Yankee Stadium Run

The seeds of running to Yankee Stadium were planted in my head when I read about the BxM Run in the Summer issue of New York Runner Magazine. Part of the route takes the runner past Yankee Stadium via River St. in the Bronx, over the Macombs Dam Bridge, onto the Harlem River Speedway, and finally into Inwood at the Northern tip of Manhattan.

Not that I need an excuse to run in New York City but it does take more planning on my part since I live in New Jersey. The boys and I had tickets for today's game vs. Chicago. Game time was at 1:05. Going with boys involves going a few hours early to tailgate in one of the outdoor lots before the game. So instead of going with the boys in the car, I decided that I would meet them and run to the Stadium.

Last night, I arranged with Allen to meet up at the George Washington Bridge and run some miles together. We planned to meet at 9:30 on the NY side of the bridge. Before I headed out, I dropped a bag of clean clothes and other supplies with my buddy MB. Around 8:30 I started my run. It's about 5 miles from house to the bridge. To get there on foot, I would have to conquer a nasty hill. I ran at a comfortable pace knowing that I needed fresh legs for the climb up to the bridge.

The base of the hill (Fort Lee Rd., to be exact) begins at the entrance to Overpeck County Park which borders Teaneck and Leonia, among others. I started off slowly, focusing on keeping on foot in front of the other.




 

 The hill seemed to go on forever. Finally, I crested the hill and saw this sign. I knew I had done it. I kept going knowing that is was all downhill (literally) from this point to the GWB. When I arrived at the GWB, Allen was already there waiting for me. About half way across the span I looked down at my Garmin and saw that nothing had changed since I crossed an intersection near the bridge. Oh well, shit happens.



My original plan was to extend the run by running up the West Side Greenway to Dykman St. and then cut across Dykman St to the Harlem River Speedway. Allen kept saying he knows where he's going so I followed him. Next thing I know, we're in Inwood Hill Park running more hills than I wanted to. We exited the park at the Northern tip of Manhattan near where the Columbia Lions play football. The rest of the run was either flat or downhill. We picked up the Harlem River Speedway at Dykman St.and ran along the East River to 155th St. It started to get hot and I was running out of water since I didn't plan on such a long run.

We stopped at a bodega at 155th St. for some Gatorade. I poured the rest into my bottle and parted ways with Allen. He headed south towards home and I towards the Macombs Dam Bridge. I ran across the bridge like it was the last half mile of a marathon. Finally my "finish line" came into view: the old stadium (top) on the right and the new stadium (Bottom) on the left.

I cooled down by walking to the Harlem River North Parking lot to meet up with the boys. DG was already cooking appetizers, jalapeno poppers with non-dairy cream cheese and lox. Next came the main course: homemade sausage patties, BBQ beans, non-dairy cheese (because mixing meat and milk is forbidden), and guacamole in flour tortillas.

I took my bag of stuff and headed to the nearest port-a-potty to change and "freshen up." I overcame the "ick" factor courtesy of MB's canister of Wet Ones. I wiped a few of those over my grimy body and felt pretty fresh.

As for the game itself, the Yankees won 8-3. Damon and Teixeira hit home runs. Here is the view from our seats, Main Section 208, Row 15. It was a great day with a good run, good food, good friends, and a Yankees win.





Lastly, I'll share the elevation profile of the run so you can see the hill I had run up on the way to the GWB. You can see the full route here.

Hope everyone everyone had a great weekend of running.!