Giant Squids and Mermaids

Saturday 10/7, Run #62: Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach

Distance: 10.02 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:29
Temp: 53
Dewpoint: 42
Weather: overcast & windy

click on image for interactive map


Unique Miles Today: 6.95
Total Unique Miles: 493.72
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 28.34

Route: I began at W. 5th and Surf Avene, proceeded east to Ocean Parkway then picked up the boardwalk, which I followed east to Brighton 15th. I then headed north up to Brighton Beach Avenue (with the little dead-end part of Brightwater Ave along the way), east to Corbin Place, south to the dead end and doubling back north up to Cass, then east to West End Avenue, south to the dead end then doubling back up to Oriental Boulevard, east to Amherst, south to the dead end and doubling back north to Shore Boulevard, east to Beaumont, south to the dead end, back north to Oriental Boulevard, east to Coleridge, south to the dead end then back north to Shore Boulevard, east to Dover, south to the dead end and back up to Oriental Boulevard, east to Exeter, south to the dead end and back up to Shore Boulevard, west to the footbridge then doubling back and continuing southeast to Ocean Avenue, south to Oriental Boulevard, east to Manhattan Beach Park, then into the park and west along the crescent-shaped boardwalk to the end then back to the eastern end and back to Oriental Boulevard, then east into the Kingsborough Community College campus: south on Perry Avenue, continuing onto John Berry Boulevard to Seawall Avenue, around the edge of the water up to Oriental Avenue, west past the parking lot then doubling back to Seawall Ave, which I followed around to the north gate on Shore Boulevard, then doubled back to Quentin and went south to Oriental Boulevard and then west to Irwin.

Notes: As with yesterday's run, this was one I'd been putting off for a while, because I knew I'd have to head back to Kingsborough Community College. Of course, I have nothing against higher education (I've spent a good portion of my adult life engaged in such things), but on a run down to the KCC campus a while back I was turned away by a particularly vigilant security guard at the main gate, and it was easier just to concentrate on other neighborhoods than to worry about how I was going to run the campus. Of course, I ended up simply emailing the school's directory of security, who kindly arranged to leave my name at the main gate so I could easily get in (why hadn't I thought of that earlier?). And it was a very cool place to run, since the campus (which occupies the eastern tip of Coney Island) is surrounded by water on three sides. It must be a great place in the summer months, but I wouldn't know about that -- if, as I wrote earlier, Tuesday's weather seemed more like late August than early October, today's felt more like mid-November. It was cool, overcast, and very windy. Still, though, I prefer the cooler weather (though I could live without the wind), and actually recorded a pretty quick pace and ended up having a fine run. At one point I stumbled upon a little photo shoot on the oceanfront at Manhattan Beach Park, with two women dressed up as mermaids. Though they were sporting sleeveless t-shirts instead of what I always assumed was the standard-issue seashell bikini top, they must've been absolutely freezing...

Anyway, today's excursion included over three repeat miles, which kept my unique miles down to a little under seven, despite the pace and the 75 minutes on the road. For better or worse, though, this is exactly what I can expect over the next month or two as I work on finishing up the borough's southern third. On the other hand, I'm now done with Manhattan Beach, making it the second neighborhood I've completed. And there are a half-dozen others which I only need two or three runs to finish, which ought to be happening over the forthcoming few weeks. I'm actually beginning to feel like I'm making actual progress!

I'll be taking tomorrow off to fulfill a social obligation, and probably Monday, too, but I'll be back to by regular schedule on Tuesday. Until then, today's photographic output:


Giant squid sculpture along Surf Avenue


The pedestrian bridge from Manhattan Beach to Sheepshead Bay


My first ever mermaid sighting!


Senior Center on Brighton Beach Avenue


How many community colleges have their own beaches?