By Frank da Cruz - The Central Park Reservoir features a cinder track designed for running, no hills, terrific cityscape scenery as well as the water and occasional wildlife, 1.6 miles around (a bit over 2.5 kilometers). The drawbacks are that you have to go all the way to 92nd Street to get there; sometimes there are big puddles; it tends to get crowded on weekends; and after you have done it a few times it gets kind of boring. On the other hand, you might see some celebrities. Traffic goes counterclockwise.

Runners who live in the Columbia University area of Manhattan, New York City (Morningside Heights and West Harlem) are fortunate to have Riverside Park, Central Park, and Morningside Park nearby. The parks and the Hudson riverfront are in better condition now than at any time in the last one hundred years, especially since 2000 with the inauguration of the Greenway. The site Upper Manhattan Running describes some obvious and not-so-obvious runs that start in the Columbia area, but it is also useful for anybody who lives on the west side anywhere between midtown and Washington Heights or Inwood.

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