The sun is OUT! And along with the guns 💪 and buns 🍑, so are the runners.  To be fair, living in San Diego doesn’t necessarily burden us with treacherous weather conditions, and it’s pretty safe to say we get to enjoy running outdoors all year round.  However, when the sun is shining, there are inevitably more people choosing the great outdoors versus running at the gym.

Where do you like to run?

With so much beauty at our fingertips, it’s not hard to find a pleasant place to run. But we all have our favorite spots that meet our “running preferences” checklist, usually taking into consideration the terrain, elevation, views, traffic and of course – safety.

For us, we love finding a good trail or stretch of coastline to get a few miles in.  What about you? Where is your favorite place?

Here’s what y’all said…

List of local favorites:

North County:

• Batiquitos Lagoon – In Motion insider
  • 3.2 miles, out and back, dirt trail
• Bear Valley Parkway (Kit Carson Park) in Escondido – Joe Merrihew
  • 2.4 miles, loop, dirt and paved
• Carlsbad Boardwalk, Sea Wall & Carlsbad Blvd. (between the village and the campground) – In Motion insider
  • Up to 3.5 miles one way, paved
• Lake Miramar – Ryan Escoto 
  • 4.9 mile loop, paved
• San Elijo Hills trails – In Motion insider
  • Up to 18 miles, multiple dirt trail options, varying difficulty
• Swami’s Beach to Cardiff – In Motion insider
  • Up to 2.5 miles one way, paved (new rail trail and beach trail options in Cardiff!)

Central San Diego:

• Balboa Park – Humberto Hernandez
  • 65 miles of varying trails
• Mission Bay – Therese Anderson
  • 12 mile loop, paved
• Seaport Village to Harbor Island (but only early morning before the tourists!) – Humberto Hernandez
  • Up to 8.3 miles, paved
• Sunset Cliffs – Lisa Serrano
  • 2.4 miles, out and back, dirt

East County:

Where’s YOUR favorite place to run where you feel best, happiest and motivated?? Comment below and spread the running joy!