Too Cool for School

Tuesday 7/18:
Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach

Distance: 7.47 miles
Time: 1:00
Pace: 8:02
Temp: 81
Dewpoint: 69
Weather: sunny






Unique Miles Today: 5.80
Total Unique Miles: 130.30
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 7.48

Route: I started at the intersection of Coney Island Ave and Brighton Beach Ave, then followed Brighton Beach Ave to Oriental, which I took east to the entrance to Kingsborough College. Then I basically worked my way up and down the various streets from east to west, before heading back into Brighton Beach on Hampton Avenue, which I took to Brighton 11th St and then headed south on Coney Island Ave to the beach.

Notes: In another blatant attempt at finding the coolest spot in Brooklyn, I took the B down to Brighton Beach with the intent of filling in a lot of streets in Manhattan Beach while being caressed by temperate breezes off the water. The truth was that it was pretty hot regardless, though not quite as oppressive as predicted (while it's supposed to top out near 100 today, I thought last week's stultifying humidity was worse for running). In any case, I was a little disappointed that I was shooed away from the Kingsborough Community College campus by a friendly security guard. It didn't bother me so much that he said I wasn't allowed to run there if I wasn't a student (he was, after all, just doing his job) -- it was the fact that dozens of other people were streaming right past us with no problem. I guess if I want to run around the campus, I just have to blend in by wearing a backpack (and walking past the gate). The views of Sheepshead Bay along Shore Boulevard were great, of course, but the neighborhood itself was very suburban. There were a lot of big, fairly new-looking houses on most streets, and it also seemed that every block had at least one lot fenced off with another new house under construction. Whenever I decide to head back in that direction, I'll give the KCC campus security folks a call and see if they'll actually let me run there.

In other Brooklyn-related news, yesterday I picked up a copy of Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss' "Brooklyn by Name," a great little book that offers up the origins of hundreds of street and place names around the borough. Part trivia and part history, it's a lot of fun to thumb through, and I've already learned quite a bit about some of the streets and neighborhoods I've run.

Due to the mostly residential nature of Manhattan Beach, I didn't come up with a lot of pictures today. Here are the best of a weak bunch:


The forbidden campus!


At a market on Brighton Beach Avenue


Statue in a cage


On the side of a Brighton Beach pharmacy