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Monday 7/24:
Borough Park and Bensonhurst

Distance: 8.35 miles
Time: 1:05
Pace: 7:47
Temp: 74
Dewpoint: 62
Weather: sunny & dry

click on image for interactive map



Unique Miles Today: 7.98
Total Unique Miles: 144.91
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 8.32

Route: Basically a big loop, starting at Church and McDonald. I headed down Church until it ran into 14th Avenue, then continued on 14th to 86th Street. I ran east on 86th to 18th Ave, then north to 73rd, west to 15th Avenue, north to 67th, east to 18th Avenue, north a block to 66th, east to 19th Avenue, and then north to 52nd. Then I went west to the interestingly named Old New Utrecht Rd, followed it northwest to 48th, looped out to 13th Avenue and back on 47th Street to 15th Avenue, then up to 40th Street to Ditmas Avenue to Ocean Parkway.

Notes: Now this is the kind of weather I could get used to. Today the morning was dry, (relatively) cool, and really quite pleasant -- more like early September than July. It won't last, of course, but it made for a terrific reintroduction to the streets of Brooklyn after four days in Augusta, Georgia.

The visit went very well, actually. I got to see my two brothers, their wives/girlfriends and their one-year old sons, as well as my sister Mel and her husband Rob (my little run with Mel was the topic of last Saturday's post here). It was also especially nice to visit with my relatives on my mom's side -- my uncle George and aunt Z, and my cousins Heather and Erin. I hadn' t seen them in years, and I had a very nice conversation with Erin about literature, writing, and obsessive behavior, some points of common interest I hadn't realized we'd shared. The whole trip was fun but tiring, and I'm very glad to be back home.

Anyway, the time off from running and the wonderful weather left me feeling great this morning, so I headed down to Bensonhurst and Borough Park, neighborhoods I've visited before but which have plenty of streets left to explore. It was a pretty typical run, but some highlights were the Sanitation Department's garage for Brooklyn district 12 on 19th Avenue, a whole slew of cool old art deco apartment buildings in Borough Park, and the usual colorful storefronts along 86th Street and some of the other commercial areas.

BTW, a few posts ago I speculated that I might unwittingly be part of a trend toward obsessive pedestrianism in the city. And it looks like others might be thinking the same thing -- the NY Post ran an article by Billie Cohen on Saturday which included brief profiles of me as well as a number of others who have already walked all the streets of Manhattan or are in the process now. I've also learned about people doing similar things in California and New Mexico, so stay tuned. I'll write more about these folks on my next off day (probably Wednesday or Thursday).

Some pictures from today's run:


On 86th Street


Garages along 67th Street


Laundromat on Ditmas Avenue


NYDS garage on 19th Avenue