Monday, May 18, 2009

10 Things You Need to Know for the Brooklyn Half

Number 10 ... the course. And it's changed, as of today, according to the NYRR Web site.

Start: On Center Drive in Prospect Park.

Course: Turn left onto West Drive South, then left onto Wellhouse Drive, north on East Drive, returning to West Drive; one more complete loop of Prospect Park before exiting West Drive onto Prospect Park Southwest to Park Circle; Ft Hamilton Parkway to North Bound Lane of Ocean Parkway travelling south onto Surf Avenue (East Bound Lane); left turn onto West 2nd entrance ramp onto boardwalk (near handball courts); turn right (west) on boardwalk.

Finish: On boardwalk behind Keyspan Field.

Confused? Don't have the East/West/Center drives memorized? Here's a link to the course map. Basically, you'll have to take a sharp left onto a downhill right after the start, take another sharp left, run the transverse by the lake, and then start doing counterclockwise loops. You'll do a total of almost 7 miles in the park, including Zoo Hill twice (but you will have a nice downhill stretch three times.)

One comment about the start, and I wonder if this will stay in place. The sharp left onto the lower transverse by the lake (Wellhouse Drive) is tough to do at the best of times. With thousands of people pounding down the hill (many of whom won't be in the proper starting place to be begin with), there's plenty of potential for some massive wipeouts, particularly if it's slick out that morning.

More to come ...

6 comments:

matt said...

i'm running the brooklyn half which is my first one. does anyone know if nyrr allows you to wear headphones during the race?

Brooklyn Runner said...

Matt, you can, though it's discouraged.

Without getting into the headphone debate (I'm against them for races), let me suggest that if you do wear them, keep the volume low so you can hear other runners - especially at the beginning, where there's going to be a logjam.

Brooklyn Runner said...

And, good luck! Brooklyn is a great race to be your first half. Take it easy on the hills in the park in the beginning (I'll have a post on this later in the week) and get your mind focused on the final 6 flat miles.

Unknown said...

is it odd that the water/fluid stations are every two miles? I ran the 8k race back in march and the water was practically every mile. Also, because I'm used to running with a water bottle, I sip pretty much whenever I want :/ I guess I'll have to remember to chug!

Lizz said...

My first half as well, and first time commenting, though I've been lurking for awhile.

Man, my heart momentarily leapt to my throat when I wondered, "wait, what if headphones really are banned?" At this juncture, music is my life line for distance running, which I hope will one day not be an issue--but yes, point taken, I will keep the volume low at the beginning. I am confused as to why we aren't just doing a full two loops around the outer perimeter of the park...why deal with Wellhouse Drive at all? Oh well.

Good luck to all!

Anonymous said...

This is my first Half Marathon as well. (Crossing it off my Bucket List. :-)) My longest run so far is 11 miles. I'm nervous about the hills in Prospect Park. I've never been there but have heard that it is challenging. How bad is it? What do newbies need to know about surviving the hills? Can you provide any details of the terrain? How many uphills? How steep and long... Thanks for any info/advice!