RUNNERS SHARE FAVORITE SPOTS IN NEW HAVEN AND BEYOND
HALF MARATHON RUNNERS OF THE FAXON ROAD RACE SHARE THEIR FAVORITE PLACES TO JOG IN CONNECTICUT
Last week was the Faxon Law Road Race, where runners from across the country gather in New Haven to push their legs to levels of strain that many would consider body horror. I was one such runner.
Before the race, I walked onto the Green, where groups gathered in silly-looking but not silly stretching routines. Although they make their collectives clear with New Jersey-specific singlets and Brooklyn Marathon commemorative t-shirts, I felt a part of an invisible team with fellow CT runners in attendance who also knew these streets like the back of their hand. As we jogged by Edgewood Park and through East Rock, I wondered where people practiced before this grueling half marathon. So I reached out to my teammates, aka CT runners, to hear about their favorite spots. Here’s what they had to share:
“My favorite places to run in CT are Ridge Rd from New Haven to Hamden. You can get on Ridge after leaving East Rock Park and head north towards Sleeping Giant. I like to pick up Farmington River Canal Trail to head back to New Haven, also very quiet with small rolling hills. Otherwise, I love running in Durham, CT, especially the hills around Lyman Orchards (though they beat up my legs every time).”
-Jac Guerra, Guilford
“My favorite places to run are along the Farmington Canal Trail in Southington/Cheshire/Hamden, the Quinnipiac Trail in Wallingford, and up Sleeping Giant or Castle Craig (Hubbard Park, Meriden) if I’m looking to incorporate hill work.”
-Kurt Tiedemann, Meriden
Photo by Zoe Jensen, East Rock Park
“As a current resident of New Haven, I love running throughout the city, whether an early morning run down towards the wharf/Wooster Square and Fair Haven; around Yale’s campus, Hillhouse Ave., Whitney, Prospect, the track at Albertus Magnus, or up to the Angel of Peace at the top of East Rock. The Ridge at West Rock. Of course there’s the New Haven/Northampton Rail Trail. And if I just want to space out and pray, I’ll run what I refer to as my “waffle-iron” run, named for the pattern of the run generated by Strava, which is about 8.5 miles of loops up and down each row in the Grove Street Cemetery.
Once a week I run with a small crew I’ve known since High School, and we’ll often go for a predawn run on the East Coast Greenway, or through our (former) hometown of Manchester, the home of the historic Manchester Thanksgiving Day Road Race.
And at the end of the day, more than anything, I love running on trails, and the Case Mountain trail system, which has trail entrances in Manchester, Glastonbury, and Bolton, is my all-time favorite place to run, especially in the Fall.”
-Ryan Lerner, New Haven
“My favorite place to run in Connecticut is up and down East Rock in New Haven.”
-Constantine Polychronopoulos, New Haven
Photo by Matt Bordonaro, Old Saybrook
“My favorite places to run in Connecticut are in Old Saybrook and Clinton. In Old Saybrook, there is a great loop that I do that takes me from the Knollwood Beach neighborhood, through Fenwick (where there is Katharine Hepburn’s old home and Fenwick Golf Course), past Saybrook Point, through North Cove and past the main beaches (Harvey’s Beach and Old Saybrook Town Beach). There are always amazing views along the way - Lighthouses, rocky coastlines, sailboats, historic homes and tidal marshes. There is also plenty of wildlife - turkeys, white-tailed deer, ospreys, seagulls, egrets and an occasional eagle. The route is flat and beautiful.
If I want to go somewhere with more hills, I’ll go into Clinton. I park near Cedar Island Marina, zip past Lobster Landing (one of the best places for lobster rolls in the state) and head toward more wooded areas. There are a lot more hills, trees and shaded areas on this route that can take me all the way into Killingworth before heading back past Chamard Vineyard and toward the water. This is also a great way to go in the fall when the leaves start changing colors. It’s really the best of both worlds - some water views, but also more of a feeling of being in the woods!”
-Matt Bordonaro, Old Saybrook
