Love That Dirty Water

 My dream of running in the Boston Marathon is rapidly coming to a close.  I am unsure if I could run 26 miles at one time, much less with a time limit.  However, nothing stops me from running in Boston, one of America's most iconic running cities.  I had to take my wife to Logan Airport on this sunny May Thursday, so I decided to go a little further, park at the Blue Line's Wonderland garage, take the subway to MGH, and do a lap of the Charles River.

The wait at Wonderland proved to be longer than expected due to the almost daily issues with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.   Things went from bad to worse when we passengers were informed of a switch problem with a cable, so we had to walk from one station to another early in the trip   A half-hour ride took about seventy-five minutes, but at last, I was off the train and heading briskly down Commonwealth Avenue towards the river.   When reaching Coolidge Square, a nice pedestrian bridge goes over the busy main roads and puts you safely on the bike path.

I was planning on heading west for my main run, so I chose to head east to warm up.  A short run took me under the Longfellow Bridge, up and around the softball fields, and back to my starting point.  I made note of a few porta-johns in the area; I figured there would be more along the main route.  I was very wrong.

After some quick warmups, I was ready to go, heading west along the river as planned.  The first thing I noticed was that there was not a singular path; you could choose from two and sometimes more paths taking a different angles in the same direction.  At about.5k, I passed the Hatch Shell, home to the Boston Pops and other outdoor concerts.

At a little past the one-kilometer mark, a single path becomes more defined, running parallel with Storrow Drive   At just under 2k, you will pass under the Mass Ave. Bridge   I am pretty sure this artwork was done below the Tressel, but to be honest, dehydration was starting to set in, so my memory is a little foggy.

 

I also took note of some rowing teams on the Charles River.

Got to keep moving. At about the 3k mark, I can see the BU Bridge that I am planning to cross and along with it, the pedestrian overpass that I am going to have to cross to access the bridge.  This overpass presents new challenges; it was a steep climb with steps that is not only tough on the legs but slows down the pace as well.  There was another set of steps after this one to access the bridge, but I opted to circle around Boston University and get to the bridge from Commonwealth Avenue.  Dehydrated and not seeing anyone less than forty years younger than me, I trudge on.

Crossing the BU bridge puts me at 4 kilometers, halfway to today's goal.  It also puts me on the Cambridge side of the river.  There is a smooth right off the bridge, and you are right on the well-defined bike path.  The path runs parallel to Memorial Drive, and it seemed to be more utilized by runners than on the Boston side.  The path is dotted by several boathouses and sailing pavilions.  A word of warning, the path does not travel under the Harvard Bridge as it does on the Boston side; you will have to navigate an extremely busy and treacherous intersection.  Apologies to the car that had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting me.

At six kilometers, I am starting to run out of gas.  Seeing several runners blow by me, having difficulty setting my run/walk pace and being psyched by a number of dry water fountains, I am starting to think less of this iconic running venue and more about just finishing up.  Getting from the bike path to the Longfellow Bridge requires crossing three busy intersections, and if you do not hit them just right, you might find yourself having to double back to avoid getting completely lost.  Luckily for me, I hit the first intersection right, and the next two intersections were fairly easy to navigate.  I entered the Longfellow Bridge at 7k.

The Longfellow is a busy thorofare, accommodating cars, trains, cyclists, and pedestrians.  The busyness kept my mind off of the fatigue that I was now feeling, but I could not really give it a final kick due to the many people on the sidewalk.  I crossed the bridge and ended up right where I started, doing a few short loops by the Community Boathouse to get to five miles.  My time was 1:05:44, not a great effort, even considering the novelty of the route.

Rush hour was starting to ramp up, so my "commute" home took about three solid hours.  It's always nice to seek out a new route, especially one so well-known in the running community.  It will probably be a while before I try this one again.