December 13, 2007

US & Canada | US | Los Angeles

Run, Tourist, Run

By Anicee Gaddis

Get off the treadmill and see the world run by.

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Perhaps you prefer a shot of pristine nature over the hotel treadmill, or to mix your sightseeing with your adrenaline? Well, now you can, with a bevy of new running tours. Having targeted five-milers in San Francisco and Las Vegas, American Running Guides will soon take on Seattle, while Manhattan-based City Running Tours has just started tailoring discovery-meets-exercise routes of Chicago, San Diego and Washington DC. For more intrepid hotfooting, though, you can experience steep steps and killer views at the Great Wall of China Marathon in May. And if that doesn’t satisfy your speed addiction, there’s Run the Planet, an interactive website that plots some of the world’s great running routes from Afghanistan to Zambia.

Then again, you could just check yourself into L.A.’s runner’s paradise at The Crescent. The Beverly Hills boutique hotel was once a haven for stars of the silent era, and is literally footsteps away from some of California’s most challenging running trails — including the beast of all beasts, the Loma Vista, leading up to the Hollywood Hills. In the new year the Crescent will supplement its detailed running maps with guided tours and a nutrition bar featuring a runner’s smoothie menu. The post-gallop high point? Sipping a cocktail at the hotel lounge with Gregory Peck — yes, that’s the owner’s real name.