Dealing With What Irene Left Behind (Updated)

Updated (9/2): Added Bethpage State Park [Brick Stone Run postponed] and links to the Armory's venue pages

Hurricane Irene has caused billions of dollars of damage across the Eastern seaboard, as most have been reading about all week long. People have lost homes and businesses. Some remain without power. The cleanup and recover will go on for years.

On Sunday, The Bronx River in Westchester County flooded its banks, as most rivers did. The low-lying Bronxville School — which houses kindergarten through 12th grade — was under four feet of water, including the track and turf fields (see more pictures here). The gym was totally destroyed. The water since receded, the cleanup work begins.

After seeing those pictures, I wondered how our local cross country courses fared. While fallen trees on trails can usually be removed, water damage from the heavy rains can destroy courses, sometimes rendering them unusable forever.

I created the cross country course at Somers High School in Lincolndale, N.Y. I was there when Hurricane Floyd washed away old railroad tracks that had existed for years. I was there when Hurricane Hanna felled trees and threatened to cancel our annual invitational. So to say I was worried about our course would be a huge understatement.

Monday I ran the course to see how bad the damage was (and to see just how much I work I would be doing Labor Day weekend.) While the course was littered with sticks and small trees, no large trees came down and there was no significant water damage. Somehow, we have dodged a bullet. There are still hours of work to be done to get the course race ready, but as anyone who maintains trails know, that work needs to be done every year.

So with that in mind I began making some calls about other courses.

Bethpage State Park (Farmingdale, N.Y.)

Hofstra University's Brick Stone Run, slated for Saturday at Bethpage State Park, has been postponed and is looking to be rescheduled. Flooding caused by Hurricane Irene has left the course unsuitable for competition this weekend.

Bowdoin Park (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.)

Roy Arnesen, the Somers coach and a Dutchess County resident, reports: "Bowdoin has suffered some significant damage from Hurricane Irene. Most of the course fared very well in the storm, but several areas on the course were affected. Some areas on the grass paths are water soaked but are drying out. The road from the grass area leading up to the hills was washed out in several areas, but has already been repaired by the Bowdoin Park maintenance staff. The trails in the woods on the upper hills suffered worse damage. There are several spots with large gullies carved in the trail for 75 meters or more.

"There are also several large trees down across the trail. The trails in those areas are passable but will require significant work before any races take place at Bowdoin, which has a major advantage over many park courses because of the excellent care and regular maintenance given to the course by the Dutchess County Parks Department. Maintenance workers, who were repairing the dirt roads this week, told me that the work on the trails won't be done immediately, but will be completed in the next week or two."

Sunken Meadow State Park (Kings Park, N.Y.)

As of Wednesday afternoon the Park remains closed and won't reopen until power is restored. It appears that there was significant tree damage, but no word on water damage to the cross country course. Coach Tim Dearie of St. Anthony's is working on a status report for ArmoryTrack.com

Saratoga Spa State Park (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)

Flooding was the main issue in the capital district and the large pine trees were a concern to Coach Shaun Zepf of Burnt Hills, though he hasn't yet been to the course. Zepf did mention that park staff does a great job maintaining the trails and he seemed confident the course was getting attention.

"We were very lucky" were the first words out of the mouth of Burnt Hills-Balston Lake boys' coach Chip Button. He reported no significant water damage and only a few small trees down on the course, which his boys' team was able to move during Wednesday's practice.

Button, a Saratoga Springs resident, was amazed that the park escaped major damage. He recalled numerous smaller storms over the years that wreaked much worse havoc than Irene wound of providing.

Van Cortlandt Park (Bronx, N.Y.)

According to George Febles, head coach at Fordham Prep, "It is in very good shape considering the storm. No trees blocking paths and no major water damage. The back hills are rutty but there were crews working on them Tuesday." I also talked to Jim Mitchell, who was at VCP on Tuesday, and he affirmed that the course is in great shape and race ready.

Holmdel Park (Holmdel, N.J.)

Nothing specific is available, but Holmdel Park was reopened Monday at 1 pm. Anyone who has been there and can provide an update or photos, please contact us at armory@armorytrack.com