Discussion: Places to Run Before You Die

Whether it?s your favorite trail at dawn, along the Great Wall of China, or a local loop out your back door, runners know thousands of epic places and (epic races) to run like an animal. We want to know where you run wild.

Join SaveRun.org (http://saverun.org) and submit your entry for a chance to be featured in our ?Places to Run Before You Die? e-book. You?ll be entered to win a drawing for some great prizes, too, like $500 worth of gear from Pearl Izumi.

Submit an essay of 100 words or fewer plus a photograph or one-minute video. You choose how to best express the wonders of the run.

Visit the Places to Run Before You Die contest forum (http://runpreservation.ning.com/forum) for more details or to enter. Hurry. All entries must be received by Oct. 31, 2008. Be sure to tell your friends.

In an orienteering context, my list of places/races to run in before I die are Jukola, Venice, the karst terrain in Slovenia, French 5-Days, Swiss-O Week, and Kooyoora (or some other equivalent/better terrain in Australia).

I have checked off Oringen, Fin 5, Scottish 6-Days, Harriman Park, suupo maasto terrain in Finland, sand dune forest in Scotland and Spain, the 1000 Days in Wyoming, Mt. Laurie, the Yukon, Anzo Borrego, Vazquez Rocks, and of course my own Dutchman Flat.

You definitely have to test yourself against Pawtuckaway, too (in New Hampshire, site of a 1992 World Cup race). Always makes me humble -- what a work of art the map is, too!

I have been thinking along the 'places to lose yourself before arthritis sets in' vein as well. Being the orienteer living closest to Kooyoora, I'm pleased to see that is on someone elses list. But if you run on Cascades in Queensland instead, you can tick the Australian granite box. Some of the names on my list have popped up above: Venice, Slovenian Kaast (Novi Set?), Anzo Borrego, suupo maasto, the Yukon and Harriman. Let me suggest a few others. Vulcania (the last World Cup in France), the sand dunes of Latvia used in the most recent EC, Icelandic volcanic terrain and Australia's Flinders Ranges. I have already run on gold mining terrain near Creswick in Australia, and I suggest that for your lists as well.
Too many maps, too few years.
You might also like to check the current related "To Call Yourself An Australian Orienteer" thread. Or maybe that spawned this thread......

Ideally in the Men's 100 class at World Masters.

i did the city to surf and its just mad when your running on top of a hill and you look forward too see a mass of people and look back and see just as many people.

All well and good, but my list of places, I wouldn't tell anyone about. Thats why they are so good -you have them to yourself.

Places to run before you die? - Diamond Head starting at sea level, because it is an icon; an active erupting volcano, because it is so spectacular and might well be your last; Bogong High Plains or The Main Range in summer, because everyone should be made to appreciate this environment.
I have plenty of places I enjoy running but none of them involve orienteering. The enjoyment in orienteering is after I stop and reflect on the experience so these tend to be in unique or epic terrain - Flinders Ranges, Kooyoora, Warby Range, High-O on the Bogong High Plains or Main Range; the Hellenic Gun Club out of Murray Bridge where we were fed salt-bush raised goat.

I would add one or two of those a-maze-ing old italian village (Cervara, sprint WC 2005). And a WOC tour.

Every time I see this thread I want to replace it with the much more interesting 'Places to die before you run'.

LOL !! Oh sure, always the easy way out...

If feet means 'la petit mort', then I can think of quite a few as well and orienteering isn't in the picture. But its way off thread.

Not quite what I had in mind...

Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park.

Hey cool, I've done those two.

Wind River Range if I can ever get back there.

The North Shore mountains of Vancouver and don't forget to do the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run!

If you are a o-nerd you should also run DX Deluxe!
Micro-mini-O around Uppsala, Sweden every year!
Quality orienteering á la Mats Troeng!
http://www.dxdeluxe.se =)

The Rim Trail, Gooseberry Mesa, SW Utah

The best damn trail run I've EVER done! Worth the 2000 km of driving to get there, the busted exhaust pipe, and the cold January air.

For me it would be finishing Hardrock....... but living in Colorado there are so many awesome places to run.

Alishan Forest in the Taiwan mountains. Most of the trees are between 2 to 3 thousand years old. It was an amazing feeling walking among the giant trees but now that I run and orienteer i want to run there.

These are awesome suggestions! If you haven't already, make sure you
visit SaveRun.org (http://saverun.org) and submit your entry so you can get these in our Places to Run Before You Die e-book and have a shot to win all sorts of great stuff (like Peal Izumi gear). It's super easy and so far, we have room for more entries...so you have a great shot! Here is the direct link: (http://runpreservation.ning.com/forum). Deadline is 10/31.

Good news, the eBook is out! There were a ton of great suggestions for best races and runs all over the US, but they narrowed it down to top 10 "Best Places to Run Before you Die." Check it out at http://saverun.org. If you don't agree, you can submit for the next chapter of the eBook.

Let us know what you think!

Eccentric choices to my mind. I suppose all our choices will be eccentric.

Dusseldorf??

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

I've run on Tybee Island (last spring). Nice place to hang out on the beach, but for running, meh. I guess I'm 10% dead.

Musically?

Orineteering wise iv not done many
2 Jwocs, O-ringin being the majotr ones. A few interestig O events, an old WOC long distance final from 1989 sweden (date?), 2 of my own maps. A few local maps in Sa which are special, Heddianga, Nuweberg forest outside Cape town.
Run against a few top internationals over the years from brittan, finland and switzerland. Always a good experience.

As far as great runs go though I think the comrades untra marathon would be epic but rough. I would love to do a run in some epic mountains, like the himalayas, for the scenary, not the shortness of breath. I would also recomend a run along the drakensburg mountain range in south africa.

So now I'm getting closer to being dead (yes Eric, I've even bought an album...), some nonspecific places I'm glad I ran (and where I did it).

Down an ash cone volcano (Ngarahoe) - and up, but no fun there
Up a mountain and out of the air @14000ft. (Colorado,Tenerife)
For hours in the desert (Canyonlands)
Intervals on a beach, or in the breakers
A big city Marathon (London)
A hill race in driving snow (Carnethy, Devil's Burdens)
Grand Canyon (ignore the warnings, but rim-to-rim and back is a big day)
On a frozen river (Torne)
In a redwood forest.
Jukola
In any race you can win, but only just.
Intervals with a group the same speed (best part of a 1000 Meadows sessions!)
Across the green hills of Scotland to the pub.

Venice and South Yorkshire. :)

Grand Canyon R2R2R

i WILL do it before i die