Seth Webinger

The beauty about running, I feel, is that you can experience/discover more places than the average individual. Road biking, mountain biking, hiking,and mountain climbing are other examples in which an activity will take you to the outer limits, if you wish. I would classify running along the same lines as those other sports and that is why I have an easy time calling running an adventure sport. Along with admiring the beautiful sights along the way, running is an excellent way to stay in shape and helps you feel confident about your body. I always feel that after every run I have a psychological “high” because I know I did something that improved my fitness, and may have seen more than an average individual will see in one week.

This past summer I had an opportunity to go on an “once in a lifetime” roadtrip to Oceanside, CA, with 5 of my best friends. The trip was an opportunity for us to get away and explore the country a little bit while making all critical decisions by ourselves. Except for a few mishaps in which we had to seek parental guidance, for the most part we managed on our own. Anyway, we stayed at my grandmas’ house for about about 5 days during the month of June. She lives right next to the South Coastal Highway, which is a beautiful route to drive if anyone has the chance, and she lives five blocks from Oceanside beach

At the time of our trip I was just getting over a running injury that had left me out of the scene for six months. I was having a hard time finding motivation to start training for the upcoming cross country season, and had even considered “hanging up the spikes” as well. After sitting in the van for the 32 hour trip from La Crescent, MN to Oceanside, it did not take much for me to get on my feet and do someting. So, me and my friend, Spencer, laced up and headed down towards the beach for an easy 4-miler. The second my feet hit the sand I knew that there was no way I was going to quit running.

Oceanside’s beauty rivals that of San Diego’s. Although Oceanside lacks the sights of downtown San Diego, Oceanside is a much more relaxed suburb with a small town feel. Even though its’ population reaches about 130,000, the beach does not possess the busy-body activity, which is nice, that many other beaches have. If you run north from Wisconsin Ave along ‘the Strand’ (thats the actual name of the street) you will come across the Oceanside pier. The pier is about a half of a mile long in which you’ll see a handful of fishermen everyday, and the restaurant Ruby’s at the end of walk. When eating at Ruby’s you get the sense that the whole restaurant is floating and the food is exceptional for a post-run meal. If you keep running north along the Strand you will eventually meet North Pacific Street, which turns into Harbor Drive. Harbor drive is an out-and-back road that wraps around Oceanside’s Small Craft Harbor and host’s hundreds of small sailboats. I enjoyed reading the different names on the sailboats as I cruised by.

On the way out of Harbor Drive, come back along North Pacific Street and you’ll be surrounded by a series of condominiums and ritzy apartment buildings. The architecture was more than enough to catch my eye. On your way back to South Coastal Highway make sure to run through one of the tunnels that goes under the Amtrak railroad tracks. The “ocean beach-harbor loop” was only about a 6-mile run, but the sights along the way are so plentiful that it feels like you ran a 10-miler. To add on, simply head south along the Strand, running on the beach never gets old–especially in the morning time. I took the time to map out the route and you can check it out at: Ocean beach-harbor loop. Make sure and switch to the ’satellite’ view so you can check out the sites.

Other sites to see in/near Oceanside are the giant Regal Cinema, we watched two films there, LEGOLAND, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and the many shops/ restaurants along South Coastal Highway. Oceanside is a great place to run, and nothing feels better than breathing in the fresh air near the ocean on an early morning run.