Question:
–On Thursday, August 22, 2002 10:07 AM -0400 Mike Tennent Cape Lookout Seashore (just south of Hatteras,) Why did you have to go and spill the beans? Now everyone will want one. L – spent an idyllic week there one spring
I’d rather go to Wrightsville
Response:
–On Thursday, August 22, 2002 10:07 AM -0400 Mike Tennent Cape Lookout Seashore (just south of Hatteras,)
Why did you have to go and spill the beans? Now everyone will want one. L – spent an idyllic week there one spring
Response:
I spent 4 days in Nags Head 3 months ago less than a mile from the intersection of highways 64, 264, and 12. It appears that you failed to look around for a decent place to run. There is a nice sidewalk all along Virgina Dare Trail and it’s southern extension, Old Oregon Road. This road is located between the main highway and the ocean. There are a few small motels and hotels along the way, but where I ran, it was mostly single family houses on both sides of the road with some dead end side roads toward the ocean.
I found the same road when I was there a few years back. Not great, but perfectly adequate. The best workout in town is to go to Wright Brothers Memorial late in the day and run around and up Kill Devil Hill a couple of times. Another idea is to head for Ocracoke Island on the extreme southern end of the park, which can only be reached by ferry. It’s a beautiful little sleepy village and a very pleasant run along the small back streets. BTW, in addition to the three seashore NPS areas mentioned that have little or no development within the park, there are also Cape Lookout Seashore (just south of Hatteras,) Cumberland Island, Canaveral National Seashore, and Assatague Island. Mike "that little old park ranger" Tennent "IronPenguin"
Response:
I just returned from a week long vacation that included 2 days on the famous Outer Banks of North Carolina. Below are a few rambling observations that include some comments about running opportunities in this strange and unique area.
<snip for convenience of the readers I regularly go to the Outer Banks, both in the Kitty Hawk area and further south of civilization to the Hatteras Village and Ocracoke areas. While there has been more commercial activity in the northern end of the banks, it is by no means commercial when compared to the beaches to its north such as Va. Beach, Ocean City, Bethany, Cape May, Stone Harbor… where thousands of people fight for elbow room on a few granules of precious sand. Nope, the OB is still where to be… and yes– even for runners… at least morning runners like myself. We sometimes stay on the south end near Sam & Omie’s (a breakfast stop I recommend highly… although there’s always a wait, mostly due to locals but obviously plenty of tourists as well)… and morning runs (5:30am or 6:30 if we opened the second bottle of wine the night before 
Running against "traffic" is a no-stress experience at that time, and the peacefulness of the coastal morning envelopes you. As the turn of the run, I’ll normally pick the Wright Bro’s memorial, and ascend to the monument at the top of the little hill where you can get a breathtaking view of the surrounding area for miles (it’s basically as flat as a skillet other than this hill and the Jockey’s Ridge dunes). Then it’s back to the ranch against traffic again, with a bit more activity than the earliest hours, but compared to Baltimore it’s desolate and silent. And yes, I run in the morning in Baltimore too… Running on the beach at that time is also a very calm experience since walkers and shell/treasure hunters abound and the fishermen are accustomed to more pedestrian traffic and due to the hour… are a bit more avid and not the ‘just in from NYC, bought a rod think I’ll try to catch a 40lb Red Drum’ type. Never been hooked, as fishermen aren’t invisible or even hard to spot… and they have just as much a right to fish as I have to run… so we have equal responsibility to be watchful. (If I were fishing I guess I’d hate to have someone run into me just as much as I’d hate to be hooked running by a fisherman.) I guess my overall point is, if you try to run *anywhere* during high-traffic hours, you’re gonna run into traffic… automobile, pedestrian, angling, whatever… There’s plenty of beauty to behold in areas like this if you approach it realistically. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – — Terry R. McConnell Mathematics/304B Carnegie/Syracuse, N.Y. 13244-1150
Response:
I went running there about weeks ago. We were at Atlantic Beach near Ft. Macon. Ft. Macon State Park was really nice to run. I found the beach really hard to run on, it seem like I had to put forth a lot more effort. I ran on the roads some. I know what you mean with the traffic. I just missed (by one day) the race the have every year in Beaufort. Brian — —
Response:
I just returned from a week long vacation that included 2 days on the famous Outer Banks of North Carolina. Below are a few rambling observations that include some comments about running opportunities in this strange and unique area.
[A lot of unnecessary commentary removed] – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – To bring these comments back on topic I should say something about opportunities for running on the outer banks. First of all, forget about running on the roads. As noted above, there is essentially only one road, and it has more traffic than midtown Manhattan. Except for the few locals who are too busy flipping burgers or stuffing their pockets with dollar bills to drive, everybody behind the wheel is a tourist bent upon squeezing as much "relaxation" out of their few days here in paradise as possible. In short, they are as surly and inconsiderate a bunch of motorists as can be found anywhere, midtown Manhattan included. There is no shoulder whatsoever. Only the 3 inch wide stripe along the edge of the road separates you from the fenders of the passing RVs and the ankle turning layer of sand and loose gravel that constitutes the soil of this area. If you really wanted to run on the roads, you could, I suppose, run back and forth along one of the numerous lanes that provide access to the beach houses, but they are only a couple of hundred feet long. If you cannot run on the road, the only option that remains, aside from your motel’s treadmill, is the beach. The beach is a place of great beauty, both natural and human, and I had several very memorable runs there. If you do plan to run on the beach, I highly recommend doing so at low tide. There is a broader area of sand that is packed firm by the surf at low tide. Be ready to dodge incoming waves unless you don’t care about getting wet and having your shoes ruined by the salt water. Running in the loose sand above the tide line is impossibly difficult. Beware of surf fishermen. They tend not to look behind them when they cast and you could easily be hooked! If you run between the surf and the poles they’ve left imbedded in the sand while getting another beer, you may become tangled in the line. Wear shoes! After getting their beer, the aforementioned fishermen carelessly toss the pop tops in the sand. Moreover, at certain times of the year, the beach is littered with the carcasses of stinging jellyfish.
I spent 4 days in Nags Head 3 months ago less than a mile from the intersection of highways 64, 264, and 12. It appears that you failed to look around for a decent place to run. There is a nice sidewalk all along Virgina Dare Trail and it’s southern extension, Old Oregon Road. This road is located between the main highway and the ocean. There are a few small motels and hotels along the way, but where I ran, it was mostly single family houses on both sides of the road with some dead end side roads toward the ocean. One thing I learned there was that the wind always blows at a pretty good clip and that the mileage markers are very inaccurate, at least between mile markers 14 and 19.
Response:
Try the Outer Banks in the spring before Easter. All of the beauty, none of the touristas. Weekly rents are cheaper and there’s little threat of hurricanes. Very few fishermen: I’ve run in the hard-packed sand at low tide without any shoes at all. Sure, you need a wetsuit to go in the water, but you can rent one of those along with your boogie board and your beach umbrella.
Response:
I just returned from a week long vacation that included 2 days on the famous Outer Banks of North Carolina. Below are a few rambling observations that include some comments about running opportunities in this strange and unique area. The Outer Banks of North Carolina are a chain of barrier islands approximately 50 miles long. The islands range from about half a mile to only a few hundred feet wide. There are places where you can see the ocean on one side, and a landlocked bay called Pamlico Sound on the other, simultaneously. For most of their length the islands are part of the National Park system and are completely undeveloped, one of only three such areas on the entire east coast of the U.S. (The others are Maryland’s Assateague Island and Maine’s Acadia National Park.) At the north end of the chain lie the villages of Kill Devil Hills, Nag’s Head, and Kitty Hawk, the site of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers. This part of the chain is open to development. It had been about 10 years since I last visited the outer banks, and I was shocked by the amount of new development in the Kitty Hawk area. The single major road is blighted along about a 15 mile corridor by the usual culprits – McDonald’s, KMart, Outback Steak House and their ilk – together with countless tacky local curio shops, miniature golf courses, motels, ice-cream stands, and family restaurants. Double and triple floor beach houses on stilts with wraparound decks on each floor cram every available inch of beach front. A check of the local real estate pages reveals that prices for these rickety pieces of hurricane fodder range from $600,000 to several million dollars, depending, of course, on location. If you are looking to invest, beware real estate-ese like "ocean view." Ocean view means that if you are a very tall person, you might possibly catch a glimpse of the waves if you stand tiptoe on the roof. While the several grand per week you can pick up renting your unit during the summer months might tempt you, don’t forget to consider such details as flood insurance, property taxes, and the maintenance costs you will incur after your tenants trash the place. In the face of such commercialism gone mad, I was doubly grateful towards those who had the foresight to place a small part of our beautiful coastline forever beyond the clutches of the developers. I do hope it is indeed forever, but the economic pressures to open the small percentage that remains must be enourmous. To bring these comments back on topic I should say something about opportunities for running on the outer banks. First of all, forget about running on the roads. As noted above, there is essentially only one road, and it has more traffic than midtown Manhattan. Except for the few locals who are too busy flipping burgers or stuffing their pockets with dollar bills to drive, everybody behind the wheel is a tourist bent upon squeezing as much "relaxation" out of their few days here in paradise as possible. In short, they are as surly and inconsiderate a bunch of motorists as can be found anywhere, midtown Manhattan included. There is no shoulder whatsoever. Only the 3 inch wide stripe along the edge of the road separates you from the fenders of the passing RVs and the ankle turning layer of sand and loose gravel that constitutes the soil of this area. If you really wanted to run on the roads, you could, I suppose, run back and forth along one of the numerous lanes that provide access to the beach houses, but they are only a couple of hundred feet long. If you cannot run on the road, the only option that remains, aside from your motel’s treadmill, is the beach. The beach is a place of great beauty, both natural and human, and I had several very memorable runs there. If you do plan to run on the beach, I highly recommend doing so at low tide. There is a broader area of sand that is packed firm by the surf at low tide. Be ready to dodge incoming waves unless you don’t care about getting wet and having your shoes ruined by the salt water. Running in the loose sand above the tide line is impossibly difficult. Beware of surf fishermen. They tend not to look behind them when they cast and you could easily be hooked! If you run between the surf and the poles they’ve left imbedded in the sand while getting another beer, you may become tangled in the line. Wear shoes! After getting their beer, the aforementioned fishermen carelessly toss the pop tops in the sand. Moreover, at certain times of the year, the beach is littered with the carcasses of stinging jellyfish. — Terry R. McConnell Mathematics/304B Carnegie/Syracuse, N.Y. 13244-1150