Run to the Pacific

With the above title, I probably have readers wondering if I had decided to channel my inner Forrest Gump on some sort of cross country running fantasy.  While that would make for an amazing blog post, I am afraid this week’s posting is much more modest.  I had the pleasure of spending time recently in San Diego, so while this post does indeed describe a run to the Pacific Ocean, it is from a starting point (my hotel room) which was considerably closer to the west coast than my usual starting points, say, Middlebury or Ripton.  Since this was indeed an urban setting, the “trail” component is a bit of a reach, as the only trails in this run were on a bike path, and briefly, on the beach.

My hotel room was on Coronado Island, which strictly speaking, is a peninsula across San Diego Bay from the downtown district.  It also bordered on a recreation/bike path which ran alongside the bay for about a mile and a half.  This bike path is a real urban gem – it is used day and night by everything from avid runners (like me), to elderly walkers and their pets, and even the occasional happy couple on a bicycle built for two. And did I mention the view across the bay?

Downtown San Diego from Coronado Island
Downtown San Diego from Coronado Island

I started my run to the south side of the island, towards the towering Coronado Island Bridge, realizing that I was a mere 15 miles from the Mexican border. Since I didn’t have my passport with me, not today I guess! The path hugged to shore for a while before veering inland to pass around the obstruction provided by a large golf course, which usurped access to the shoreline. Well, at least it was a public course. The path returned to the shoreline, passing by numerous marinas before arriving alongside the landmark hotel known as the (how is this for original?) “El Coronado”, where Marilyn Monroe was filmed in the classic movie “Some Like it Hot”. I decided not to grace the interior of this classy joint with my sweaty self, so instead ran around it to get the view of the hotel from the beachside.

El Coronado Hotel
El Coronado Hotel

Since this was indeed a run to the Pacific, I took my shoes off, and ran headlong into the surf…..and froze dead in my tracks when I realized that the water temperature was in the 50’s this early in the season. Who knew the Pacific felt more like Maine than Florida? I stayed in the water, getting in no deeper than my knees, at least for now.

Cold Toes
Cold Toes

Putting my shoes back on, I resumed my run along the beach for about a half mile, enjoying the morning solitude before heading back inland, to run back to my hotel through the mostly residential side streets. I briefly entertained the notion that this might be a nice place to retire in 10 years or so. While I knew that the estates on the water would be far beyond my means, there were many cute little bungalows a mile or so from the water, that I naively thought might be financially feasible. I assumed that some of the homes which I knew would sell for about 250K in Vermont, might be million dollar homes here, but my jaw dropped when I saw one advertised for 4.8 million. Nope, retirement staying right here in Middlebury looks just fine thank you! Returning to my hotel room, this turned into a very pleasant, roughly 6 mile run. And since this was on a built-up barrier island, it was a very flat run. The San Diego weather lived up to its reputation as well – a daily high of about 72, and a low of about 62, with a constant cool breeze.

Google Earth of Coronado Island run
Google Earth of Coronado Island run

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