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How to find running routes in a new town? (Read 81 times)

Brilliant


    We've just moved and other than starting from the new home and running around the neighborhood, I don't know of any good running routes. I thought I could use Strava to find popular route maps but all I can figure out is segments.  Do any of the run tracking programs have what I'm looking for?

     

    Oh also, I did think of going the old fashioned way of actually asking people who live here where they run. Smile. But it's a small-medium city and sadly there's no running store here as a resource.  And I've searched for FB and MeetUp running groups but the nearest ones are in the big city 30 miles away.

    Joann Y


        ^yep, I have always made use of this when traveling.

         

        Also:

         

        -  https://www.mapmyrun.com

        - On Strava, you can check out your flybys, and see what kind of routes they ran. That may not take things too much beyond your neighborhood, since it’ll be near your current routes, but it may expand things a little.  I think you need to pay for a membership for that feature now. 

        - Try Googling for trails in your area.

        Dave

          I've always been surprised at how many websites feature running routes. A quick websearch should turn up a few. A personal inspection via Google Earth is always handy to check out these "routes" ahead of time. Some are just people's convenient trips around the local city blocks and not very good for actual running. I like bike paths/multiuse trails around larger parks or along rivers, and there are those "rails to trails" trails in a lot of places now.

          60-64 age group  -  University of Oregon alumni  -  Irreverent and Annoying

          Julia1971


            In addition to the other suggestions, I'd try the Strava Global Heatmap  It's what I use now when traveling.

              In addition to the other suggestions, I'd try the Strava Global Heatmap  It's what I use now when traveling.

               

              How did I not know this existed.

              Dave

                Be careful with the Strava Heatmap!  My triathlete son used that once (I forget what city) and wound up on a busy street with no sidewalks and really bad traffic.   He later figured out the heat map was the result of a major race where the road was closed to traffic!

                Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth

                 

                Half Crazy K 2.0


                  Be careful with the Strava Heatmap!  My triathlete son used that once (I forget what city) and wound up on a busy street with no sidewalks and really bad traffic.   He later figured out the heat map was the result of a major race where the road was closed to traffic!

                   

                  Definitely this! The Baltimore one will show the marathon and half marathon routes. Certain sections you do not want to run, you wind up in some rough areas.

                  Julia1971


                    Be careful with the Strava Heatmap!  My triathlete son used that once (I forget what city) and wound up on a busy street with no sidewalks and really bad traffic.   He later figured out the heat map was the result of a major race where the road was closed to traffic!

                     

                    Good point.  But, I'd say that this isn't unique to the heat map.  I am baffled by the number of people who save race courses as routes here and on MapMyRun.  It's part of  the reason why I don't find them as helpful.  But, I'll still check them.

                     

                    After looking at whatever course I find online, I will usually do what Surly Bill suggests and pull up Google Maps to get a sense for what the road or trail actually is and what's nearby.  If it's a trail, I like looking it up on TrailLink.

                     

                     

                    Definitely this! The Baltimore one will show the marathon and half marathon routes. Certain sections you do not want to run, you wind up in some rough areas.

                     

                    I seem to recall reading this same observation about the Washington, D.C. heat map - that there are parts of SE that appear on it due to the RnR DC Marathon that some people might consider "rough".  I disagreed about that aread of town but Baltimore "rough" is a whole other level of rough.  (When my niece was being treated at Hopkins, my brother wouldn't let me drive to the freeway unescorted.)

                     

                    So, the other downside of the routes here and on MapMyRun is you don't know why the person created the route.  I was in Baltimore a few summers ago for a conference and used someone's route from one of those platforms - I can't remember which but I think it was here.  There were defiitely places where I was like, "Why did this person take this road and not that one over there?!"  It was all good but I would have liked to have interviewed them after the run.  I bet it was you.  Smile

                    Half Crazy K 2.0


                      I run in Baltimore county, but work in the city near Hopkins.  I drove my parents to an appointment at Hopkins because it was not somewhere I wanted them lost.

                        Decades ago- before Strava and even before the internet, I was on a business trip and staying in downtown LA.  Runners' World had recently featured LA as a "Rave Run" place and had a route that I could do from the hotel.  I asked the front desk how to get to the street where I needed to start and told the guy where I was going to run.  He said, "We have treadmills.  I think that would be better."  I said, "Oh no!  This is a 'rave run" and I'll be fine!"   Well, out I went early the next morning.  The only reason I didn't think I would be murdered in the area where I was running was because there was so much traffic I would be run over first.  The course took you to the park where Dodger Stadium is, but by the time you got there (after a couple miles of junkyard and dogs), it was time to turn around.

                        Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth

                         

                        Re-Run


                        Misinformation Officer

                          I use the public list of USATF certified race courses wherever I travel. Here’s the search tool:

                          https://legacy.usatf.org/routes/

                          Runs like a dj mixing songs while wearing festive outfits.
                          5k PR 5/31/21 24:21 

                          10k PR 5/23 54:43

                          HM PR 1/2024 1:59:10

                          Altair5


                          Runs in the rain

                            Some interesting replies with heatmaps I was not aware of. Looking at ones for my own area I have to say that the ones showing as most popular are not the routes I would say are my favorites and I have run on all the roads within like a 10 mile vicinity of my home. Ones near the most densely inhabited areas will tend to have more runners and I prefer quiet roads with little traffic. You may want just to map out different routes and explore them for suitability. If because of traffic or other concerns it is not practical to run or bike them perhaps you could check them out in your car. Surely you will eventually see other runners who you can ask.

                            Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?
                            Get up, get out, get out of the door!

                            Half Crazy K 2.0


                              I've always just used a map (way back when it was the ADC map book, now on-line maps, google or RA). My first running route was basically how I go to the grocery store. I then started looking at where the various side streets go and added on from there. A lot depends on the type of neighborhood. I'm in the suburbs and can add on a fair amount of distance by just running each court on my main loop or even side streets.

                               

                              If I can't run from my door, it's not going to happen.

                              Brilliant


                                In addition to the other suggestions, I'd try the Strava Global Heatmap  It's what I use now when traveling.

                                 

                                Thank you!  This is what I was looking for.  I didn't find it when I checked Strava because it's under the "dashboard" heading instead of "explore".

                                 

                                I'll check into some of the other tools also.  In the meanwhile - tomorrow morning I'll check out a Strava-popular park that I can run to starting from my house Smile

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