On May 22nd, I woke early to start an adventure run that I had been rolling around in my mind for over a year. Peconic Bay is a large tidal estuary on Long Island’s east end, where it divides the North Fork from the South Fork. The 5 mile Shelter Island stretches across the mouth of the bay, creating a natural route from one fork to the other. The route around Peconic Bay is popular with cyclists, who use the inexpensive ferries to and from Shelter island to complete their circle. Google searches did not show any record of runners having completed the route, which made it seem like a wonderful challenge to finish.
Choosing a Route: Without a historical route, I had to determine how I would plan my run. I spent time over the course of a year looking at Google maps and thinking about the way to proceed. My goal in planning the route was to stay as close to the bay as possible, but to also avoid some of the more dangerous roads on the island. In the end, this required some extra miles avoiding major highways.
I didn’t decide on a final route until the morning of the run. I had to decide if Peconic Lake and the wider mouth of the Peconic River at the west end of Peconic Bay should be part of the planned route. They are not technically bay, but on a map they look like a natural extension of the larger body of water. That morning, I decided that an extra 2 miles at the start of my effort were worth the extra effort to feel like the route was complete. My final decision was to run west through the town of Riverhead rather than cutting through the eastern option of Route 105.
Starting the Run: The morning of my run started like most - barely get myself out of bed and grab some food. As I packed two pb&j sandwiches for my run, I poured a bowl of granola. I threw my bag and a change of clothes into the car. On my drive, I stopped for some coffee and a bagel to make sure I had the energy to start my run.
I parked down a side street about a half mile from the start of my run. With every step of this short distance, I thought about how much I would be cursing the distance after the run.
My run started at the famous Big Duck. The Big Duck is located in Flanders, New York, having been moved from Riverhead some decades ago. The Duck was built in the 1930s for one of Long Island’s many duck farms. Today is is a national historic site and has a lasting impact on architecture: any building shaped like what it sells is called a ‘Duck’. Today, it’s a tourist site that people on Long Island pass by daily. After a few selfies to mark the start of my run, I set out at 7:08 AM.
The first few miles passed uneventfully. I made my way through Riverhead, stopping to take a photo with a giant shark in front of the Long island Aquarium. I turned east to head toward the Greenport Ferry to Shelter Island. At this point, I was greeted by one of the many ospreys I saw during my run. This parental bird began flying around its nest screeching at me as I ran past. I ran by several farm stands that had tempting produce, but no one yet there to sell it.
Around mile 14, I saw a sign for the North Fork Donut Company, and knew I had to make a quick stop. Looking at the huge, delicious looking donuts I eventually decided on the Chunky Monkey - banana frosting, banana chips, walnuts, and chocolate. This first segment of the run passed with constant calls to stop and eat or drink. The North Fork Wine Trail led me past winery after winery, every small town had signs for local ice cream, and countless small handwritten signs promised local oysters. All treats I would love on a normal day, but that were not the best choices running at 10AM. Instead, I stopped at gas stations to grab Gatorade and refill my water as temperatures rose to the upper 80s.
Shelter Island: After 4 hours and 41 minutes, I reached Greenport and turned toward the North Shore Ferry. At the ferry station, I paid my $2.00 for a token and stood in line with a pack of cyclists who were heading to the island. The ferry ride was less than a mile, and took just long enough to eat half a pb&j and chug some Gatorade. As the ferry landed, I disembarked for the most scenic part of the run.
Shelter Island is relatively isolated, both by its location on the far east end of Long Island and the need for ferry access. Traveling across the island brings one through large homes, small shops, and tall trees. The Shelter Island Craft Brewery is located about half way between the two ferries. I stopped there to eat a sandwich and sip a beer. After a few more miles running south, I reached the second ferry and jumped on to travel back to the mainland.
The South Fork: When I had originally looked at this route, I knew that the South Fork had less options for stops than the first part of the trip. As I disembarked from the ferry, I still had some plenty of food and some hydration left, but I knew I would need to refill soon. As I started to run, I was struck by how empty the area felt. It’s not that there were no people. There were many enjoying the beaches I passed or fishing from the side of the road in nearby tidal streams. However, when I think of Long Island, I usually think of the countless strip malls consisting of pizzerias, nail salons, Chinese restaurants, and vaping centers that repeat mile after mile. On the south shore route, I passed beaches and counted myself lucky to find a very clean port-o-potty. Four miles from the ferry, about 9 miles since my last refill of liquids, I reached Cromer’s market, a small grocery store. At this point, the temperature was in the high 80s, and I was getting very dry. I filled up on liquids and grabbed some fruit while I could.
As I continued west, I quickly drank all of my fluids and started looking for another place to refill my fluids. I knew that I was starting to slow down with the heat and wanted to do as much as possible to fight it. After 5 miles, I found a pizza shop - deli that had rows of coolers full of cold drinks. Grabbing some Gatorade, seltzer, and a bag of chips I checked out. The clerk asked about my hydration vest for running and if it was comfortable. Staying positive I told him it was, without explaining how hot it made me. Had I known what the next miles would take, I would have bought more fluids.
As I continued west, I kept my eyes out for chances to refill, but came up empty. My route met up with Route 27, a very fast and dangerous highway. I only spent a few miles, and it was clearly not a road I wanted to travel too long on. After 7 miles without a place to get water, I was running low. I finally saw a gas station on the far side of Route 27, but as I watched for a safe time to cross, I realized it was not going to happen. I decided to keep moving and hope for the best. The route went through some local beach neighborhoods, where tight zoning ordinances were probably the reason no commercial properties were available to sell a bottle of water. Finally, after turning south, I saw what I needed, running front lawn sprinklers. Normally I hate these on a run, because their indiscriminate spray is wasteful and a great way to end up wet on a run, but at this point they were a welcome chance to fill my water bottles and continue on.
Heading south, I crossed under Route 27 and then over the Peconic Canal. Looking down at the canal, I could pick out the places my wife and I used to fish for porgies and fluke. From there, the road began to lift up and down. Finally, out of the world of wealthy beachfront housing, small Mexican restaurants, bait shops, and boating supply stores started to populate the highway. As I reached King Kullen’s grocery store, I was thankful to make what I knew would be my final stop, nearly 10 miles after my last opportunity for food and fluids.
Renewed with energy, I followed the road east. At this point, it was a direct path down Route 24 to the Big Duck. With only a little over 6 miles remaining, I tried to push, but the undulating hills slowed me more than I wanted them too. The sinking sun helped cool things down, and with a mile remaining I started to run as fast as I could. When I saw the Big Duck approaching, I put everything I could into getting there, and touched the duck at 7:51PM - an elapsed time of 12 hours and 43 minutes. After letting my wife know I had finished, I sat for a second and stretched before walking back to my car, and as I suspected in the morning, I cursed every step back to my vehicle.
Concluding: As of today, I do not know anyone else who has finished this route on foot. Based on my experience running, I would have liked to put forward a faster time, but I am happy for the experience and for having seen the challenge through. Having the opportunity to view parts of Long Island I have never seen or that diverge from the overpopulated and strip-mall covered sections I am familiar with has been a huge benefit of the long runs I have had this year.
I also feel overwhelmed by the support of those friends and fellow runners who followed along with my run online. Many made donations to support Bigger Than The Trail as I ran. This run generated over $1100 in donations to help provide mental health services. My deepest thanks goes to all of those who donated. I also need to thank my wife Suzanne, who sat at home posting about my run to help build donations, and who only said this was a dumb idea a handful of times.