Westchester Trails

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Run The Planet July 2005 Site of the Month

About Me

I am Joe Garland and grew up in Tuckahoe and attended Iona Prep in New Rochelle from 1970-1974 and Manhattanville College in Purchase from 1974-1978. I then moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan while attending Columbia Law School, from which I graduated in 1981. I was fortunate to live off-campus, in a brownstone about 40 yards from an entrance to Central Park.

23.5 mile mark of NYC Marathon, 2006

I ran in high school, running both Cross-Country, with a 13:25 2.5 mile at Van Cortlandt, and indoor and outdoor track, specializing in the 440 and 880, with PRs in those events of 49.5 (relay) and 2:00.8, respectively. I did not run competitively in college; we had no real team. (There was a cross-country team for which I ran until it was disbanded before my senior year.) I started running seriously again while a second-year law student in 1979, and ran in the Park virtually every day.

I started running races, usually sponsored by the New York Road Runners. I joined Warren Street Social and Athletic Club in 1983 and ran races from 5 miles to the marathon. In those days, 5Ks were few and far between; the bread-and-butter distance was 10K. My PRs from that period included 25:30 for 5 miles, 30:50 for 6 miles, 52:25 for 10 miles, 1:09:58 for the half-marathon, and 2:29:13 in my one-and-only marathon (NY 1983) as a youngster.

More recently I have gotten back into running. I am the competition chair of the Sound Shore Runners, which is based in Mamaroneck, and in that capacity have structured my and the team's workouts. Most recently, I finished the 2006 New York City Marathon in 2:48:10, which was 304th overall and third in the 50-54 Age Group. Plus I was the first American over-50. The photo above is me suffering at about the 23.5 mile mark on Fifth Avenue. In the past month and a half, I have a 1:19:36 half-marathon and a 28:58 5-miler, both in Central Park. Plus I was on the Sound Shore Reach-the-Beach team, which included a run up (well, with a good deal of walking) and then down a ski slope at Bretton Woods, NH. It’s an event I commend to all.

My wife and I moved to Westchester in 1989. By that point, I did not run, or at least race, much. We moved to Yonkers and I started running again. In 1992, we moved to Mount Vernon, where we still live. I’ve raced more in recent years that I had since leaving the city, chiefly in local 5Ks and 5 milers, plus the odd NYRR race.

The one trail race in the City: Van Cortlandt Park in April, by the VCTC. Photo: T. Thoman, VCTC

It turns out that there are a lot of pretty fast 45 and older runners within a mile or so of where I live, and some of the trails I’ve listed I learned with them. Others I knew from high school. I ran for The Central Park Track Club in late 2004 until late 2005, to concentrate on track running. I have since switched again, to Sound Shore Runners, which is based in Mamaroneck.

You remember when your name appears in the Times. Here’s my claim-to-fame, from 1984: Treacy Wins by a Mile NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y., May 12 - John Treacy of Ireland, who attends Providence College, won by a mile from Joe Garland of New York in the New Rochelle Half-Marathon today. The 26-year-old Treacy covered the 13.1-mile event in 1 hour 5 minutes 14 seconds. Garland finished in 1:10.34. Inez McLean of Brooklyn won the women’s title in 1:23:52.

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I also explored some of the Van Cortlandt Trails with The Van Cortlandt Track Club on a number of Saturday mornings (at 8:00) this past summer. And Eric Turkewitz of the Sound Shore Runners has taken me out on what he calls The Green Loop from New Rochelle to Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, Eastchester, and New Rochelle, into which he has put a lot of effort, trying to get the loop recognized by runners and others in the County.

I figured that were there a resource with descriptions of trails suitable for running, it might be of service. Hence this site.

Any input is appreciated. I realize that while the site is “Westchester Trails,” it does not address the miles and miles of trails in the northern part of the County, particularly in Bedford and environs. I’ve limited myself to trails with which I have personal experience, but want to include whatever else I can get. So if you have information that might be useful, including links to sites that describe trails in other places, please e-mail me.

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Last edited on ... May 14, 2006

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