Oktoberfest Run

 The Oktoberfest Run and Festivities
by Papa Bear

Papa Bear

The Germans have a way to mark the coming of the colder weather in mid September, and that is to stay inside and drink beer! It's called "Oktoberfest" and it sounds good to me. 

The best place by far we have found to celebrate Oktoberfest is in that Beer Brewing Borough of Brooklyn, and the best place by far in Brooklyn is Radegast Hall & Biergarten (Check it out) in Williamsburg. And the best way by far to get there is to run. So what are we waiting for? 

In Bavaria, where it all started, they would start in mid September and keep going till the first week of October, so that's what they do at Radegast Hall. 

The Group in Central Park 
Ready to Go

On the first full day of autumn, a group of seven runners from the NY Flyers (Ed, Heidi, Rob, Andrea, Brad, Lora, and Papa Bear) gathered in Central Park and ran some eight miles to said Radegast Hall via the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, the Long Island City riverfront parks, the Pulaski Bridge, through Greenpoint and lastly through Williamsburg. And when we finally got to Radegast Hall we met with a few others who had planned to meet us there, and we were all hungry and thirsty. 

Now for a few details: When we met up in Central Park, we divided our party into a faster group and slower group (which I was in) and each group would be more-or-less on their own. Initially Brad and Lora were the faster group and the rest of us, the slower. We also agreed to approach the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge along First Avenue rather than along York Avenue to avoid the pretty steep hill on York just before the bridge. Here's our route: MapMyRun: Central Park to Radegast Hall (Note the MapMyRun software would not let me show the route within the newly opened section of Hunter's Point South Park), and off we went. 

Manhattan View from the 
LIC River front Park

When  we got to the bridge we spread out quite a bit so we (the slower group) regrouped at the Queens side. There we met Kristel who lives in Greenpoint. Off we went again with Kristel and Andrea moving ahead to become a medium speed group of 2, leaving Ed, Heidi, Rob and myself as slowpokes. That's why all the photos taken in Long Island City were of Ed, Heidi and Rob with myself as photographer.

We moved along though the stunning riverfront parks in Long Island City, first Gantry State Park and then the recently opened southern section, Hunters Point South Park. If you ever find yourself running in this section of Queens, you must take the river route (unless you happen to be running the NYC Marathon). 

At the Newly Opened South Point Park

At the south end of Hunters Point South Park, we got onto 54th and then 53rd Ave to run to the Pulaski Bridge, which we crossed and got onto Franklin Street. Now we were in Brooklyn and here the photos ended until we got to our destination. 

The four of us stayed mostly together on our trek through Greenpoint, but a bit before we got to Williamsburg, Heidi and I stayed behind since I was nursing a sore foot. We soon lost sight of Ed and Rob, but through some mystery, when we got to Radegast Hall, not only had Ed and Rob not yet arrived, but neither had the speedy Brad. 

Around the Table at Radegast Hall

At Radegast Hall: When Heidi and I arrived we met Rebecca, Stephanie (with her two toddlers Keira and Quinn) and Luiza who had planned to meet us at the Biergarten, plus Lora, Kristel and Andrea (joined by her husband Chad) from the faster groups. Finally Ed and Brad (who, it turned out, had done some extra miles) showed up and Ed told us that Rob had to skip the festivities, so now we were all accounted for and nicely filled a table (see photo, above). 

I had planned for us to arrive by 11:30, which, for the most part we did. This was a perfect time for families and folks who didn't plan to drink all afternoon. But the down side was we missed the really wild and wonderful time when the oom-pah brass band is playing and the beer is flowing and it's standing room only. 

There's a nice album of photos of the run and the festivities and I strongly advise you to check it out on the NY Flyers web site: Oktoberfest Run and Festivities Album. 

Ed and I were the last to leave at about 1:30 and to top off a fun day, I took the NYC Ferry home which leaves Williamsburg from North 5th Street.

One of the Gantries as Seen 
from the Ferry

The Ferry is fun and it's cheap and it affords you with yet another close up view of Manhattan's East River shoreline. 

So we'll see you next year when the L train will not be running and we'll all take the Ferry home. 

Gotta run! 

This post was adapted from the report on 
Papa Bear's web page

Beyond Central Park: 
The Oktoberfest Run and Festivities