Spooky Trail Run: The Late Edition

All summer long I have been chomping at the bit to run the Croton Aqueduct Trail or at least parts of it at a time. It runs for 26.2 miles starting in Croton-On-Hudson at the Croton Damn and Croton Reservoir.

The trail runs atop the old Croton Aqueduct that provided drinking water for NYC from 1842-1955 through 41 miles of underground tunnels. The water filled two above-ground reservoirs in the city: one at the present location of the Great Lawn in Central Park, the second where the NY Public Library now stands on Fifth Avenue. The one at the NYPL was featured prominently in Caleb Carr's novel, The Alienist.

Grand Central Terminal

OK, history lesson over. I had a 7 mile run on the schedule so after figuring out the distance on the map, settled on Ossining as my start point, finishing up in Tarrytown.   I chose this route because it would take me right past the Sleepy Hollow Cemetary, and it is Halloween, after all.  As you may or may not have guessed, doing any kind of trail running outside of the bridle paths in Central Park requires a little planing and a mode of transportation; you can't just step outside and be on the trail in minutes. I took the Metro North commuter train to get to my starting point. It is a lovely ride along the Hudson River with stunning views this time of year of New Jersey. 

View of Jersey from the train.

Ok, it should have been a lovely ride but for the family that got on at 125th Street. A mom and her 4 kids and a 5 lb. box of candy. You do the math. How lucky was I that they chose to sit right across the aisle from me and were traveling to the same stop I was?! I was able to bask in the discordant tones of a mother screaming at her kids about how noisy they were being (the irony) for the next hour as they continued to consume copious amounts of sugar. OM!!!!!!!!! 

Ossining: I had my trusty map (and thank God for that, as the trail was hard to follow at some points) and was off, leaving behind the family I had come to know on a level much too intimate for my taste. Three different fathers? I digress. I found the trail head; half luck half map and started out. 

trail head at Ossining.

The ventilators that dot the trail are great for figuring out mileage if you have the map.  The trail is also a great one for mountain biking as evidenced here.

Eventually I made it to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.  Certainly you know that Washington Irving wrote The Legend Of Sleep Hollow?  The Headless Horseman?  Ring a bell?  Anyway, he is buried here along with the likes of Andrew Carnegie, William Rockefeller, Walter Chrysler, Elizabeth Arden, etc.  I was determined to find his grave site.

Lovely bridge that crosses the Pocantico River that runs through the Cemetery.

Enter...if you dare....

Mission Accomplished!

The Old Dutch Church is the same church featured in the story when Ichabod Crane is being chased by the Headless Horseman and sits inside the cemetery grounds.

Sad, tiny headstone.

Deep inside thecemetary, way in the back (which is actually where I entered), there was a Haunted Trail of sorts that had been set up.  It was not operating during the day time, but man, I am marking this for the future when my son is old enough not to freak out!

My run finished up about 2 miles down the trail.  I grabbed some hot coffee, a raisin bran muffin and caught the train back to the city.  This caught my attention...vandilism at it's finest.

This was such a great day to get out and do this and I loved the 'me' time it allowed.  I even liked the train ride back; much more peaceful than the ride up.  I am hoping to start at the damn next weekend.  Sunday is also the NYC Marathon.  I will be volunteering at mile 24 aid station, so if you are running, let me know if you want Gatorade or water!  Only 2 more miles left, you can do it!!

I promise my next post will be a review of the Brooks Cascadia 5 trail shoe.