stella gone nuts

I consider myself a beginner. Running makes me HAPPY! I travel a lot, on business or vacation. Most trips are oveaseas. I find it helps me get rid of jet lag after a 10K run in the following morning after I landed in a new city, which is usually 12 hours different from where I'm from.

Still, it is not that easy. I have to convince myself in the early morning to head to gym in my hotel. I always plan to run outdoor but not sure if it is safe, or if i got lost after making turns in the city. I love outdoor running. Treadmill is the last option. I got bored on treadmill and annoyed by ppl around taking pictures (selfie).

In my last trip in Taiwan, the owner of my B&B recommended me to run on the road where there is no shouder, but with breath-taking view. I did walk but not run.

Are you a runner? Do you run on the street in Shanghai, HongKong, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo? Do you have any recommendatons?

VickiSoCal

I started running a couple of years ago and now some of the highlights of my vacations have been some runs- Hyde Park, Central Park, Parque de Retiro in Madrid. Before going to a city I try to plot our a good run using google maps- usually try to find best route to a large park if there is one, or to a river or seaside where usually there's some kind of path- along the Thames, and along the shore in Barcelona have been some of my favorites. These can get crowded in the daytime but if you go out early enough, they are usually ok.

gracall

There is a huge boom of street runners in Asia lately, when in doubt follow the crowd. I usually run from where I'm staying to a location more suitable for laps and where cars and traffic do not become a concern.

Either side of Victoria Harbour in the evenings when temperatures are cooler can be nice runs. Cleaner air and no cars to worry about. Running on the streets of Central after hours/early morning is an unique experience.

Taipei has a lot of school grounds with track open till late evenings. CKS memorial and Sun Yat-Sen memorial have big grounds for laps.

Can't offer too much on Seoul and Tokyo. Usually I stay in a more crowded area so treadmill for me. I did do some laps around COEX when stayed at Gangnam.

Shanghai I stay in doors at all cost. The air is too polluted for outdoor runs.

aztimm

From the Conrad in Seoul there's a really nice pathway that runs along the Han River. Plus there's a park right across the street where people run laps.

Not sure of the easiest way to get there if you don't stay at the Conrad, as when I went out/about I walked through a mall to the subway.



As VickiSoCal shared, there are tons of great running areas in London. I've run along the Thames, past Buckingham Palace, a lap around Hyde Park, and back. Did it once on a Sunday, another time on a weekday where I hopped on the Tube at Westminster (felt kinda grungy as it was packed, guys around me in suits and me in my sweaty running outfit, but no one said anything).
Nothing quite like running past Buckingham Palace early (6:30-7am) on a Sunday morning, before the throngs descend.

VickiSoCal

Last time I was in London I was at Grosvenor House and went for a run in the park and it started pouring. I arrived back at the hotel completely drenched. I slunk thru the lobby trying not to drip on everything!

fropones

All my stays in China I've just run on the treadmill (and got exceptionally bored) for fear of heavy breathing in heavy pollution. If the index ever happens to be below 100 while I'm there maybe I'd go for an outdoor run.

travelinmanS

I run outside almost every day in Shanghai and I'm still alive. I think the air inside is just as polluted as the air outside and it's so much better to run outdoors through the French Concession than on a treadmill in a gym.

Running is my preferred way to see a city. Whenever I get to a new city I try to take a 1-1.5 hour run to see the sights. I'll still never forget rounding a corner and coming face to face with the Colosseum in Rome, amazing. I love running along the promenade in TST East in Hong Kong to the east of the Avenue of the Stars, great views of the city and usually lots of other runners out there. San Francisco on the waterfront from the ballpark underneath the bridge to Ghiradelli square is also a great run. Running around BKK's Lumphini Park is a great way to work up a sweat any time of year. My absolute favorite run, however, is running from the Kings Cross Coke sign to the Sydney Opera house via the botanical gardens. Amazing way to do some sightseeing and get a workout at the same time!

mbece

A good idea I learned from a blogger is to find longer run routes (10k or more) on My Garmin Connect or Strava. Longer routes require better planning and even if you're not running the full distance, they'll likely be OK.

Rondelltg

This JW Marriott has a nice canal running path right outside the front door. All you have to do is cross the 2 lane street and walk down the stairs. I went to the right (facing the canal from the JW) for an out and back 3 mile run. The CITI (black glass structure on the left side) building would be the turnaround point if you don't wear a Garmin. GPS worked well under the street overpasses I only lost my signal once under a very wide street.

Also the sun was up at 521am I started at 530am and had plenty of running room.

If you happen to be close by subway(line # 1 or #4) its Dongdaemun Stn. exit #9 leads into the JW through the Seoul baking company.

Have fun

taylorc418

So what does everyone use to find new routes to run? I travel M-R to the same place every week, and after a year, I'm really tired of the 5 mile loop that the #runWestin folks provide (love, love, love that service). I use Strava for mileage counting, but I can't find a way to search local routes. Especially if I'm in a new area, I like to know with reasonable certainty that I'm not going to run out of path/sidewalk on any given run.

tl;dr I'm looking for an app where I can input current location, desired mileage, and it will give me a route that is close.

dchristiva

I like to run more when I travel than when I'm at home, probably out of general curiosity than anything else. I wear a Garmin for GPS and to track data, and it's fun to upload the info when I get home. In general, I just head out and start running. Obviously this isn't ideal in a true "urban" setting like NYC (unless I'm up by Central Park or along the West Side Highway path), but most cities I've visited have yielded great finds. San Diego, Minneapolis, and Denver come to mind quickly. In fact, I've actually had more difficulty finding decent running venues in the one, rural area that I visit quarterly. The roads have no sidewalks and are heavily traveled by 18-wheel trucks. Not a great feeling.

Sometimes I'll do a Google search for running paths in a particular city, but mostly I just head out and find what I can find!

TheTakeOffRush

^ Well said, aztimm and VickiSoCal. Rainy mornings and post-run grungy Tube rides notwithstanding, London is one of my favorite running cities. Its (larger) parks are perfectly sized and serenely wild in the morning.

Some Resources:

• googling "sightrunning" for whatever city
• running tours for a given city, though it better be a sweet run and a grand tour if I'm spending money on it.
• Map My Run, though you have to register, has good listings of popular local runs
• Running Mapometer is a good tool for plotting distances/routes on a zoomable map.

What resources do you lot use?

SkiAdcock

Back in my running days I'd just head out the door from the hotel & just run along. If I knew there was a park nearby I'd head for that; otherwise just run down a variety of streets & hope I could find my way back. I'm pretty low tech when it comes to running stuff, even in my big running days. If I knew something was 'x' miles I'd run that. Otherwise I'd just pick a time (30, 60, 90 minutes) & run that long.

Cheers.

VickiSoCal

I use MapMyRun both to find runs and to share them. I'll be in London for a week in November and have already looked up a few I haven't tried yet. I'm contemplating doing as much of the Regent's Canal as I can. Maybe 6 milse or so, taking the tube to start and back from finish.

mbece

A suggestion I got from a fellow traveler is to sign up for Garmin connect (even if you don't use a Garmin device). It's free and you can see routes other people do.

Even if you're doing a short route, using a longer route someone logged is usually a good bet that the route is fine. Using a shorter route is a hit or miss -many people just head out the door without planing much.