This is our guide to running in the Hamptons, a string of seaside communities on eastern Long Island’s South Fork, popular as a summer destination for New York City residents. It’s a bucolic area, with long stretches of beach and an interior of farmland, towns and villages with 18th-century shingle buildings and estates hidden behind tall boxwood hedges.
Our Hamptons running guide features 1-2 iconic routes in each of the major towns, from west to east: Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, and Montauk. Several routes are along seaside and beachfront roads, many lined with the estates of the rich and famous. We also feature some pleasant interior farmland roads, and some of the more runnable of the Hamptons’ extensive series of trails. Several of our routes are inspired by group runs taken from the Gubbins family running stores in East Hampton and Southampton, and by a series of road races operated by Run the Hamptons.
A note about running on the beach in the Hamptons: Although there are miles and miles of fabulous beach, the sand tends to be softer. The firm, compact sand that’s great for beach running is situational.
The Hamptons are accessible by train from New York, with a stop in each major town, out to Montauk. Within the Hamptons, there are some local buses, as well as The Free Ride, a shuttle service using electric vehicles (and yes, it’s free!).
Hamptons weather is typical of southern New England, but moderated and influenced by the ocean. Summers are warm to hot, with average high temperatures in the low 80s (27C), and warm nights. It’s usually a few degrees cooler than inland and not as humid. Fall is gorgeous, with mild temperatures, and it takes a good few weeks longer than interior areas for real autumn chill to set in. Winters are cold and damp but not frigid. Average high temeratures are above freezing (39F, or 3C), but dip into the mid-20s at night. So icy surfaces are something to keep an eye out for. The most severe storms, ‘Noreasters, can occur several times a year from October to May, bringing heavy wind and precipitation, and coastal flooding. The area receives an average 26 inches (66 cm) of snow annually, with snowfall moderated by ocean temps. That same ocean influence can make spring cool and damp when the winds are coming off the cool water.