Jersey City Trip Report

I opted to fly direct from Atlanta to Newark.  That went off without a hitch.  Getting to Jersey City from the Newark airport was another matter.  I thought it would be a quick ride on the PATH train with a single transfer.  Nope.  Here was the route:

Air Train to NJ Transit

NJ Transit to Newark Penn Station

PATH Train with a transfer to Newport

With delays, it took nearly 2 hours to travel the 12 miles from the airport to my hotel.  To put that into perspective, I can almost get to Atlanta from Birmingham in the same amount of time.  That still beat having to rent a car and fighting that notorious traffic.  Fortunately, it was only a 5-10 minute walk from the Newport PATH station to my hotel and not much longer to the race start.

The weather was overcast all day but with pleasant 75 degree temps, I did not complain.  Race day was sunny and 80 however so that’s not the best conditions.  It was around 1:30 when I arrived at the hotel, but my room was ready, so I just left my bag then headed back outside.  My first stop was the Hudson River waterfront.  I had read that the best views of Manhattan are actually in New Jersey.  The views from the area near my hotel were decent but unspectacular.  You have to go to Liberty Park to catch the epic views posted above but I would be running through there tomorrow.   

By mid-afternoon, I took the PATH train to 33^rd street in Manhattan just a couple blocks from the Empire State Building.  That was a smooth ride.  It may be easier to get to NYC from Newark via the NJ Transit than it is to get to Jersey City via PATH.  Soon, I was up on the 86^th floor with views of both the Freedom Tower and Central Park in the distance.  Pretty awesome.

  From there, it was a little over a mile walk to Trump Tower for dinner then I attended church at St. Patrick’s.  No need for a subway ride in comfortable weather conditions.  It was now getting dark, so I took a short detour through Times Square just to take in the vibe and energy.  It was definitely a different feel than during the day.  It was a smooth ride back to Jersey City and I got a couple night shots of Manhattan. 

I knew the race would be horrible, but I did improve upon my PW at Connecticut last month.  I managed to keep the pace respectable through about 4.5 miles then had to Gallo-walk it in.  I went with a 4:1 jog/walk ratio.  I probably could have managed a 9:1 but once I knew I would be over 2 hours, I didn’t care if it was 2:01 or 2:15.  I just wanted to remain as comfortable as possible and take in the sights.  In that respect, there was a lot to like.  After a 5 mile tour of downtown Jersey City, we turned into Liberty Park and the Riverside.  The views there were epic.  I got a close-up view of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan.  In some spots, you can see the skyline of both NYC and Jersey City.  The latter is not too shabby either.  I wish I had brought my camera.  Being a minute slower to take a couple more pictures was a price I would have been willing to pay.  Once again, a finish is a finish and state #43 is done.  I may or may not run Maine next month.  We’ll see how it plays out over the next 2-3  weeks. 

Final Thought:

I made the best of it.  The only thing I would change would be to allow more time in Liberty Park.