About

Great Runs is the ultimate guide to the best routes in the world’s major cities and destinations. It’s for travelers who run and runners who travel. The main purpose is to answer the following question: I am going to [Chicago, Los Angeles, London…] — where should I go running?

We also provide other essential information for the traveler who runs: where to stay near the routes, where are the local run shops, group runs and running clubs, and what are the signature events on that city’s annual running calendar.

We’re focused on providing you with the most interesting/scenic/safe running places to run in destinations frequented by travelers. For runners who get stuck staying near an airport, convention center, or major office park, we have route suggestions for you, too.

The guide is for the everyday, average runner. Typical route length is ~5 miles, and most of our routes have options for longer and shorter runs. 

As of 2025, we have completed guides to 2,000+ unique locations, from major cities to popular regions to top vacation destinations. There are 15,000+ curated routes on Great Runs, covering every major region of the world. All of our routes feature route maps created by Great Runs. 

• 300 Unique locations in the United States, plus popular ‘regions’ (i.e. Cape Cod, Hamptons, Golden Isles)
• Every major U.S. National Park
• 50 Locations in Canada 
• 300 locations in Europe, including popular ‘regions’ (i.e. Tuscany) and coastal areas (Algarve, Côte d’Azur)
• 150 locations in Asia, including 17 cities in Japan, 13 cities in China
• Australia & New Zealand: 17 unique locations & popular regions (i.e. Australia Gold Coast)
• Key vacation spots & destinations, such as Disney, Vermont, Cape Cod, and a comprehensive guide to top running spots in the major U.S. National Parks
• Central & South America: 30 locations, including 7 cities in Brazil. 
• Every major Caribbean island, 13 cities/vacation regions in Mexico
• 50 cities in Africa & the Middle East
• Seasonal guides and lists, such as Best Beaches for Running, Top Fall Foliage Runs in Vermont, Favorite Spring Runs, Best Winter Running Cities, etc.
• 100+ ‘Best of’ Lists & Compilations, for every runner’s bucket list!    Examples: 25 Spectacular Parks for Running in the USA; Great River Running Loops; 25 Best Runs in Italy

Who Is This For?

This guide is for travelers who run and runners who travel. It is oriented toward those who are visiting a location, and for those who live in that city. We also try to address the needs of the business traveler, by pointing out running options near airports and convention centers, and other business-centric locations. We also cover top vacation destinations, such as the National Parks.

This is for your daily, typical runner. The average length of our routes is ~5 miles, and most of our routes have multiple mileage options. It’s also for the runner who likes to explore. In some cases, rather than proscribe a particular route, we suggest a particular area and you can do whatever distance you like.

Our objective: A guide to the best places to run in every city/destination…sort of a runner’s “bucket list”.

Why Did We Do This?

As runners who have traveled extensively for work for 20+ years, we’ve had the opportunity to discover great places to run in the world’s major cities. We wanted to share these with fellow runners and travelers. This is also a resource for helping runners make sure they stay near good running routes when traveling. 

We also noticed that popular apps such as MapMyRun (MMR) and Strava are great for recording your runs and even finding routes, but fall short in the areas of curation or context. Go to Strava and enter “downtown Boston” and you are presented with — literally — thousands of options — often on unsafe roads, or from someone’s home — since the routes are largely crowdsourced. We are trying to complement the rich functionality and information in those apps.

Finally, we noticed that there are “best” guides for just about everything…except for running. There are websites, apps, and books on the best places to go cycling, hiking, fishing, and golfing. And guides to the best colleges, movies, books, and songs. But nothing for one of the world’s most popular activities…running! So here you are…

Hasn’t This Been Done Before?

Amazingly, no. Trust us, there’s no other resource like this. There are articles here and there, but nothing with a consistent and comprehensive format, curated content, and all the major cities & destinations.  Search within popular running apps such as MapMyRun or Strava, and they will spit out hundreds of options, with zero context or curation — their routes are mainly crowd-sourced. No designation of whether the run is interesting, scenic, or safe. Many of the runs on those apps or sites originate from someone’s house, rather than a central location. AllTrails and Komoot are mainly focused on hiking and more technical trail running.

Great Runs:

• Lists all of the major destinationsin one place with a detailed and consistent format for each location and route.
• Puts a stake in the ground with suggestions of ‘the most iconic routes’.
• Provides other essential information, such as where to stay near the routes, plus info on running stores, group runs, and major running events.

How Do We Do This?

We spend countless hours doing detailed primary research. We’ve traveled to many of these cities, and hire local editors. We also do extensive research — talk to experts at local running stores, running groups, expat groups, tourism bureaus, & so on. Every single one of our mapped routes was created by Great Runs. 

How Do We Make Money?

We’re not looking to get rich, but we do need to cover our costs. We pay our editors! 

• Advertising: Great Runs does feature advertising on its pages. The ad load is modest. There’s an option to opt-out of ads by paying a modest monthly or annual subscription fee. 
• Sponsorships: There are sponsors of the Great Runs website and newsletter

Affiliate Disclosure: Great Runs might have affiliate relations, where Great Runs earns a small commission for products purchased when linked to from our site.