CONEY ISLAND CREEK 5K

I like pleasant surprises.

My friend Josh was instrumental in helping to bring back the Brooklyn Triple Crown series of footraces.  The series ran for many years but after Hurricane Sandy hit New York the series went away.  I already knew about the Staten Island Triple Crown and even ran two out of the three races.  The same people, Complete Race Solutions and the Staten Island Athletic Club, organize both series.

For some reason I thought the Coney Island Creek 5K (CIC5K) was going to take place on a Sunday.  It's summertime and the family wants to have things to do on Sundays so it appeared I wouldn't be able to participate.  What I love about the CIC5K is it was really close to home.  It is basically within Kaiser Park near Mark Twain Middle School.  I used to run there regularly.  I cannot stand races that require me to travel more than an hour, wait around perhaps another hour, then do the race in 30 minutes or more, then another trek to get home.  With the CIC5K, I would be able to just walk over, 20 minutes maybe, 30 minutes top.

Eventually I realized that the race would be on a Saturday.  Sure I could register but I was going to take advantage of the special discount on Independence Day.  I should have registered during the day because in the evening the family watched the fireworks display on the beach of Coney Island and the exodus from the area was horrible.  I don't know for sure what caused the traffic jam, maybe just too many cars leaving the area at the same, from the fireworks and from the soccer game at MCU Park.  Or maybe it was because of some FDNY truck blocking one of the lane.  Whatever it was, I got home really late and missed the discount deadline.  I was bummed.  But then Thursday night I happened to pass by the packet pickup site, VitaminShoppe at Caesar's Bay.  I figured it's a local race that I want to support so I finally registered that evening.

I did walk to the race site, in 31 minutes according to Strava.  I met friend Sheldon for a warmup run on the nearby streets.  At the NYRR Queens 10K a few weeks ago, I also had a warmup run and I felt better during and after the actual race.  I thought from now on I should always have a warmup run.  Besides, I need to cross off a few streets in the area, for CityStrides.com of course.  I am sure I ran the nearby streets before, somehow the lines don't show in CityStrides.  As more friends show up, I learn that Jimmy is in my age group and I joked that my hope for first-place age group is dashed, I would have to settle for second-place.  With the typical NYRR and NYCRuns races, the number of participants is so large that the chance of a slowpoke like me winning anything is infinitesimally small.  The chance is greater with the smaller races and there are many such races in the City.  I recently turned 50 years old too so there is hope there too.  One popular joke is that if you live long enough, eventually as long as you finish a race you'll win because you'll be the only person in the Age Group.  There weren't that many people at the CIC5K but I didn't know who else were in my Age Group, other than Jimmy.  I would just have to do my best and hope for the best.

There was no start mat.  When the time came, the race director walked the group over to the starting line and, after a few speeches, gave us the signal to go.  I was only a tad behind the starting line, probably at the fifth row, with about five or six people per row.  I jokingly asked "Where is Corral L?"  There was no need for a corral, just a small group of people.  During the warmup run, my left knee felt a bit weird.  The pain seemed to travel down below the calf but it went away afterward.  I did more stretching during the wait for the race to start.  Whatever it was I held back a bit in the beginning.  It was a bit scary to see all the runners in front of me taking off.  I just kept my regular pace.  There was no need to dodge slow runners because there were not that many people and the course was wide enough.  One by one I passed the kids then the women who went into walking mode.  I know, nothing to write home about, but in the running world, lots of time the little kids are pretty fast and so are the women.  Just as I started to pass the front of Mark Twain M.S., some guys started to pass me.  I thought they were such fast runners that they already started to lap me, even though I didn't even hit the first mile yet.  I found out later that they were late-comers, speedy ones, who thought the race was scheduled for 9 A.M.  It was 8:30 A.M. but got delayed a bit.  I kept moving and again passed two more women.  There was a third woman but I couldn't catch up to her in the first mile.  By the second mile, she had to take walking break and it was my chance to pass her but before I did that she resumed running.  A short while later, by the sandy portion of the course, she walked again and this time I actually passed her.  My lead was short-lived as she resumed running shortly after I passed her and she regained the lead.  Unfortunately for her not long after passing me she had to walk again.  I once again passed her and kept going.  I should have studied the course better and only knew vaguely that it was two times around the park, that the third time I hit the entrance to the track I should enter it for about a loop of the track.  I wasn't sure by the time I finished the second loop of the park and had to ask the race director to confirm.  I was so glad it was over.  Hot and humid weather does not work well for me.  I perform better in cold weather.

Award ceremony took place by registration table.  First we had the overall winners then came the Age Group awards.  Many of my teammates from the Prospect Park Track Club won Age Group awards, many in first-place.  For my Age Group, 50-59, when the third-place winner was announced and it wasn't me, my hope was dashed.  Oh well, run faster or find another small race, I thought.  But it turned out I was the second-place winner, with Jimmy in first-place, just as I joked before the race.  Pleasant surprise indeed!

Last month I ran the Harbor Fitness 5K in Bayridge.  There were many raffle prizes given out but I didn't win anything.  In the days leading up to the CIC5K, Josh had many announcements on Facebook about so-and-so sponsors had come on-board and will offer raffle prizes.  In addition to the Chipotle BOGO coupon and $2 (?) Coney Island Brewing Co. that every runner would get, that is.  There were indeed many prizes, ranging from baseball caps to socks then $15 Grimaldi coupon and $25 Brooklyn Running Co. gift card.  There were other very high-valued prizes too that I cannot recall at the moment.  Knowing my luck, I didn't expect much but when the winner for the last $25 BRC gift card was picked, the person wasn't present and my number was picked!  Woohoo!  Second-place Age Group AND a $25 gift card, the day sure started on a good note!

WELCOME TO CONEY ISLAND!

Welcome to Coney Island!  Some time ago I ran the route for "Coney" but never got around to adding "Island", until this week.  It is a good thing that I took advantage of the open space in Leon Kaiser Park to make most of "Coney" because the island (which is not really an island any more) is not "tall" enough to give me much room to work with.  I thought of using the space between the Boardwalk and the beach but running on sand is no fun.  I studied what was available and what I did with "Coney" and concluded that I could do it with Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk.  Because of constructions, some streets no longer led to the Boardwalk but good thing I have that one trick in my bag.  I just had to run back and forth over some streets, but technically I can cut through walls and other objects.  For the I, I could have jumped off the Boardwalk and land on the sand below but to be safe I used my technique.

Onward to Sheepshead Bay!

SCENE FROM A RUN: BROKEN STREETCHARGE, BLOCKED CAUSEWAY

Tracing out phrases and words while out on a run is fun and all but I'm usually restricted to areas close to home.  Some such run may cover 10 km or more but in reality I would be just a few blocks from home.  One thing I like about running is getting to see different parts of my neighborhood.  I miss all that, so today I made a loop to include a part of the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, one which I haven't ran lately.  My original plan was to re-visit the AT&T StreetCharge to see if they would work with my Android phone now, which uses a micro-USB connection.  Last time I tried, there were some micro-USB cables but none of them work.  Today it was even worse!  Between the two charge stations there should be a few micro-USB cables but in reality there was only one.  Where there should be cables there was none.  I suspect it was a result of vandalism, sad.  The one micro-USB cable remained again didn't work, at least not with my phone.

Another unpleasant surprise I got was that the footbridge connecting the F train West 8th Station and the Boardwalk was closed permanently.  At first I thought it was just under construction, but the sign said "permanently".  I know certain section of it was under repair, as evidenced by the chain-link fence, but it seems the entire bridge will be taken down.  There goes my favorite way to cross Surf Avenue.  I wonder if it's just a bad wording of the construction.

I love footbridges in general, but this particular one is part of my mostly car-free route from home to the Boardwalk.  Starting at Stillwell Avenue and Avenue V, I mostly travel along the Coney Island Rail Yard and have to actually cross the street only once, at Neptune Avenue.  While running, the less I have to deal with cars the better.  In the future, I'll just have to cross Surf Avenue, not that it's that busy in the early morning when I run.  Of course, it takes only one bad driver to ruin the experience.  I know, I know, First World Problem, but it's still a problem.

There is juice in the station, as the green light is on, reflected on the platform, but cable didn't work.

"CAUSEWAY PERMANENTLY CLOSED", oh no!

The soon-to-be-demolished causeway?  In the back is the famed Cyclone roller coaster.

Access to the F train West 8th Station is blocked off by boards.

FREE OUTDOOR MOVIES

For the longest time I wanted to attend one of those free outdoor movie showings.  Chances are the movies are old but it's the experience that matters more.  The viewers are not limited to a particular indoor space, the sky is overhead, sitting may not be most comfortable but that's beside the point.  The free admission helps too.  I believe the very first instance I knew of such showing is that at Bryan Park in Manhattan, behind the New York Public Library's Research Library.  It's been so long I cannot remember why I never attended the movies at Bryan Park.  Maybe it started too late in the evening, such that even though I worked in Manhattan I would have to hang around the city a few hours after work just to wait for the movie to start.  Maybe it always showed on a certain day of the week that I normally scheduled to pick up my girlfriend from college.  Whatever the case, I never went.  Years passed and I learned of more similar showing, in particular the Flicks on the Beach series in Coney Island.  I've lived near Coney about fifteen years now but I finally went to a beach movie this week.  Coney itself I didn't explore until many years after moving into the area.  I recall when I first moved here I heard that it's possible to walk to Coney Island.  Only in recent years when I started to get serious with the sports of outdoor running that I actually visited Coney regularly.  The People's Playground, you have beach, the boardwalk, famous rides, but all these years I didn't visited it.  Better late than never.

The movie was Men in Black 3.  I went with my son and a nephew.  Before the movie we bought dinner from Nathan's.  Also parked the car in a lot for $10.  Nephew and son each spent about $20 at the arcade in Luna Park.  I definitely did my part in supporting the local economy.

It was a beautiful evening, not hot and not cold.  My son's feet felt cold near the end of the evening but I felt fine.  In the car we happened to have two beach towels, courtesy of TD Bank from some event, and they served the three of us just fine.  Some people had beach chairs, others just sat on the sand, then there are others who came complete with blankets and pillows.  By the time I arrived many people already settled down, but there were room to walk about, at least from the middle to the back.  The screen was not as big as I thought it would be but it did the job.  Being inflatable, it introduced curves to the images on the film but after a while you get used to it.  The audio system was good, except, lucky me, I sat near some motormouth woman who yapped constantly during the movie, something about some other woman or man she didn't get along with.  Sheesh, if you want to whine, why not do it in the comfort of your home and not bother the people at a beach movie.  Other annoyances with the setting include wafting cigarette smokes, vendors hawking their wares (snacks, beach seats), and people in the front getting up to leave.  Oh yeah, some idiot briefly shone a laser dot onto the screen.  Just minor annoyances that cannot be helped when a big group of people is involved.  Overall it was orderly, as far as I can tell.  When it was time to leave, it didn't take us too long to get past the boardwalk onto the street and back to the car.

I enjoyed the experience very much.  The movie itself was so-so, time travel and the usual jokes in the Men in Black franchise.  Good screen, good audio, good scenery, although next time I plan to bring a beach chair, plenty of food and drink nearby available for purchase, unless you are too lazy to get up and decide to patronize those vendors who snake their way among the crowd shouting and interrupting the show.  The nearest restroom was that in Luna Park but the relatively new public ones, on columns above the beach, are not far away.  I am thinking of catching Fame in two weeks, but for that I would have to go by myself as I don't know anyone else in the family who would want to watch it.  I just love the music, not care much about the story.  Better yet, I plan to go see Huey Lewis and the News, for a different free series, but also in Coney Island, on August 15.

Flicks on the Beach, with help from Rooftop Films etc.

Beautiful runner's toes, no missing nails, yet!

Happy Daddy!

Wonder Wheel!

STREETCHARGE FOR CONEY

When I first heard about the AT&T StreetCharge stations, I came across a map that included Coney Island, with a scheduled installation date of July 2.  Free charging of cell phones and such thanks to AT&T and the sun.  Solar energy, baby!

July 2 came and I ran to Coney Island to find the StreetCharge station.  By then I already saw the station on Governors Island, but it would still be nice to see one right in my neighborhood.  When I last used Google Direction to find the Coney station, I was directed to the entrance of MCU Stadium's parking lot.  No luck though.  Just to be thorough, I even ran the boardwalk, from Stillwell Avenue to the western end.  It makes no sense to have the station in some place away from the crowd on the boardwalk, but I wanted to see if the western section of the boardwalk was re-opened, so it was no time lost.  There's always a run to get out of these, uh, runs, so it's never time lost.

A chance discovery on Flickr and I learned that Coney got its StreetCharge station around July 12.  I had some plumbing last night and it took most of today's morning and half of the afternoon to get it fixed.  The sight of water swirling down the drain was so beautiful, I should have recorded it.  Anyway, the first chance I got I made a run to Coney Island, even though the weather was not optimal. I had a bottle of water with me and I plan to use the relatively new restroom in Coney Island to cool down mid-run.  Mere steps from the restroom near West 8th Street, what did I see?  A StreetCharge station!  Two blocks west, at West 10th Street, was another.  Alas, the micro-USB connection at both stations did not work for my Galaxy I phone.  A few people stopping by the station also had troubles, so it's not just my phone.  The iPhone 4 connection worked for my iPhone, so that's good.  One USB connection already disappeared though.  Probably ripped off by someone thinking it was fun.  Or someone who enjoy destroying public properties.  I know, I am pessimistic and readily dismissed the idea that the USB connection was not installed in the first place.  I just hope that I'm wrong.  While I'm hoping, I also hope to have one of those SmartTap water stations in Coney some day too.

AT&T StreetCharge, the pole with the three blades at the top to catch sun rays, at West 8th Street and Boardwalk in Coney Island.  In the background, on the beach, is the new restroom, a welcome sight get relieved and refreshed.

AT&T StreetCharge at Boardwalk and West 10th Street, with The Cyclone roller-coaster in the background for reference.

SCENES FROM A RUN: BOARDWALK EAST

When I set out to run this morning, it resumed drizzling but I soldiered on and in the end the sun came out.  Made me think of my favorite Vietnamese proverb, "Sau cơn mưa trời lại sáng", that is, "After the rain the sky is bright again".  I was going to do just 8 km but upon reflecting on my personal fiscal cliff I thought it may help to go for 10 km.  I already decided to run to the Riegelman Boardwalk via MacDonald Avenue under the F train.  Eight km, that is 4 km out and 4 km back, normally would take me to the intersection of Ocean Parkway and the Boardwalk.  With 10 km, I was at the eastern end of the boardwalk, which was a place I haven't been to since Hurricane Sandy's visit.  Recall that I went as far as Tatiana's, as reported in SCENES FROM A RUN: POST-SANDY RIEGELMANN BOARDWALK.  It's been over a month, so much clean-up was done, I assume, so there was not that much sand in the eastern section of the boardwalk.  There was one place where some piece of the wooden boardwalk came off and had to be cordoned off, but otherwise the boardwalk looked healthy.  At the eastern end though, the bottom section of the ramp was taken over by the sand, as shown in the photos below.  I suppose the area is not of high importance and is still accessible, so there is no immediate need to remove the sand.

Speaking of 10 km, I will be running in the NYC Runs Hot Chocolate 5k/10K race this coming Sunday, in Roosevelt Island.  I prefer longer distances so I will do the 10 km race, set to start at 10 am.  It will be my first "free" run with NYC Runs.  I used the volunteer credit I got from helping out at the Verrazano Half in late September.  With race fees going up seemingly endlessly, earning a free race via volunteering is a good deal.  If you are on a tight budget but still want to run officially, i.e. not bandit run and have a guilt-free conscience, check out their volunteer program at https://nycruns.com/races/?race=volunteer .  It was recently expanded to include big races like the Brooklyn Marathon.

Some debris were collected on the beach at the eastern end of the boardwalk.

I am sure pre-Sandy the sand did not go that high up on the ramp's handrail.

Another view of the bottom section of the ramp, which is now covered with sand.

Questions of the day, which of the following phrases rhyme visually?  Audibly?

I love to gripe
About the Boardwalk and its ipe

Own a piece of history
Visit my store on eBay
Get yourself some ipe

SCENES FROM A RUN: CONEY ISLAND WEST

I did some heavy lifting yesterday and my arms are sore from the work.  I do need to spend more time doing core exercises, get the upper body into better shape.  The soreness, plus the gloomy rain, made me not want to run, so I did not run at all today.  The scenes in this blog post is from last week, when I ran along Stillwell to Coney Island then to the western end of the boardwalk.  I actually went with that route in two consecutive days, which is unusual for me.  The first day I went with a phone that was already low on battery life, so low that the phone itself wouldn't let me take photos of the changes I saw in Coney Island west.  So I came back the next day with a cell phone fully charged.

The boardwalk is mostly free of sand by now.  All that sand that Sandy blew onto the boardwalk went somewhere else. Note that it is not unusual to have some layers or patches of sand on the boardwalk.

The 27th Street dead end is where some of the sand was trucked over from elsewhere.  Them sands got to go somewhere and it's too much work to put in on the other side of the boardwalk, I am sure, and I am not being sarcastic.

Another view of the man-made sand dunes at 27th Street.

The western-most ramp of the boardwalk, at 37th Street, was closed.  One section of the railing was broken.

I think there used to be an impenetrable fence separating Sea Gate Community from the rest of Coney Island.

On the beach there are these corrals of junks collected after the storm.

Tons of garbage bags on the beach.

So there were piles of wood, then garbage bags, I suppose this is "Others".

Nathan's Hot Dogs is closed but the store at 86th Street and around Seventh Avenue is open for business.

CONEY RECOVERS - SUPPLY DISTRO

Today I had a little time to volunteer in Coney Island.  Coney Recovers' Facebook page says volunteers should be at MCU Park 9 AM sharp so I was there some 15 minutes before that time, but when 9 AM rolled around and I asked a volunteer coordinator she told me to wait a few minutes.  After what seemed to be a long time, a group of New York Cares volunteers came so I approached them and then walked in with the group, even donned their orange jacket, for the duration of the work.  Volunteer work is volunteer work, it does not matter to me really, as long as I get some work done.  Another volunteer group present was America Corps NCCC and some other groups joined later on, one from an Intermediate School, I believe.  Together we gave out water, instant noodles, hand warmers, cleaning supplies etc.  I was at the table to give out water.  All the residents patiently waited in the long line in the cold.  Most came prepared with a grocery cart while some came up with only big, black plastic bags.  It was nice to know that some people refused the water because they already had what they need from earlier distribution.

In other news, maybe it's true that the media only reports bad news.  So we saw photos of people lining up with jerry cans to buy gasoline for their disabled automobiles.  Now that the crisis is over, no news about it?  On my way to the volunteer site this morning, this is what I saw at the corner of Cropsey and Neptune.  Look ma, no lines!  Alert the media!

SCENES FROM A RUN: POST-SANDY RIEGELMANN BOARDWALK

For this morning's run, I re-visited the Riegelmann Boardwalk, better known as Coney Island Boardwalk.  It was the first time I ran a section of the Boardwalk since Hurricane Sandy's visit.  I'm happy to report that the C.I. Boardwalk is mostly intact.  I ran as far east as past Tatiana Restaurant then back west past MCU Park, so I didn't cover the entire Boardwalk, but what I saw was promising.  Some places, perhaps without local businesses' push, still had a layer of sand, but in most places the sand was gone.  The fishing pier on the west side was closed to the public because of some missing boards, perhaps a missing rail section too.  Past MCU Park there were some gaps on the floor, but then again the Boardwalk is old, maybe those gaps were there before the hurricane arrived.  Overall, the Riegelmann Boardwalk fared pretty well during Hurricane Sandy's visit.

Around Tatiana Restaurant the Boardwalk was clear of sand.

Around the hand-ball court, this is the more typical view - lots of sand on the Boardwalk.

Fishing pier is now off-limit.

About midway out into the water, the fishing pier has some loose boards, maybe a missing fence section, too.

Definitely not part of the Boardwalk, but I have a soft spot for public libraries so this image of the Coney Island Branch of the BPL is included.  Its doors were perhaps damaged by water and are now replaced by a wooden board.

CONEY RECOVERS

I spent most of today volunteering for Coney Recovers.  The night before I prepared a bag of school supplies to be donated and a separate backpack for me to carry throughout the event, with snacks and drink.  I made sure I knew where my steel-toed boots were, only to end up realizing that I wasn't wearing them midway to Coney Island.

In the morning, for the walk to Coney Island, I set the Charity Miles app on my Android phone to log the distance for Wounded Warriors.  I could have taken the subway, now that the trains run to the usual terminal in Coney, but I wanted to both save a little money and earn some extra money for WW, plus get a chance to win a T-shirrt.  Get more details on this latest Challenge at https://www.facebook.com/CharityMiles .  You most likely already missed the chance to walk for Saturday (unless you live on the West Coast) but you still can earn the extra 25¢, per mile, for Wounded Warriors.

I arrived at Tom's Restaurant with my own shovel and was assigned to work with a team going to Carey Garden building.  On the way out, I bumped into Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr., almost addressed him as Senator but realized in time by the time I shook his hands.  It was from his Facebook page that I found my way to the volunteer opportunity.

We started out working on cleaning the playground area of Carey Garden building.  I should have taken more photos of the setting before we worked, but at least I got the one below.  I think the water lifted the thick and heavy rubber tiles then the wave or wind just swept some sections under others.  We first swept away the debris, mostly leaves and twigs, then took many tiles apart in order to remove the pieces tucked underneath.  Did I say the pieces were heavy?  I know the wind and water moved many things, like gigantic trees and vehicles, but it was still amazing to think how these tiles were moved.  Eventually we got the pieces as even as humanly possible, using just team-work and hand-tools.  Silly me I thought I could just walk up the block to buy a sandwich for lunch.  No stores were opened.  There were two supermarkets across the playground but one was shuttered while the other, while with the gate up, was all dark inside and with a ladder leaning against the door.  I ended up accepting an apple from a fellow volunteer and subsisted on a rice crispy and a 100-calory bag of cookies.  After lunch we picked up litter in the parking lot and in the shrubs.  Lastly, we pulled the heavy bags of garbage and such to the sidewalk for an NYCHA truck to pick up, or to the Dumpster.  To my surprise, when I signed out I was given a Luna Park ticket equivalent to a 4-hour wrist-band.  Curiously, even though I registered online Saturday evening, the registration desk could not find my name in their database.  Maybe the records were not synced yet.

It was good to be able to help a small part of Coney Island get back to normal.  I look forward to spending a few more days next week with Coney Recovers.  To volunteer, check http://coneyrecovers.org/volunteer

Coney Island Boardwalk

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The nice thing with bicycling, versus jogging, is that theoretically I can go farther to carry out the exercise. With jogging, I would walk from home to Caesar's Bay shopping area and start jogging from there. With bicycling, instead of slowly pushing the bicycle, I would ride it to the destination. Bicycling should be faster than walking, so the time saved can be put into covering a longer distance, say, to get to a destination further away. Today, that destination was Coney Island. I just found out that Coney Island is about 2.6K from where I live, whereas Caesar's Bay is 1.6K away. That translates to 2K for a round trip.

It was not the first time I visited Coney Island, but rather the first time I was there unaccompanied. I was free to snap photos here and there without being slowed down or slowing down any company I would be with. A big group may be fun to be with sometimes but most of the time I prefer to be on my own, to do what I please.

I started around the Wonder Wheel then went east to the very end of the boardwalk. I totally forgot what this end of the boardwalk looks like. I was there a few years back with two nephews. We did not stop there but went on to the street and all the way to Manhattan Beach before heading back. For me, the goal today was just to reach one end then the other end and back to the starting point. Just my luck, I did not bring a real camera and my cell phone's battery died by the time I reached the western end of the boardwalk, so no photo for that end.

The distance I traveled today was about 8K, again 1K less than the maximum distance I reached with jogging. Oh well, something to do to burn the fat while the right foot recovers...