They run in Brooklyn 12 mile (22Cong.Rec.)

I haven't been posting much lately because I am back in DC, so I am not jetting off to a nearby country every long weekend. However, I do want to take advantage of my domestic posting to travel within the United States, so I agreed to my friend's invitation for a weekend trip to Brooklyn -- even though it meant running a half-marathon. We drove up on a Friday night after work, but the race wasn't until Sunday, so we had some time for sight-seeing. On Saturday morning, we did a shakeout run from our place in Bedford-Stuyvesant to the Brooklyn Bridge (left). We had planned to run to the Manhattan side and back, but the path was too full of selfie-takers for that (right).

 

We ascended from the span into the Dumbo neighborhood (top left), where we started a walking tour of beautiful Brooklyn Heights buildings (top right). It was a lovely day to wander the tree-lined streets, a peaceful juxtaposition to the high-rises of Wall Street (bottom left). The highlights for me were the house where Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood and the greenway of Brooklyn Bridge Park, which provides amazing views of downtown (bottom right).

With the run and walk, our muscles were sufficiently stretched, but we had to do the same for our bellies with some pre-race carb-loading. We headed to Henry Public in Cobble Hill, decorated as an old-timey saloon, for a late brunch (top left). I opted for eggs benedict over Johnnycake, accompanied by a beer; unfortunately, they didn't have any coffee stouts on taps, so I went with a hydrating hazy IPA (top right). The night we arrived, we followed our AirBnB host's recommendation to try the famous Southern-style chicken sandwich at Peaches HotHouse (bottom left). After the race, I felt I had a good excuse to overeat again, but I simply could not finish my full plate of the Senegalese specialty mafe at Joloff (bottom right).

When I told people I was running a half-marathon in Brooklyn, they it was THE Brooklyn half-marathon. But it wasn't. This was the much more low-key NYCRUNS Half-Marathon, which is four loops around Prospect Park. I thought I wouldn't like the repetitiveness, but the weather and runners were so agreeable that I had a smile on my face at the end (left). In fact, the course apparently was suitable for me, as I ended up taking second place in my age/gender category, as did the bestie that talked me into doing the run (right). Thank you, RC!