I haven’t run more than ten miles in over six months, so I knew today’s twelve miler was going to be a bit of a suffer fest.  It was – twelve miles in 2:15:40 is pathetic, but it’s a start.

My goal was pretty simple – run twelve easy miles and find the highest point in Brooklyn.  Done and done. Starting from home I ran through Prospect Park up Fort Hamilton Parkway to Greenwood cemetery then along the edge of the cemetery to 25^th street, I entered the park to climb the highest point in Brooklyn – Battle Hill.

Greenwood is the massive cemetery in the center of Brooklyn seen by everyone who has ever driven down the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.  It covers 478 acres and is the final resting place of hundred of famous New Yorkers, including the founder of the New York Times, the inventor of Morse Code, and Leonard Bernstein.  Within it is Battle Hill.

It is a gorgeous place, recalling the gilded age past of the City.  Ornate memorials, and beautifully tended gardens – for a cemetery, it’s a very nice place to spend part of gorgeous fall day.  Being a cemetery, running is not allowed, so I had to walk to the top of Battle Hill, (this partially excuses my pathetic time). It is quite the view from up there – you can see the city, the Statue of Liberty and a whole lot of New Jersey.  There’s also a well-done memorial to the battle of Brooklyn, the largest battle of the Revolutionary War, which was fought on the slopes of this hill long before it became a cemetery.

I took some photos, and retraced my route back to the park and grinded out the final five miles at a snails pace.  I wish I had been faster today, but you cannot have it all.  It was a gorgeous day, I climbed the highest the point in Brooklyn, and I got in the miles.  I’m happy with that, the speed will come back with time.