Fitness Tip - Running A City

Want a better to way to explore a city on vacation? Run it! Running is the lightest sport in packing-shoes, shorts, T-shirt, gels, water-but the easiest way to REALLY see a city! This past week I spent 4 days at the beach and put over 20 miles on my feet, 5 walking and 3 barefoot! I love running in new cities because running is a way to see BEYOND the beaten path, beyond the tourist destination into the real places where people live and work.

How do you run a city? It’s easy as just getting a map – the local chamber of commerce always has free maps-and planning a route. At the beach I used the loop method making sure I didn’t get lost. I outlined a loop that took me over a bridge into the water way where I passed amazing houses, dark trees covered with Spanish moss, ran along the fence of what promised to be a beautiful garden! I listened to the familiar sounds of spring in the birds and frogs, but also include the sound of crashing waves and water as I finished this run barefoot on the beach for the last couple of miles.

In a city it’s easier to get lost, if you want to explore, find a walking tour map and use that as your guide, make note of the main road through the city and take streets off that main road, winding your way back and forth. In Wilmington, I went street by street enjoying big old houses, cobblestone streets, bricked sidewalks with fountains hidden in the corners, horse drawn carriages, the smells of coffee, food cooking and time!

If you can’t find a chamber of commerce or a map, go online and lookup a local race to the city, racing websites always have maps of the course for runners, study that map then plan your loop.
Get to know what’s outside the Main Street of USA, take your running shoes with you and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll find outside the tourist area, I’ve run through forests of cockatoos, down along the giant lilies of a pond in Tokyo, along a boardwalk at the break of dawn, spotted a bald eagle along a Pacific Coast River! Don’t forget your shoes when on vacation, what have you seen along the way?