World Run II / Reports

The map shows the position of which the pictures for the day are taken (if any). The start and finish markers are placed at the first and last valid registered position. This is not nessesary the actual start and finish position, if GSM or GPS signals was not available.

Goto: 2012-04-02 2012-04-04 Usa

2012-04-03:

35
Distance today: 40.0 km (Accumulated: 34402.0 km)
Elapsed time: 03:58:14
Country: Usa

Start 09:58am., 11c, clear & medium wind, at cross of county-road 520 & hwy.9. Finish 14:57pm., 17c, allmost clear & same, at cross of Hylan Blvd. & Midland Ave., on Staten Island.

On better roads.. :-)

- The choice of taking a restday yesterday to research the roads ahead for the stages into New York City definately proved to be a benefit !

Contrary to what I could have expected the dangerous roadconditions from the previous stages between the big cities on the East Coast wasnt the main impression from todays 40km run from the mainland onto Staten Island. Instead it became a pleasant run on the quieter roads that I had chosen, often with possibilities of pavement to run on - and even a bike lane for a few miles (!! an absolute rarety on this East-Coast route so far ;-)

This gave surplus not only for the running, wich always benefits a lot when I can use most of the energy on the running itself and not survival in the traffic, - but also to appreciate the ambience; local life along the route and the spring coming with blooming cherrytrees out on Staten Island.

And while Staten Island with a population of about half a million people is the smallest borough of New York City its history goes far back in time: Its first know settlements dates back to right after the last ice-age when the area again became inhabitable 14 000y. ago. Before the first Europeans reached the island in 1524
(Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano) it was populated by the native-american Lenape people. It definately was interesting running across an area so rich in history, and even more so since the oldest burial grounds of the native people was found near some of the roads I ran on today. And not least the thoughts of the values of the native tribes. Treasuring nature and having only few claims on land and animals in their traditional understanding of the relation between human & nature certainly resonates with the perhaps a bit sharp cut report two days ago.. :-)

- As a thourghtful contrast to the areas I am now running through, I'll re-post the link to a small video by one of my excellent support-drivers, Alexander Hamlin, while I was running through South America last year as part of the world run 2 route around the world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gmDm8tHMVA

NB: As you can see from the pictures as well as from the endomondo gps-track (link below this report) there was a bridge at 24km's wich I was not allowed to run across. I did the standard thing in those cases: Finished at the closest point I could get to the bridge, then paused the gps-tracker, took a documentation photo. Got into the support-car across the bridge. Off the car at the exit of the bridge, documentation photo, re-start of gps-tracker and on with the running again.. The precise data of the stop was: Bridge onto Staten Island on road 440, at 24km's into the run, stop at 12:48; re-start on the other side of the bridge at 12:59 (see pictures and gps-data for further info). The same procedure will be the case when crossing the Verrazzano Narrows bridge onto Brooklyn on tomorrows run !

PS: Should anyone wish to join the run tomorrow, the timeline is

10:30am. Start from the cross of Hylan Blvd. & Midland Ave., on Staten Island.

11am. Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, North/Brooklyn side.

11am. to 12:

4. Avenue/Ft. Hamilton Park, at the Verazano Narrows,

Then following the 4.Ave. for about 4miles.

Then left onto Atlantic Ave. And on that one for approx. ½mile.

Then right onto Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard and across the Brookly Bridge.

12:30 to 13:30:
From Brooklyn Bridge onto 1.Ave. and North towards Central Park and Colombus Circle.

Finish point for tomorrows stage: Colombus Circle.