Saturday, my usual long-run day, happened to fall on the first day of not-winter. I wasn’t going out in the morning; the Al Gordon 4-miler was filling up Prospect Park, and I needed some sleep.
As I got ready to head out at 12:30, a crazy idea popped into my head: what if I tried to run every single block in Ditmas Park? It’s not very big – about five long blocks by ten or eleven, depending on where you count. The goal would be to run as little as I could, although I knew I’d have to double back in a couple spots (more on the math here).

One of my favorite streets in Brooklyn. [Instagram]
It was worth a try. As Mary Bakija points out in her profile of me, running is a great way to scope out neighborhoods for future returns, when you’ve got your walking shoes on. And yes, I did see many things I’d like to examine in more detail.
I brought along my phone to take pictures, but all of that snapping adds up; to ensure I got home at a reasonable time, I agreed to only take a photo after I’d completed another mile. (I did make one exception, above.)
Here’s the route I took, which shows some of the failings of a satellite-based GPS system when tall buildings are around:
Some stats:
Total distance: 16.91 miles
Total distance in Ditmas Park: about 11.7 miles
Total time spent NOT running (i.e., taking and posting pics): 36 minutes
Now for the photos. I started in Park Slope and ran through Prospect Park both ways. I was really tempted to stop at Mimi’s for some hummus, too.
- Mile 1: out in force in Prospect Park.
- Mile 2: straddling the line between Prospect Park South and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.
- Mile 3: nice day for a walk, too.
- Mile 4. Bangladeshi?
- Mile 5: gorgeous homes and lampposts.
- Mile 6: walking the dog.
- Mile 7: big trees, blue skies. Argyle Road.
- Mile 8: a sizable lawn.
- Mile 9: this fire escape looks like today’s running route.
- Mile 10: picket fence, street-sign shadow.
- Mile 11: at the end of tiny Lewis Place.
- Mile 12: Brooklyn Public Library, Cortelyou Branch.
- Mile 13: Tasty Deli Grocery.
- Mile 14: a few blocks left in Ditmas Park. Now along the edge of Prospect Park South.
- Mile 15: heading home through Prospect Park, caught up with PPTC ultra legend Frank Deleo.
- Mile 16: the kind of traffic I like to see.
- Mile 16.90: home sweet home Park Slope.
You can visit my account on Instagram; I hashtagged all of these photos #runbk022314 (that’s short for Running Brooklyn February 23, 2014).
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