built. When I went over the bridge earlier this summer, it didn't look like work had begun yet, but supposedly the bridge will be done in 2014. Currently having 35 feet of clearance above the water when down, the new fixed bridge will have 60 feet of clearance. This is significant since Mill Basin, along with Gerritsen Inlet to the southwest, has a very active marina with a lot of sailboats and other recreational boats coming and going into Jamaica Bay.

The bridge was opened on June 29, 1940, and some reconstruction work was done in 2006-2007. It carries three lanes of traffic in each direction plus a sidewalk on the south side, which is actually the east side, since the bridge runs basically north-south. The Paerdegat Basin Bridge is about a mile eastward (though actually northward), and about a half mile to the west (south) is the Flatbush Ave. interchange, which is a full cloverleaf vehicular interchange, as Flatbush Ave. to the south leads to Floyd Bennett Field, the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge (previously discussed) and on out to the Rockaways. As the Belt turns to the west it soon crosses the Gerritsen Inlet Bridge (previously discussed). Northward on Flatbush Ave. is the nearest street access to the Mill Basin Bridge, at the corner of Ave. U and Flatbush, where there is the King's Plaza shopping mall, and a city bus stop. The nearest subway stop is still a couple miles up Flabush near Ave. H (2/5 train), or a couple miles west on Ave. U to E. 16th St. (B/Q train). But the most enjoyable running experience is to start in Sheepshead Bay, or even at Coney Island, and run along the Belt all the way to Howard Beach, about 8-10 miles depending on your start, and if you feel like going long, looping around onto the Rockaways using the Congressman Joseph P. Addabbo Bridge, the Cross-Bay Memorial Bridge and the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge. Lots of nice running in New York City uninterrupted by traffic.

Pics: 1. The Sidewalk of the bridge; 2. The view east into Jamaica Bay; 3. The view west into Mill Basin - note the towers of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the far distance!

Bridge of the Week #66: Paerdegat Basin Bridge

This week's bridge continues our journey along the Belt Parkway (Shore Parkway) in Brooklyn, heading west from the Fresh Creek Bridge we arrive at the Paerdegat Basin Bridge. Again, this carries the Belt Parkway (this section of which is officially called Shore Parkway) across a small inlet, this being the Paerdigat Basin, three lanes of traffic in each direction and a sidewalk/bike path on the south side.

Like the Fresh Creek Bridge, the Paerdegat Basin Bridge is undergoing reconstruction, part of a plan to rebuild seven bridges on the Belt Parkway (some of which are overpasses over streets rather than bridges over water, therefore will not be covered in this blog). The sidewalk remains open during construction. But the Paerdigat Basin Bridge will undergo quite a transformation. The bridge will be replaced by a pair of bridges, one serving westbound lanes, and one serving eastbound lanes and the sidewalk. The clearance will also be higher, as you can see from the second picture above, there will be fewer spans to cross the water, and the design is different and more interesting than the existing bridge. I believe construction on this bridge is expected to last another two years or so.

The bridge actually runs more north-south than east-west, as the parkway takes a turn to the south here on its way to the west. You have to run a couple miles to the southwest, past the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy and across the Mill Basin Bridge (next week's bridge) before you can get back on the city streets at Flatbush Ave. Heading northeast from the bridge, it's about 3/4 mile to street access at Rockaway Parkway, where you'll also find Canarsie Pier, a very nice recreational park/pier that is very busy on a nice summer day.

The basin itself separates the neighborhoods of Canarsie to the east and Bergen Beach to the west. The name Paerdegat comes from the Dutch word paardengat, meaning "horse gate."

Race Report: NYRR Team Championships

The annual NYRR Team Championships 5 mile race took place on Aug. 6 in Central Park.

As I lined up to run this race again for the West Side Runners, I really appreciated how this is probably the best race on the NYRR calendar. Even aside from the low entry fee (kept low partly by there being no t-shirt), it truly keeps alive the old traditions of road running in New York, being the one race more than any where the runners are really running for their team. No "unattached" runners may enter, and the men and women run separately an hour apart, so the numbers are low and manageable, only 866 male finishers. Nothing fancy, just a good fast five-mile race.

Afterwards, most teams also set up picnic areas for their members, and this is one of two real social events for WSX, the other being the post-New York Marathon party. So it's great to chat with my teammates. And despite the team competition, there is a lot of interteam socializing as well, and I enjoyed talking with my friends from Van Cortland Track Club, Taconic, Dashing Whippets, Prospect Park Track Club, and more.

As for the race itself, I was very happy with my time of 29:20, which was only a few seconds off my PR! If I had known, I might have pushed for it! I finished in 139th place, 12th in my age group, and third masters scorer for WSX, which took third in the masters division. In the open race, despite taking places 1, 2, 4 and 5 overall, West Side men settled for second in the team competition to New York Athletic Club.

But it was nice weather, a good race, and a good chance to reconnect with friends!

Race Report: Pajama Run 6-Hour

This is a little late in coming, sorry. But better late than never. Maybe. Anyway, on July 30 Rickie Innamorato and BUS staged the Pajama Run, a 6-hour race in the evening, from 6:00 pm to midnight, on a 1.27-mile loop in Astoria Park, Queens.

Despite being a somewhat late addition to the race calendar, 70 runners showed up for the start, more than I've seen at a BUS race in a long time. It was very exciting and encouraging. There were the usual regulars, but a lot of young newcomers or relative newcomers as well, including winners Tommy Pyon and Jimena Barrera. Tommy was kicking it and came up with 48.34 miles! Jimena, running very strong, had 37.93 miles.

David Plosonska, a multi-time Badwater finisher (top 20) came up from Baltimore and got second place with over 46 miles. I got third with 43.7. After my disastrous 24-hour in Philadelphia, I was happy just to keep running the whole six hours. Byron Lane got 4th and Eduardo Lara 5th. A true veteran Gail Marino finished second woman, followed by Amanda Goddard, Lucmar Araujo and Emmy Stocker.

The course was laid out well, it ran under the Triborough Bridge and the Hell Gate Bridge before looping back along the river to the start at the track area. It was heavy with parkgoers the first couple of hours of course, but the crowds thinned out as the race went on. It was also quite hot - about 90 degrees at the start - and stayed quite warm after the sun went down. But it's a beautiful park, it was a festive atmosphere, and Richie and the volunteers did an incredible job as always, but here especially taking on the higher than normal post entries. And it was a nice way to end the 2011 BUS season.

Bridge of the Week #65: Fresh Creek Bridge

This week's bridge is another on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, the Fresh Creek Bridge over Fresh Creek, along the edge of Jamaica Bay.

As with the others, this was built in the late 1930's when the Belt Parkway (Shore Parkway) was constructed. This bridge is one of seven along the Belt (including some side street overpasses) that are currently slated for reconstruction, and in fact, reconstruction is currently well under way. It is one of the links in the nice Belt pathway that extends from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, to Howard Beach, Queens, with bridges to take you out to the Rockaways, so you can do some nice long traffic-free runs here. As the roadways will stay open on all bridges during reconstruction, so will the walkways, even if it's not as quiet and smooth as traffic roars next to you. A temporary bridge will handle traffic while the new bridge is built on the site of the old one.

Bridge of the Week #64: Hendrix Creek Bridge

This week's bridge continues the Belt Parkway series, the Hendrix Creek Bridge. This is the bridge number five of six, if traveling from west to east along the Belt.

Otherwise, there's not a lot more to tell about this bridge. It's a fixed steel and concrete bridge, built in the late 1930's with the rest of the Belt, reconstructed in the 1980's, and it has a sidewalk on the south side. The nearest street access is Erskine St. on the east and Pennsylvania Ave. on the west. Hendrix St. does pass underneath the bridge, right along the creek, but there is no access from the bridge or the Belt, and I think traffic on it might be restricted to landfill vehicles. (The beautiful green grass on both sides of the creek in the second picture above is landfill alongside Jamaica Bay.) The large buildings in the background in the first picture are Starrett City, a housing development built in 1974 and apparently renamed Spring Creek Towers in 2002. That development sits to the northwest of the bridge.

The bridge, by way of the creek, as well as the street were apparently named for Joseph C. Hendrix (1853-1904), a trustee for the Brooklyn Bridge Association from 1884, appointed Postmaster of Brooklyn by then-Governor Grover Cleveland, President of theBrooklyn Board of Education, Kings County Trust Co., American Bankers Association, failed in a run for Mayor of Brooklyn in 1883 but did hold a seat in Congress from 1893-1895. Hendrix Street had been named Smith St. but was changed in 1887.

Race Report: Back on My Feet Lone Ranger

This will be a somewhat short report, since unfortunately my race was fairly short as well.

Race check-in on Friday was at Lloyd Hall, just north of the Philadelphia Art Museum on the Schuylkill River (never did really figure out how to pronounce that, and don't really trust the answer from those who seemed to know). It's a nice facility, with a little cafe, open outdoor space on the river, showers and a gym for those needing a place to rest during the race. I had checked in and was waiting to meet Dennis Ball and his crew, who I'd be sharing a ride with to the motel we were staying at, when to my surprise I see Ryoichi Sekia, just a few days off his 2nd-place Badwater finish! I've run a couple of races with him and he's about the strongest runner I've ever met. I didn't figure he'd be at full strength for this race, but you can never count him out. But he's a nice guy, too and we chatted for a while, with the help of his friend who acted as an interpreter. I'll have to learn at least a few words of Japanese.

So Dennis and his crew and I returned Saturday morning and found a little place to set up just past the start/finish area and got ready for the race. The course followed Kelly Drive, passed in front of the art museum, across the river and north up to Falls Bridge, and back south along Kelly Drive. There were aid stations set up at about miles 2.3, 4 and 6, with additional water/towel stations at about miles 1, 5 and 7. Even with the aid, it was a different setup than a more common course with a loop of roughly a mile, and it took some getting used to for me.

Race morning was warm, with highs predicted in the upper 80's, much cooler than last year's weather I was told, but still mighty warm. There was some shade on the course, but in the middle of the day especially there were long sunny stretches too. Still, I set out on a pace that felt comfortable for me, but still a strong competitive pace, about 7:45/mile. I found myself in a group of seven (!) runners in the lead pack, including Dennis, Sabrina Moran, a couple of guys who looked like Kenyan marathoners, and a couple others. I hate running in packs in a race, so I alternately tried to speed up and slow down to give some separation, but everyone stuck together for two full loops before Dennis and I were able to hang back and let the rest of them go. It was a fairly aggressive pace still for four loops, considering the heat, but I felt I was able to handle it. However, after about 4 1/2 hours, about a mile after starting my fifth lap, in a long sunny stretch, the heat got to me, and I was forced to walk. And with seven miles to go to get back to my own stuff, it was a long, discouraging loop. Here's where the story gets short, because even when I felt like I'd cooled down enough, I couldn't get myself moving again. There were times when I'd be able to run for a few miles at a decent pace, but for the most part laps five, six and seven were torturous walk/jog experiences. And my mind was filled with all kinds of negative thoughts, which I won't get into here, that were truly debilitating, and I didn't have the mental energy to push them out. A friend of mine who'd seen me in my 48 hour race in New Jersey pulled some really dirty tricks (in a good way) to convince me to go one more lap, but it didn't have the hoped-for effect. After eight laps, about 67 miles, almost 14 hours, just before midnight, I dropped out of the race.

But as with all disappointing performances, I will learn what I can from the experience to run stronger the mext time. And the race did raise a lot of money for Back on My Feet (check it out: www.backonmyfeet.org), a very worthy cause with great people involved. And as always, it was good to see friends there, and to make lots of new friends. My thanks to everyone who showed me support and had nice things to say! Some of you I'll see locally, others I'll see in Cleveland in September!!!