HELDERBERG TO HUDSON HALF MARATHON A virtual run through the course - past and present

April 16, 2022

This presentation shows three things: The view from each mile (or kilometer) point; interesting neighboring sites; and historic photos of the immediate area.

For complete information on the race, see ARE's Participant Handbook

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http://www.helderbergtohudsonhalf.com/handbook/2022-H2H-PARTICIPANT-HANDBOOK.pdf

Overview of the course

THE START - MILE 1

Wallace (New Scotland) Town Park

Swift Road

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MILE 1 - 2

Milepoint 1 - Mountainview Street

Cross over Vly Creek and note the Rail Trail in the distance

CSX Bridge - a very active part of a rail town

c. 1900

At the end of the Rail Trail

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MILE 2 - MILE 3

Milepoint 2 - Stonington Hill Road at Maple Avenue

Vly Creek

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MILE 3 - MILE 4

Milepoint 3

KMpoint 5

Hilton Road and Hilton Barn

Bender Melon Farm Preserve Bridge

Bender Melon Farm Preserve Fields

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MILE 4 - MILE 5

Milepoint 4

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MILE 5 - MILE 6

Milepoint 5

Slingerlands Original station (later) freight depot

Slingerlands Station in the 1930s

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MILE 6 - MILE 7

Milepoint 6 - Approaching Cherry Avenue Bypass Bridge

KMpoint 10

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MILE 7 - MILE 8

Milepoint 7 - Hudson Avenue on left

Adams Street - Site of Adamsville/Delmar Station and Depot

Houses along Hudson Avenue to left

ART on the Rail Trail @artontherailtrail

Delmar Station 1901

Bethlehem Veterans Park at Delaware Avenue

Elsmere Avenue - Site of Elsmere Station

Elsmere Station 1930s - Located on right after Elsmere Avenue

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MILE 8 - MILE 9

Milepoint 8 - Ellsworth Avenue on left

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MILE 9 - MILE 10

Milepoint 9

KMpoint 15

Normans Kill Bridge / Albany City Line

Normans Kill

Noonan Preserve on right

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MILE 10 - MILE 11

Milepoint 10 - Normans Kill rapids - Thruway then Route 9W bridges ahead

1960s

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As you run out of the area with the steep cliffs, you enter a very history-rich place. At the top of the hill to your left was the mansion of Joel Rathbone, which was replaced by the Convent of the Sacred Heart (and Kenwood Academy and the Doane Stuart School). The street at the bottom of the hill is Old South Pearl, which was once the Albany-Bethlehem Turnpike, running under the railroad and into the thriving Hamlet of Kenwood (now the large empty space off to the right). The Turnpike was actually US 9W, the only entrance to Albany from the south.

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Convent of the Sacred Heart

South Pearl Street / Albany-Bethlehem Turnpike / US 9W

Kenwood Mills on the Normans Kill in the Hamlet of Kenwood - 1890s

End of ACH-H Rail Trail - Begin the Albany South End Connector

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MILE 11 - MILE 12

MIlepoint 11 - Ezra Prentice Apartments - Mt. Hope to left

Mt. Hope in the 1930s - The entire hill was Ezra Prentice's estate

South End Connector between I-787 and the Kenwood Rail Yards

Under I-787

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MILE 12 - MILE 13

Milepoint 12

Ferry Street 1930s

USS Slater DE 766

Riverside Park 1931

KMpoint 20

Dunn Memorial Bridge 1931 - X approximates KMpoint 20

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MILE 13 - FINISH

Milepost 13

FINISH LINE - The ponds at the right are the remnants of the Albany Basin - the end of the Erie Canal

Photo Credit: Peter Thomas plus archival sources

Appreciate