running

Wendy: I am not sure you are going to get all of your wishes...The main running areas are:
1. On the waterfront of Charlotte Amalie- from Wendy's to Frenchtown is about 1 1/2 or 2 miles.
2. A loop from Magen's Bay out to the end of Peterborg- can make it about a 10K if you run up and down at Magen's
3. The area by the airport.
4. The National Park Road in Red Hook -1/2 mile
5. There is a trail at the Renaissance, but don't know much about it.
There are hotels by the airport road and of course, the Ren, but all others would require transportation. Also, if you want to go to restaurants, beaches, etc. you willl need transportation.So...how about looking at Point Pleasant, Secret Harbour, Sapphire for smaller size, etc. near Red Hook for restaurants and grocery...And rent a car for the beaches and running.

Wendy,

I would suggest you consider staying in Cruz Bay St. John. You can access restaurants and groceries by walking. You can walk to a couple beaches via trails from Cruz Bay. Lots of trails over there. And if you are really into walking I suppose you can walk/bus/hitch around St. John.

Or Stay on St. Thomas on the East End. You can walk to some places around that area and to get to the further spots you can taxi or maybe rent a car - you will want to do that as St. Thomas is a larger island and has a mountain chain basically running right down the middle which means roads go up, around, down...

If on St. Thomas then Make a day trip to Water Island, pack some picnic lunch... you can walk everywhere there and its a unique place. Run, walk up to the fort, down to Limestone, around the old ruins then swim at the beach and catch the ferry back. Have dinner at Tickles in Crown Bay where the ferry comes in. And then catch a taxi or if you rented a car head back to your hotel.

Secret Harbor is lovely and Sapphire Beach... they have small kitchens. I think Bolongo does too but you would have to double check.

St. Croix option: St. Croix is a large island and although there are lots of long flat roads perfect for running, the island does require a car to get from place to place primarily because of its size.

If you want to look into possiable participation in running, swimming or other athletic races or practices happening locally while you are here. Try

For St. John - there is a group called the Landsharks they have running, swimming races and practices. I don't have a 2004 schedule yet, but in 2003 there were get togethers basically every month, and about 4 times in Janary actually.

On St. Thomas and St. Croix there is a running group that organizes races and practices, again I don't have a 2004 schedule but for January 2003 there were races from 2 to 15 miles.

The Stt - Stx site is http://virginislandspace.com/Calendar2002-2003.html you might visit it and see what the ones that happened this year were about perhaps they will be the same ones that happen in 2004. These are the contact numbers if you want to call and look into it For The Virgin Islands Pace Runners Information call: 340-777-0258
For St.Thomas Association Race Information call: 340-6373 or 340-777-6093

The St. John Landsharks Contact info; For More information, call Jude at 693-5283, Louise at 693-5712 or Peter at 779-4035

--Islander