The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner? Not if you’re gearing up for the Los Angeles Marathon. Anyone who has run the race can vouch for the sense of community triggered by
the 26.2-mile contest. The "Stadium to the Sea" course starts at Dodger Stadium, snakes through Downtown, then cuts a swath through Silver Lake, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Brentwood before finishing at the Santa Monica Pier, with numerous landmarks along the way. The event attracts about 25,000 participants every year while providing a physical and cultural landscape that epitomizes the variety that is Los Angeles.Fortunately, for those looking to train for the LA Marathon, there are plenty of paths, medians, roads, hills and trails to ensure enough of a feast for the senses to carry you to that second wind. And you can even get some coaching and find a group to share through LA Roadrunners. Either way, from solitary to communal, urban to rural, mountainous to maritime, LA has a running path for all seasons and sensibilities. Here are a few worth the trek:
The Strand either offers the prototypical or atypical California beach experience, depending where you pick it up. Run on the beachside pathway through Manhattan or Hermosa Beach, and you’ll pass surfers, volleyball players, sunbathers, families, locals, tourists and any other image that fits the seaside ideal, not to mention great views of Palos Verdes Peninsula and Catalina Island in the distance. Pick up the Strand a few miles north in Venice, though, and anarchy prevails; complete with palm and tarot card readers, sand sculptors, collage artists, performance artists, street hustlers, buskers and bodybuilders. Just make sure you don’t run over, or get run over by Harry Perry, the turbaned guitar player on roller blades.
Venice Strand: Ocean Front Walk between Marine Court on the north and Washington Boulevard on the south
South Bay Strand: From Manhattan Beach’s 45th Street on the north to Hermosa Beach’s Herondo Street on the south
courtesy of artem.aleksenko, Flickr
Contrary to its glitzy image, Hollywood provides plenty of places for runners to work up a sweat and get down and dirty. The Runyon Canyon Loop, which starts at the top of Fuller Avenue near Franklin Avenue, offers three miles of views of hillside mansions and the Sunset Strip as well as some great people-watching. A few miles east, at the top of Beachwood Canyon, trails will get you up close and personal to the Hollywood Sign while also offering an obstacle course of sorts, courtesy of the horses from Sunset Ranch below. Finally, Griffith Park, the largest U.S. urban park, provides dozens of options, though most notable is a trail that starts at leafy Fern Dell below and works its way up to the Griffith Observatory.
Runyon Canyon: top of Fuller Ave., north of Franklin Ave.,
Beachwood Canyon: top of Beachwood Drive
Griffith Park/Fern Dell: near Los Feliz Boulevard and Fern Dell Drive
courtesy of dj murdok photos, Flickr
One wouldn’t expect an oasis of sorts near the intersection of the San Diego and Ventura Freeways, but that’s what you get with the Sepulveda Basin, which offers enough fields, trails, hills, footbridges and bike paths to provide dozens of running options within the heart of the San Fernando Valley. The Basin, along with Woodley Park, gives runners a chance to check out Sepulveda Dam and the LA River, not to mention the wildlife that attracts lots of birdwatchers to the area.
405 Freeway to Burbank Boulevard west to Woodley Avenue right, Van Nuys
courtesy of Ken Shelton, Flickr
Anyone who has driven through Santa Monica Canyon and has spotted the dozens of people in exercise garb milling around the bottom of the sets of stairs leading up to Adelaide Street can attest to their popularity. The top of the steps – there’s a concrete set at the corner of Adelaide Drive and 4th Streets, and a wooden set a few hundred feet east – offers a view of the Pacific to the left and Santa Monica Mountains to the right, not to mention a great ocean breeze. Granted, the stairs are known as a bit of a scene and a pick-up spot, but if you can think and speak coherently after bounding up a couple hundred steps, all the more power to you.
Adelaide Drive between 4th and 7th Streets (top), Entrada Drive near East Channel Road (bottom), Santa Monica
courtesy of kagee219, Flickr
To most people, Malibu+Exercise=Surfing, but Escondido Canyon provides a great excuse to make an exception. Runners can test their leaping ability as they traverse Escondido Creek and cruise in and out of tree covered paths. Best part is that at about two miles in, you’ll be rewarded by going face to face with the 50-foot-tall Escondido Falls, complete with multiple tiers, moss-covered rocks, and a natural pool, in case you want to cool off and jump in. The falls are most active in the Spring.
Pacific Coast Highway past Latigo Canyon Road to East Winding Way, Malibu
Palos Verdes Peninsula
With its sweeping vistas of the Queen’s Necklace, the LA Basin and Catalina Island as well as its year-round cool temperatures and fresh air, Palos Verdes Peninsula offers 12 square miles of nirvana for runners, bikers and other exercise hounds. Even a jog down most of its streets will offer the type of greenery and serenity many wilderness areas can’t match. For starters, though, one could do far worse than heading towards the area near Trump National Golf Club, aka Ocean Trails, which offers trails that traverse the golf course and provide stunning ocean views. Point Fermin Park just on the San Pedro side of the Peninsula and Fred Hesse Jr. Community Park in Rancho Palos Verdes are also worth exploring for those looking to lace up.
Trump National Golf Club: Hawthorne Boulevard or Western Avenue to Palos Verdes Drive South to La Rotunda Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes
Point Fermin Park: near Gaffey Street and Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro
Fred Hesse Jr. Community Park: Hawthorne Boulevard at Locklenna Lane, Rancho Palos Verdes
Danny King is a freelance reporter whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Daily Variety. King, who has been a staff reporter for Bloomberg News and the Los Angeles Business Journal, currently writes about subjects ranging from the travel industry to alternative-fueled vehicles. A native Angeleno, King lives with his family in either Los Feliz or Silver Lake – he’s still not sure which.
