Where to Run in Brooklyn: Loops, Paths and Tracks
The Brooklyn running spots I send people to, with real distances: Prospect Park, the waterfront greenway, Coney Island, Marine Park and McCarren track.
Photo: Tdorante10, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
_105_-_Pier_2_Uplands,_Greenway.jpg){kind=link}
People ask me where to run in Brooklyn more than almost anything else. Here are the places I send them, with distances you can trust.
Prospect Park
The Prospect Park Alliance puts it at 3.36 miles. It is shared with cyclists. If you want the detail on hills, laps and timing, read How Long Is the Prospect Park Loop?.
The waterfront greenway
The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway is planned as a 29 mile route along the water, and the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative counts 22 miles of it as finished. You can link sections into a long, flat run. Brooklyn Bridge Park has its own wide greenway along the East River, which makes an easy out and back.
Shore Parkway
The greenway along the Belt Parkway in southern Brooklyn has been there since the 1950s, about 11 miles of it. It is flat, open and exposed to wind off the water, which makes it honest training for a long run.
Coney Island boardwalk
The Riegelmann Boardwalk runs from West 37th Street to Brighton 15th Street, about 2.7 miles by the landmark designation. Boards are softer underfoot than pavement, and in the off season you have room to move. A large reconstruction project is planned, so check for closed sections. More in Running the Coney Island Boardwalk.
Marine Park
NYC Parks lists the Marine Park greenway loop at 0.75 miles. It is flat, which makes it good for repeats and for anyone coming back from an injury who wants a short, predictable loop.
McCarren Park track
McCarren Park in Greenpoint has a quarter mile track in the area of Lorimer Street, Driggs Avenue and Bayard Street. Check NYC Parks for current hours. See Free Running Tracks in Brooklyn.
One place not to run
Green-Wood Cemetery is beautiful and quiet, and running is not allowed there. The cemetery's rules ask visitors not to run or jog, so save it for a walk.
If something starts to hurt on any of these routes, the Injury Clinic explains the common running injuries and what to do about them.
Hurt? See Form & Function Chiropractic and Rehab in Brooklyn
Ready for the next step? Build your plan or get updates on training plans coming soon.
THE BROOKLYN RUN LETTER
New routes, race picks, and training tips. One email a week, no spam.