his run was "iffy" for about the last week and a half. My running partner Susan and I ran to the NY Botanical Garden just three weeks ago (see in my blog) and decided at that time to avoid weekends due to the crowding in the galleries, and come back on a weekday. But we wanted a sunny weekday to get the most out of the visit. She plans to fly to Rome next Wednesday (April 4th) to do the Rome Marathon and we were running out of sunny weekdays. Then her crowded pre-Rome schedule suddenly opened up and we decided to do it today (Saturday) after all, but leave early to arrive at 10 when the place opens, to beat the crowds. So we agreed to meet at 8:00 — 2 hours would be plenty of time to run the 8-9 miles to the NYBG by 10:00. And it would be sunny!

Then came the proposed route ...

As you can see from the map, Susan proposed a route far to the east of what we had done in the past. It turns out she had taken the 6 train recently for some appointments in the East Bronx and, looking out the elevated train window, she wondered what that bike path was doing in some kind of park right on the Bronx River. The river had for years been bordered by trash, abandoned cars and deserted industrial buildings.

She Googled it and found that it was the recently opened ! Say What? Concrete Plant Park? That's the name of a park? And it turns out that just a bit further up the Bronx River we would run through . And further up the river from that is the Bronx Zoo, and lastly the NY Botanical Garden.

So instead of doing "Yet Another Run to the NY Botanical Garden", we decided to forget about the crowds at the NYBG, forget about getting there early, and just agree to explore new neighborhoods and especially new parks. The rehabilitated Bronx River had hijacked our run, now titled the "The Bronx River Run"!

If you make this run, check both the map and the photo album to figure out confusing sections. If you click on the map (right), you will get the USATF map which can be maximized to full page by clicking the symbol on the upper right of the map

So off we went shortly after 8:00 on our way for an adventure to unknown places ...

From Carl Schurz Park up to Bruckner Boulevard (about 5 miles)

usan lives a few blocks from Carl Schurz Park so I count the park as our starting point. But when we got there and I took a photo, she said, "We can't go that way, they have closed the promenade along the river between here and 96th Street." OK, so we zigzagged over to First Avenue and went up to 96th Street and got on the river.

We went over the pedestrian bridge at 103rd Street to Wards/Randall's Island and started circling around the west side of the island and worked our way under the highway and up to the trestles that support the Amtrak RR tracks. After skirting a fenced off area we got onto the bike path and headed north under the tracks, crossed over the bike/foot bridge to the Bronx and came out on 132nd St.

We wanted to get to where 138th St. crosses under the Bruckner, so we went right on 132nd, left on Walnut and left on 138th to the west side of the Bruckner. We needed to be on the Bruckner Blvd on the west side of the elevated expressway. We could have run the 2+ miles to get to the first park entirely on this boulevard, but it's not a pleasant road. So we took Jackson north to 145th (pausing to run in and out of Saint Mary's Park), then 145th East to Southern Blvd. We then took a right on 149th and a left on Timpson to the Bruckner Blvd. This is hardly the only way we could have gone. In retrospect I think staying on Southern Blvd till Hunts Point Ave would have been less noisy and dirty than the Bruckner Blvd. Next time maybe we'll try that.

Up along the Bruckner and then through the two new River Parks (about 3 miles)

hen we left you, we were on the Bruckner Blvd on the west (left hand) side of the elevated Bruckner Expressway. We kept on until the elevated portion of the road turns to the left (this becomes the Sheridan Expressway) and the Bruckner Expressway turned turns to the right as it descends to ground level. You must stay on the sidewalk and go under the Sheridan and cross over the blue bridge (which goes over the tracks). From here on, the part of Bruckner Blvd on the north side, the Expressway, and the Blvd on the south side are all side by side at ground level and you cannot cross from one side to the other. After crossing the blue bridge you will shortly be at the entrance ramp that leads down to the left to Concrete Plant Park. Be careful here, it's the only way into the park.

The first thing you will see is a gigantic Concrete Plant, all painted rusty red right in the center of the park, with the Bronx River on the right, the tracks and the Sheridan Expressway on the left, and the elevated 6 subway line crossing over the park in the distance behind the Concrete Plant (see the photo, left). The Plant actually consists of remnants of the original plant which went out of business in the 1980s. It was cleaned up, made structurally sound, painted and put behind a fence. To me, this has to be one of a kind, and it's huge!

The park is small with great views of the river with seasonal waterfowl but not a single recreational area. But near the north end there is an perched above the track, which is definitely not structurally sound (see the photo in the album, link below). The story is the railroad wanted to demolish it as a hazard, but a local conservancy wanted it preserved for its historical value. My advice: fix it up or it will fall down by itself, maybe while a train roars by underneath. Note: don't be on that train!

When you exit the park, you will be on the Westchester Ave. Bridge. The elevated 6 line we saw when we entered the park is actually above the roadway. Cross over, go left about a block, then right on the Sheridan Expressway access road. In about 3 blocks you will reach the entrance to Starlight Park on the right.

This is a larger park, with land on both side of the river and lots of recreational areas: a soccer field and a basketball court were both full of activity when we got there. We crossed under the 174th Street bridge (with ramps down to the park) and a bridge to the other (east) side of the river. There's a lovely wooded area here and we spotted some just before the Cross Bronx Expressway passed over head. When we exited the park we were at 177th Street and one block ahead was East Tremont Ave. Get ready for the Bronx Zoo, it's coming up very soon.

Through the Bronx Zoo and finally to the NYBG (about 3 miles)

rom where we left off, we went west (left) on East Tremont to Boston Road. That is where the elevated 2 and 5 lines run. Then it's about 3 blocks north to the entrance to the Bronx Zoo.

While we were somewhere along the way, Susan had said something like "We can just run around the zoo when we get out of Starlight Park by going over Tremont, then straight up Southern Boulevard to the Garden" ... pause ... "But what do you say we just jog through the zoo, I have my card to get us in", to which I said "Can we run in there?", "Sure, once we get past the gate". So I innocently said "great, let's do it."

Problem is, everybody loves the zoo, Susan, me, you, my grandchildren, everybody. And you can't just "Jog through it". You gotta see the snow leopards, you gotta see the lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Oops no, skip the bears. So we tried to move along, but we spent almost an hour there.

And look at the map on the right: why are we going out and around in loops within loops in the upper right corner of the zoo? That's called missing a turn. Just before the 9 mile mark we were supposed to take a left to the main road and leave the park at the Fordham Road exit. Click on the map and look carefully at the enlarged image — the missed turn and intended exit are marked on the map in red. Instead of the intended route we went to the right and out the Bronx River Parkway exit, after looping around a bit. This added well over a mile to our trip, and not a little fatigue. But there was one positive thing we got out of this: we saw the , including two water falls, along the extra inner loop.

But we did what we did (but don't you do it) and ended up exhausted but happy at the entrance to the NYBG, some 10.85 miles and 3½ hours after we started. (Susan's Garmin says it was 11.39 miles, probably because the Garmin recorded all the little twists, turns, and meanderings we did — they do add up.)

At last, the New York Botanical Garden

hen we finally got to the Botanical Garden it was about 11:40 and we were famished (and exhausted). Since the Botanical Garden Café was at this entrance, I changed from my running stuff and we shared a freshly cooked magarita pizza from the Café — it was not bad — and we demolished it. After sitting and relaxing for a while, we made our way down to the Conservatory for the Orchid Show. It was crowded, as we expected, in fact probably more crowded than it was 3 weeks before.

So we squeezed our way through the first gallery and finding the next gallery only slightly less crowded, we soldiered on until we finally got to the Desert gallery. It was not crowded at all! I guess nobody could get that far because of the crowds .

We also noticed that because we had bright sunlight all day, the orchids seemed more vivid than usual. The photos I took in the last two galleries were as beautiful as I can recall.

But the most unexpected thing happened just as we got out of the conservatory and heard someone calling "Sue, Sue". We finally realized they were calling Susan. We turned around and there were Kathy and Victor with Kathy's sister. We have known them from years ago and we also get together practically every year when we all volunteer at the NYC Marathon Power Gel station and then go out for margaritas and guacamole at a local Tex-Mex place. I first met Victor when I went to his house in New Rochelle after the Westchester Half-Marathon back in (I think) 1991. Yikes! that was like 27 years ago. We chatted for a while and then took our leave. They both looked great and they said the same for us (liars, all of us!).

We were headed for the Old Mill on the Bronx River but on the way we decided to check out the Azalea Garden which was sort-of on the way. This involved a modest amount of climbing and the azaleas seemed to be concentrated along the path on the down hill side. As you can see, they stand out like sentinels before a forest of not-yet-budding trees. As for the hill, I was feeling the effects of my morning's run and I started to favor one side.

Then we headed towards the Bronx River, crossing it on a bridge from which we had good views of the river and the old mill. I'm told the mill was active in the 19th century taking locally grown tobacco and grinding it into snuff, so it was often referred to as the Snuff Mill. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in; it is only used for special events.

But it was in this section where you could see the river in its pristine state. The forest here is "old growth", never having been harvested, and it is said to be the only such area in all of New York City. We walked along and eventually came to a pedestrian bridge, high above the river gorge. Unfortunately we had to start back since I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

So we climbed some steps to get up to the bridge level and then crossed back over the river to the west side. On the way we saw the "First Butterfly of Spring", a on a fence post. Then it was up and over the ridge on the Bridge Trail to the main road (during which I was listing to one side) where we made a quick visit to the Rock Garden — which I sat out while Susan checked it out.

Finally, we made the long walk out of the Garden to the train station (where I carefully stayed away from the edge of the platform) and in 20 minutes I was in Grand Central and in 30 minutes more I was home. Three days later, my legs were as good as new (or at least as good as they were Friday).