A Runner's Guide to the Bridges of the New York City Marathon

Since the New York City Marathon is just over a week away, I figured I would take a break from Friday poetry to post something that could potentially be useful to runners. For those readers not running New York, I'm sorry, but poetry will make a triumphant return in the near future.

 

During the course of the New York City Marathon, runners visit three different islands (Staten Island, Long Island, and Manhattan Island) with only the briefest of visits to Mainland, U.S.A. In order to get from island to island, runners pass over 5 different bridges, two that are somewhat well-known and three that get short shrift. Because I like to mentally divide the course using the bridges, I present to you my runner's guide to the bridges of the New York City Marathon.

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Length: 13,700 ft

Type: Double-decked suspension bridge.

Year Opened: 1964

The Verrazano Bridge marks the start of the marathon, carrying runners nearly two miles from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. For blue and orange runners on the top, it provides sweeping views of New York Harbor; for runners on the bottom…forget the views and stay in the middle. The bridge also forms the biggest hill of the race, something to remember when you encounter the Queensboro

Pulaski Bridge

Length: 2,810 ft

Type: Bascule bridge (a.k.a., drawbridge)

Year Opened: 1954

The Pulaski Bridge, named after a Polish general in the American Revolutionary War, connects Greenpoint, Brooklyn to Hunters Point in Long Island City, Queens. It crosses Newton Creek, one of the most polluted bodies of water in America. But you don’t care about that. You care about that fact that the Pulaski Bridge comes at the halfway point in the race. Congrats! Only 13.1 more miles to go.

                                                 Queensboro (59^th Street) Bridge

Length: 3,724 ft

Type: Cantilever truss bridge

Year Opened: 1909

While the Pulaski Bridge marks the halfway point in the marathon, for many runners the race truly begins on the Queensboro Bridge. That's because runner's must climb roughly 130 ft as they cross the East River before beginning their descent to Manhattan's 1st Avenue. As you get closer to Mile 16 and Manhattan you begin to hear the crowd. The trick is in enjoying the crowd's energy without speeding up and wasting too much of your own.

Willis Avenue Bridge

Length: 3,212 ft

Type: Swing bridge

Year Opened: 2010

After 109 years of service, the Willis Avenue Bridge was replaced in 2010. The roadbed of the old bridge was made of open steel grating prompting marathon officials to cover it in orange carpeting for the race. With solid deck that no longer requires carpeting, the new bridge may no longer stand out for its odd appearance but it’s still notable to runners because it comes at Mile 20, the point when many runners hit “the wall.” It also carries runners out of Manhattan and into their final borough, the Bronx.*

Photo credit: Steve Boyle Photo

Madison Avenue Bridge

Length: 2,893 ft

Type: Swing bridge

Year Opened: 1910

The shortest and second-oldest bridge on the course, the Madison Avenue Bridge carries runners out of the Bronx, depositing them on 5th Avenue in Manhattan at Mile 21. Yes, the Madison Avenue Bridge connects to Madison Avenue too, but since that’s not part of the marathon, who cares? If you make it over this bridge you know you're going to finish the race!


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* After the Bronx, runners return to Manhattan, but by that point they have already run through all five boroughs.

A South Bronx Sunday

Sunday morning, after I had recovered sufficiently from my hangover to look out the window, I realized it was a beautiful day. It certainly took a while to get myself going, but I knew a run was in order. As with last week, I wanted to do something new, explore some (for me) uncharted territory. I decided for a run in the Bronx. I’ve done plenty of runs in the Bronx before, mostly in Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Park, and other areas in the northern reaches of the borough. I have not, however, done too much exploring in the South Bronx, that is, until yesterday.

I quickly consulted DOT’s bike map and came up with a rough plan. When I do these rambling runs, I don’t like to plot every move before hand, I just like to have some general idea about which direction to go. It’s a good think I was flexible, because the Willis Avenue bridge, which I had expected to cross, didn’t seem open to pedestrians (although they’re clearly working on a new pedestrian ramp which should be great once it’s complete). I ended up taking the Third Avenue Bridge instead which spit me out onto Bruckner Boulevard.

Running east along Bruckner I passed a kid who asked me if it I wasn’t cold running in shorts! I laughed and said the weather was fine as long as you keep moving. I finally turned north on St Ann’s Avenue. So far as I can tell, the street takes its name from St Ann’s Episcopal Church which was built in 1841. It was built by the Morris family (the area’s historic name is Morrisania) of early American fame. 

I  detoured from St Ann’s Ave to circle St Mary’s Park (named for a nearby church that was torn down in 1959). It’s one of the borough’s six original parks dating from the 1880s. The park has plenty of rolling hills and interesting paths that criss-cross in every direction. There’s a track there too but I didn’t see it on my run.

After leaving the park it was back to St Ann’s on my northern journey until I got to Boston Rd where I veered left and continued to Crotona Park.  Like St Mary’s, this is one of the borough’s original parks, though it’s decidedly larger. It was named it after Croton, an ancient Greek colony famed for its Olympic athletes so it seemed a fitting place for a run. It’s a really nice park with tons of ball fields, playgrounds, and the borough’s largest swimming pool (which was decidedly closed yesterday). I’m surprised they don’t host any road races up here.

Following my loop of the park it was off to the 170th street IRT station for my return to Manhattan. During my 8 miler run I saw some interesting stuff but now I really want to return for some more exploring.

There's a map of my run after the jump: