Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Running Vacations

It is that time of year with  a lull in Blog Viewership.  With extensive research (glancing at my old running logs!), I have come up with my top five vacation spots for running to entertain the troops.

My top five Vacation Spots for running:

#1  Marthas Vineyard:  This was my go-to vacation spot for nearly a decade until the Presidential Phenomenon began to muck it up.  And by muck it up, I mean really screw it up.  Like being thrown off the ferry despite having paid more than a year earlier so that 75 white Ford Broncos could be taken over to a 20 mile long  x 10 mile wide island.  And closing an entire town, with you in it, because the President wants a cup of coffee.  Don't get me started!
The good:  There are plenty of great places to run.  My favorite was a 5 mile loop on Chappaquiddick Island with almost never a car and mostly dirt roads.  There is almost no fast food anywhere on the island also.
The bad:  There is almost no fast food anywhere on the island.
 #2  Ocean City, New Jersey:  This has been my go-to vacation spot for the last 21 years.  A boardwalk run in the AM, dodging other shoobies and those big giant inflatable salt-water taffy blow up thingies is quite a treat.  We often made this a two-a-day running camp in those early years.
The good:  Seeing so many PSU Alumni at the Sea Isle City Island Run every year.  (Both Tyler McCandless and Kyle Dawson have won the race in recent years.)
The bad:  The damn Sea Isle City Island Run itself, which is an ordeal of sand running somehow against the wind in both directions.
#3 Freeport, Maine:  Went there on my honeymoon.  Mostly so we could go to LL Bean at 2:00AM (the doors are never closed!
The good: Saw an osprey, a moose and Joan Benoit on the same run.
The bad: You can never have enough lobster.
#4 Charleston, South Carolina: A really great spur of the moment vacation when my daughter was born.  Taking her for runs in a baby jogger (new at the time) was quite good.  Especially the time I rubbed all of her hair off in front of the Citadel.
The good:  The people, including Bill Murray himself!  The 20-miler I took preparing for the marathon at Disney took me to every neighborhood in the city.
The bad: Actually realizing I am not really parent material when I rubbed all the hair off my daughter's head in the baby jogger!
#5 Harpers Ferry, West Virginia:  Another annual vacation for the past 9 years.
The good:  The C and O Canal and the Appalachian Trail converge here.
The bad:  The internet is allergic to West Virginia.
(Honorable Mention) Walt Disney World, Florida:  The place I love to hate, or hate to love.

What are some of your favorite vacation spots for running?

6 comments:

  1. Sinnemahoning State Park.

    Good: The Lowlands Trail is the quintessential railroad bed converted to running trail. Elk, deer and other wildlife can be seen.

    Bad: You sweat off all the bug spray and end up covered in mosquito bites. The elk can aggressive during mating season.

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  2. The elk mating thing would be considered good for the millions reading garbage like "50 Shades of Grey"!

    And the mosquito thing is kinda scary these days... I even was bit the other day ON MY TREADMILL!

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  3. And we need the picture of that elk you saw on a run.

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  4. Some of my favorites:
    Yosemite Nat'l Park
    Banff (Canadian) National Park
    Central Park, NYC
    Hyde/Green/St.James Parks, London
    Chatham, MA
    .. so many more...

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  5. I used to have a bunch of DVDs of various National Parks to jog to. One of them was Banff, which was my favorite. I feel like I've been there, I've done that so many times. Another was Zermatt, which was cool, because I real did jog there once. The altitude killed me though. The treadmill is easier.

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  6. ever ruin into the burglar of Banff?

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