If you are traveling this summer and in need of a running route, I suggest you head to a riverbank. Several boons about running by a river: the route is often flat; there are usually few streets to cross or navigate; and, a river affords a logical out-and-back course, making it tough to get lost. To make a riverside run thematic, consider listening to this Spotify playlist I put together. 

My mind often drifts back to runs I’ve taken over the years. Recently, I noticed a theme of many of the excursions: running beside a river. Call it astrological-meets-practical: I’m a Pisces, and cities often have pedestrian/bike trails along the banks of rivers. 

With Dimity, in 2016, overlooking Spokane Falls

Oddly, several of the runs were after taking a red-eye flight. Unable to check into my hotel, I’d change in a lobby restroom and head toward a blue-stripe on a local map, like I did about a decade ago when I flew to New York City. My training plan called for nine miles, and I figured it was better to get it done before lack of sleep caught up with me. The sweeping vistas along the Hudson River Park energized me—I didn’t even need a post-run nap! 

On a crisp morning in 2015, I landed in Memphis for the launch of Tales from Another Mother Runner. Again, my trajectory was plane/car ride/hotel bathroom/riverside trail. Weak winter sunlight fell on my shoulders as I ran on a packed dirt trail overlooking the swiftly moving brown water of the Mississippi River. I don’t recall passing a single other pedestrian during the entire 10-mile run, which wove past early flowering magnolia trees. 

Other trails alongside the mighty Mississippi were my stomping grounds for numerous runs in Saint Paul when AMR has had a booth at the Twin Cities Marathon (like we will this October!). Like so many riverside trails, I love how the trails start in a city, yet soon feel so bucolic. For instance, after crossing a bridge near my hotel, I was quickly running under a canopy of red and orange leaves and past marshland in Harriet Island Regional Park. 

A misty morning run alongside the Mississippi River

I’ve also run along many international rivers, most recently on a family trip to Japan last December. On our first morning in Kyoto, a quick exploratory walk with my son revealed our hotel was a hop, skip, and a jump (and a few running steps!) from the Kamo River. On my run the next day, I squinted as bright sunshine reflected off the wide, packed-sand walkway. The sight of dark brown wooden buildings with kirizuma (gabled) roofs overlooking the river suddenly elicited a guttural sound in my throat and tears in my eyes as I realized my family’s years-long dream of visiting Japan was a reality. I was filled with delight when I discovered large stepping stones crossing the shallow river. Halfway across the river, I stopped at a rocky outcropping to marvel at white cranes and other waterfowl. My heart felt full, and exercised—my ideal way to start a day. 

At the end of our Japanese trip, the idea of finding a running route in the heart of Tokyo intimidated me so I resorted to a few miles on a hotel treadmill. But in our last days in the Land of the Rising Sun, I wanted to feel like I was far from home so I turned to my iPhone’s Google Maps app for help, which told me our Tokyo hotel was less than a mile from the Sumida River. The stone-cobbled riverside trail was the most populated I’ve encountered on any of my trips, with numerous speedy locals zipping past me. I ran there two mornings in a row, including a few hours before we headed to the airport to return home. 

Kyoto Kamo River cranes

Like a marathon training run, my reminiscences could go on and on: running along the darkened, rain-splattered banks of the Seine in Paris; on the verdant trails of Margaret Island situated in the Danube River in Budapest; on both the Cambridge and the Boston sides of the Charles River; on the banks of Austin’s Lady Bird Lake (which is actually a river-like reservoir on the Colorado River); along and across the Spokane River on two of AMR retreats. 

Follow my lead: Head for a river to run this summer!