New Jersey. The Garden State. Hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The 3rd state admitted to the Union. The most densely populated state in the country. 21 counties with a population of almost 9 million people. Situated between New York and Philadelphia. Home to Newark Liberty Airport, one of the busiest international airports in the world. Home to the Statue of Liberty, although New Yorker’s (and most of the world) think otherwise. The birthplace of FM radio, the light bulb, and the motion picture camera. Oh, and did I mention the Jersey Devil?
These are all interesting facts. But what is most fascinating? New Jersey has a landmass of over 8700 miles. Surprisingly, almost half of New Jersey is wooded. What is the beauty in that? A multitude of trails to run. From the oak tree forests of the north to the pine tree forests of the south, there are miles and miles of trails to explore, taking you far from civilization and close to nature. From squirrels to foxes to deer to bears, and robins to blue jays to hawks to eagles, there’s a plethora of wildlife that can be discovered. Mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, streams, and lakes…so much to take in, so much to enjoy.
As beautiful as the nature surrounded trails are in New Jersey, there are thousands of miles of roads to be explored as well. Roads which wind through farmland in Salem County. Roads that give you an amazing few of the sunrise over the Atlantic in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Roads that give you a view of the New York city skyline in Hudson County. Roads that will take you through the Appalachian Mountains in Sussex County, and along the Delaware River in Warren County. With so much to explore on New Jersey’s roads, they definitely should not be passed up.
Where is this all going? Well, I was listening to a webinar the other day on hyper-local blogging. The topic happened to be real estate, but it left an impression on me. I’ve been looking for a way to re-purpose this blog, given that I am not currently training for a charity-focused event. So while listening to the webinar, I thought, why not start writing hyper-local posts about running in my town, East Brunswick. After some consideration, however, I realized that I know plenty of great places outside of East Brunswick, throughout New Jersey, that I love to run at, and would be doing a disservice to myself and you, the reader, if I didn’t post about those as well. And so an idea was born…
Starting soon, I’m going to start posting on my favorite, and least favorite, runs throughout New Jersey. I plan on not only including logistical information on the routes, such as directions, mileage, elevation, road/trail type, etc., but information about the area itself. I hope to include best places to stop for water and use the rest room; restaurants where you can grab a bite to eat after your run; places where you could drop fluids along the route; areas to be cautious because of traffic or animals; and many other details along the way. Best of all, I plan to bring my camera along on each run, taking photos along the way of interesting landmarks, scenic views, and anything else worth shooting.
So I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog, and share this journey with me as I explore all of the great (and possibly not so great) running routes New Jersey has to offer! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you, and look forward to hearing about your favorite routes as well. Who knows…maybe I’ll post your favorite route next!
So as always… Run on Friends!
While running, it dawned on me how much your geography affects your training. Â For instance, if you live in a mountainous region, your runs are likely to be mostly hilly. Â If you live in the plains out in the mid west or west, your runs are likely to be flat. Â I guess the same goes with weather as well. Â If you live in the northeast, you’ll have hot summers and cold winters. Â If you live in San Diego, CA, you’ll have nice weather year round. Â Geography, in part, then, impacts the type of runner you’ll become, and the quality of runner you’ll become. Â Obviously if you run on hills all the time, you’ll be a much better hill runner than someone who lives where it’s flat. Â If you live somewhere where it’s warm all the time, you won’t fare well in cold weather running.
All bad feelings aside, New Jersey luckily allows for varied weather, varied altitude, and varied terrain.  From where I live, there’s multiple choices to choose from.  There’s the Towpath, which I’ve mentioned previously, which is 37 miles of flat, mostly dirt and stone path.  Leaving right from my front door, I head into a labyrinth of large uphills and downhills in any which way you wish to run…all on roads.  If I go another direction, I can run in Liberty State Park with the New York skyline and Statue of Liberty in sight.  If I go south, I can run on the sand at the beach, or in the dirt trails of the Pine Barrens.  In spring its warm and wet, fall it’s cool and dry, summer its hot and winter it’s cold.  Basically, living in New Jersey gives you almost everything a runner could want for varied training…minus the high altitudes.  Some might say it’s a runner’s paradise.
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