Training groups/hills/tracks/trails in Charleston, S.C.

I went to college in Greenville and have visited Charleston several times.

There is a park with trails called Charlestowne Landing that has trails -many meets are run there. I ran meets there many times in college.

Charlestowne Landing, (843) 852-4200

Also a park called James Island County Park which is alleged to have "miles of wooded running and walking trails". I have never been there.

James Island County Park, (843) 795-7275

http://www.ccprc.com/jicp.htm

Tim,

I live in the Charleston area and would love showing you around. I own a running specialty store called On The RUN.

856-4206

call when you get here.

Irv

James Island is a great place to run. It truly does have lots of trails to run on. It gives variety of landscapes such as woods, fields, and marsh areas to run around... probably not the place to go if you're looking for a twenty mile run, but if you're looking for a decent 45-60 minutes of running, check it out...

I've spent a lot of time in Charleston doing internships and I have one major piece of advice for you: don't run downtown except early early morning. Downtown is great, I love it, I lived on the battery for a year, but it is shit for running. Why? Because there's very little room on the roads. If you want to kill your legs more, the sidewalks are often uneven. Tourists are everywhere walking and in their SUVs.

An early morning downtown run can be fantastic for the sights you'll see. It's hell on the legs though. The West Ashley Greenway hasn't been mentioned, and it's a pretty boring trail, but it goes (I believe) 12 miles in one direction. Maybe it's 8. Best thing to do is visit On The Run and ask those guys once you get there.

And have fun with the heat. I'm enjoying Ohio more and more, even now that it's fall!

thanks for the info guys, keep it coming, will be giving On The Run a call on monday or tuesday when i get down there and settled, and I am looking forward to the heat, as we have already seen snowflakes here, and 21 years of michigan winters can drive you crazy.......

Hampton Park near The Citadel has some grass loops measured out that range from 400 meters to miles. They workout there during the week. Irv from On the Run can put you in touch with the assistant coach from the Citadel. He can show you the loops if you are interested in doing intervals on grass because there are not many rubber tracks in the area.

Bumping this thread back up because I have a question. I will be moving to Charleston this summer and I am trying to decide which area to move to. I have heard nice things about Mt. Pleasant and Isle of Palms in general, but somebody told me that Crowfield Plantation (in Goose Creek, I think) has lots of nice trails. I will be working at the Navy Nuclear Power School, but I'm not that worried about the commute (meaning that I'd rather live a little farther from work and have great running out my front door than be really close but have nowhere good to run). Is there a better place to live than Crowfield for good running? What are the trails there like? Anybody who knows Charleston please respond.

bump?

I have lived in Crowfield, Mt. Pleasant, and West Ashley. Crowfield is nice to have places to run right from your door. There are not many dirt/grass trails in the area. The area north of Mt. Pleasant has some trails in the forest and west ashley has a former railroad turned into a stright grass trail with mile markers on it (about 7.5 miles one-way). When I lived in Mt. Pleasant, there are some good runs near the beaches and islands. The area is nice in Mt. Pleasant but trafffic is getting worse (like everywhere else). The guys at On the Run, a running store in Mt. Pleaasnt have some good routes from their store.

there is an excellent long run that takes you over the cooper river bridge...you can start at sullivan's island or at isle of palms -- 15-17 miles with a nice climb during it

one thing about charleston is that you're just going to have to resign yourself to running on the roads, period

there are green spaces, and hampton park has the ability to house some decent loops for hard running, but really -- you're just going to have to make do with some interesting loops including downtown

i always enjoyed a particular 4-5 mile loop through CofC which we timed around 11am as classes were breaking for lunch

a LOT of women at that school

I lived in the area for a while, and my 1st advice would be to go by On the Run, the guys are knowledgable and have plenty of great runs. They aren't pretentious like some of the other places, they are both good guys and great runners. They helped me out a lot when I moved there, and I wish I would have never left.

There are actually a few good soft-surface trails in the area, I would suggest living in Mount Pleasant, depending on where you work. Traffic can be bad. Isle of Palms is too expensive. I'on and West Ashley have substantial trails, and if you need a long-run on all soft -- head out Hwy 17 North about 15 miles and you can park your car at the Palmetto Trail. It is a State Park that has an infinite trail system. Out of town, but not too far for a Sunday Long-Run.