Take A Running Tourby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 23 Aug 2007 06:44 PM In a previous blog I listed the benefits of taking a marathon vacation. If you are a runner and have gotten around to booking one yet, I have an alternative you might find less daunting. They're called City Running Tours and they allow joggers the chance to sightsee while pounding the pavement in cities such as New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. I think it is a fantastic idea. You get in your daily run while taking a tour of a given city--complete with a knowledgeable guide who points out famous landmarks and offers historical facts and trivia along the way. What's not to like? Can you image how fast time must fly on one of these runs? You could go 10-miles and not even know it. The New York tour features an 8-mile bridge run that takes you from Manhattan over the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge, through the trendy Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, and back over the Williamsburg Bridge to the Lower East Side. You could also choose to take the tour of downtown, which includes running in Central Park, Greenwich Village, Harlem, and the Lower East Side. There's even one that takes you all the way up Broadway to the northern tip of Manhattan. In Washington, the routes have a historic theme. The runs take you by famous landmarks including the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the White House, and Arlington Cemetery. This is one tour I would find particularly inviting if I were in D.C. on a very short business trip. It's the ultimate way to multi-task---sight see, exercise, and then run off to a business meeting. The Chicago running tours include one that centers on the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It focuses on old Chicago and historic sites. Meanwhile, the "Wrigleyville Run," stars and ends at Wrigley Field; and a "Lakeshore Run" takes you along picturesque Lake Michigan. The best part about these running tours (for me anyway) is that the company says it is willing to accommodate any schedule, any day of the year, and will customize a run with advanced notice. For example, if you want to jog through Times Square at midnight (without having to do so because someone is chasing you) or you have always dreamed of jogging along Lake Michigan at sunrise or the National Mall at sunset, it can be done. The price for a guided running tour is $60 for the first 6 miles and $6 for each mile after that. Related Articles: Five Reasons You Should Visit Chicago Five More Reasons You Should Visit Chicago New York's Must-See Attractions---The Empire State Building New York's Must-See Attractions---The Statue of Liberty Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevanttravel tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags chicago, running, running tours, tours, Travel Discuss this article
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