EVERYTHING GUIDE

Your Everything Guide to Running in Boston

It’s been called the best running city in America for good reason: the latest installment in our occasional series helps you smile through the miles

There’s something about April in Boston. 

Everything (and everyone) starts to come back to life. The magnolia trees on Bay State Road start blooming. Daffodils and tulips along Comm Ave pop up from their seasonal hibernation. And runners, thousands of them, emerge from their basement-dwelling treadmills where they’ve dutifully logged mile after stagnant mile, while the heartier ones shed the layers they’ve been adding through the winter months. Squinting into the unfamiliar sun, they lace up their shoes and hit the pavement. 

You, too, can join their ranks—if you haven’t already. There are many reasons Boston is often ranked one of America’s top running cities, and the fabled Boston Marathon is only one. One ranking says the city and surrounding area has 37 running clubs, 12 within city limits, testament to the enthusiasm for the sport here. From nutrition to injury prevention, run clubs to alternative marathons, we’ve put together a useful resource guide to help you enjoy running in Boston.

Preventing injury

Nothing sidelines a burgeoning (or seasoned) running journey like an injury. Whether it’s nagging plantar fasciitis, knee pain that just won’t quit, or an extra-tight hamstring, injuries can range from plain annoying to serious stuff.  

“A lot of distance runners wind up experiencing knee pain, or Achilles tendon- and foot-related painful conditions, particularly when the volume of running increases at a rate that exceeds their body’s ability to adapt to the stresses of running,” says Chris Barucci, a physical therapist at BU’s Ryan Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. 

Going from zero to 100 (miles), in other words, is just an injury waiting to happen. Instead, Barucci typically tells his patients, gradually increase the mileage, adding no more than 10 percent each week—or closer to 5 percent for an athlete prone to injury. 

“If a person begins to feel pain, that’s probably the body’s way of saying to back off the volume of running a bit and allow adaptations to occur,” he says. 

A big part of running happens outside the track or the pavement too: strength-training is critical for injury-free running. 

“A good way to think about this is that we want to be strong in order to be able to run,” Barucci says. “Running requires us to handle forces that can be multiples of our body weight, for hundreds or thousands of repetitions. That’s a lot of the same stresses imparted on our bodies. We need to have the muscular strength and endurance to be able to handle that.”

And of course, don’t forget a dynamic warm-up and cooldown. Jumping rope or even starting off with a slow, easy pace are great general warm-up options, Barucci says. Then you can get into more dynamic movements, such as squatting, lunging, skipping, or shuffling to prime your body for the task at hand. Cool down with an easy walk or even another round of squats or lunges, he suggests, to bring your joints through a fuller range of motion than they need to run. 

A different kind of commute

There are times when living in Boston can feel like one long ride on the T. The MBTA, for all its improvements lately, still has some kinks to work out. It runs late. It doesn’t run late, though (the last trains on the weekends are just after midnight). It runs hot. It runs loud (as Park Street neighbors know all too well). It’s enough to make you want to run it right out of town. 

Paco Moguel (CAS’25) had a different idea, though. To raise money for charity, he ran eight of the MBTA routes in eight consecutive days, plotting out street-level workarounds for the miles it goes underground, for a total of 88 miles.

“It was so much fun,” says Moguel, an accomplished marathoner and president of the BU Dog Pound, a student sports fan group. 

Moguel says he was inspired by an athlete who ran the length of the London Tube in 2023. So, while training for the Chicago Marathon, he decided to do something similar in Boston during a high-mileage week on his training schedule. He teamed up with The Hidden Opponent—a nonprofit organization dedicated to athlete mental health advocacy, education, and support—ultimately raising just more than $1,000 during his weeklong campaign. 

But first, he had to map out his route. Parts of various MBTA lines run underground. These tunnels aren’t accessible by foot, so Moguel, who’s studying computer science at BU, put his classroom skills to work. He input coordinates for all the routes in a Google Maps API and ended up with a map that traced the most efficient street-level route for the underground sections. 

Then, he laced up his sneakers and set out to run the T. 

“The Red Line was the longest, but also the most fun,” he says. “I got to see parts of Boston that I never thought I’d see.” Moguel got to Braintree around 5 am and finished up in Alewife just after 9 am. The 22-mile route took him through historic Boston (and Cambridge) neighborhoods, and the perspective on foot is not one he’ll forget anytime soon, he says. 

“My least favorite?” Moguel mulls the question out loud. “They were all fun, honestly, but maybe the Mattapan trolley route, just because it’s only about three miles, and I was already sore from the day before.” 

Moguel started on Sunday, September 1, 2024, with the Green Line D branch, from Riverside to Union Square. The next day, Monday, he ran the Blue Line, from Wonderland to Bowdoin, though he hopped on the T between the Maverick and Aquarium, where the Blue Line runs underwater (no way around that). On Tuesday, he ran the Orange Line from Oak Grove to Forest Hills. Tuesday was also the first day of classes, so it was an early day, Moguel says. 

Wednesday was a good one—the C branch of the Green Line. “I ran the Boston Marathon the year prior,” he says, “so I was pretty much just running the last six miles of the marathon route. I had a lot of flashbacks, and it was a pretty special route.” 

Thursday: Green Line E branch (“I got to see the new pathways for the Green Line extension in Somerville!” Moguel recalls). Friday: Red Line, also Moguel’s longest run of the week—he looped back around to catch the section that splits off after JFK/UMass. Saturday brought the Mattapan Trolley 5K. And finally, on Sunday, he finished with the Green Line B branch. 

“It runs through BU, so I was saving it for last,” he says.

In the end, Moguel’s journey along the T was just a small piece of his ongoing marathon training. But it’s given him a good perspective. 

“People think that running needs to be hard, or frustrating,” he says, “but it can be fun. It doesn’t have to be something that you hate.” 

Where to run? 

So many great running websites have compiled some of the best running routes in and around Boston. At some point the beauty of the Esplanade might get tiresome. When it does, this guide might be our favorite for finding new places to run. Save it. Bookmark it. Check off the runs, one by one. 

Fueling for your run

“Nutrition is a long game,” says Sarah Gilbert, a certified sports specialist dietitian in the BU Sargent Choice Nutrition Center. Good nutrition, over time, is especially important for anyone doing the sort of long-haul training that marathon running demands. But it’s equally important for newbies and shorter-distance runners, too. 

“I think a lot of people focus on what to do for race day,” Gilbert says, “but we can’t forget about the nutrition needs of the body to get us ready for that.”

She recommends three main areas of focus for runners of all types. First, adequacy. “Most runners would benefit from focusing on overall adequacy—eating enough meals and snacks to cover training,” Gilbert says. While everyone is different, most people benefit from three meals and two or three snacks per day, she adds. 

Second, balance. This means getting a mix of food groups (including grains and starches, protein, fruits and vegetables, and fats) throughout the day, and at each meal. “Grains and starches, plus fruits and veggies, are carbohydrates, or foods that break down into sugar. Sugar fuels most of the cells in our body, but especially the muscles! So athletes in general, and especially distance runners, need to shift their proportions of carbs to be a larger portion of each meal,” Gilbert says. 

Finally: consistency. “Runners will benefit from spreading out their nutrition throughout the day,” she says. “Our body is in a constant state of recovery and repair, so having energy come in consistently helps enhance performance and recovery.”

Together, these three principles make up the ABCs, Gilbert says, and form a solid nutritional foundation for runners of all stripes. 

As you progress in the sport, Gilbert has more tailored suggestions. She recommends athletes consider the intensity of their workouts (rather than speed or distance alone) when it comes to proper fueling. For workouts that are an hour or longer, it helps to refuel during the workout to keep energy levels up and stay hydrated—that could look like popping some simple carbs (such as energy gels, fruit snacks, candy, honey sticks, or applesauce pouches) mid-run, and bringing along a hydrating drink (such as Gatorade, or something with a little salt in it) for quick sips throughout the workout. 

Afterward, she says, adding in some protein to your post-workout meal will help with critical muscle recovery. 

“If athletes can get to a regularly scheduled meal after training, then a balanced plate with protein, grains or starches, and fruits or veggies will serve as recovery. If it’s not a typical mealtime, a snack with roughly 20-30g protein and 30-60g carbs can help get recovery work started. Examples of this could include a smoothie with Greek yogurt, fruit, and juice or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chocolate milk or crackers with cheese and a handful of trail mix,” she says. 

Finally, for anyone staring down a big race on the calendar, Gilbert recommends taking your nutrition plan for a test run (or several) ahead of time. 

“You don’t want to try anything new on race day,” she says. Instead, try out a few different mid-workout fuel and hydration sources during long training runs. That way, you’ll know what makes you feel best—and avoid any unexpected side effects—on the big stage. 

Boston Marathon, by bike? 

So, you love the Boston Marathon, but don’t want to run it? Maybe you missed the cutoff time this year? (The 2025 qualifying times were a scorching three hours flat for men and and three and a half for women and nonbinary athletes.) Well, fear not. You can still take in all the magic of the course—during a midnight ride on two wheels. 

The Midnight Marathon Bike Ride, an unsanctioned, leaderless ride, has become an annual tradition for gearheads new and old. Each year, thousands of bikers coalesce on the night before the Boston Marathon to cycle along the 26.2-mile course. There’s no official start or end time, but waves of riders typically push off at midnight (to head from Hopkinton to Boylston Street) or 6 pm (for a roundtrip loop from the marathon finish line and back). 

The ride was born out of a bicycle advocacy club at Boston University. Greg Hum (CAS’10, Questrom’21) and his friends already knew there was something magical about hopping on their bikes and exploring the city at night, Hum told Boston.com. When he and his friends heard about a group of Tufts students planning to run the marathon route “bandit-style” the night before the big race, Hum knew they had to get involved, too. The first unofficial midnight ride was held in 2009, and bikers have been doing midnight spins through the marathon course ever since. 

There is no single start time or mandatory route for the Midnight Marathon, although riders are encouraged to begin their journey between 6 pm and midnight. The main wave of riders leaves Southborough station around 11:30 pm, arrives at the starting line by midnight, and bikes into Boston. Bikes are prohibited on the MBTA Commuter Rail starting at 5 pm on the Sunday before the race, so participants can either organize a drop-off at the starting line or make it a round-trip ride by biking to the start line.

The ride is unsupported and show-and-go, meaning there is no official ride registration, ride leaders, road support, or any official start or finish time. Most important, its organizers emphasize, individual riders are responsible for their own safety. 

Want to run a marathon in Boston?

Despite the name, less than a mile of the Boston Marathon route is actually in Boston—the vast majority of the course runs through bucolic suburbs outside the city. Eager to showcase the real Boston—its historic neighborhoods and vibrant diversity—members of the PIONEERS Run Crew charted their own course. Thus was born 26.TRUE, an unsanctioned marathon that runs through the heart of the city the Saturday before the BAA Boston Marathon. Five years on, excitement (and participation) is only growing. 

26.TRUE emerged in 2021 during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, when social distancing forced the Boston Marathon online. PIONEERS Run Crew members thought it was “our chance to have our own route,” Aliese Lash, one of the group’s captains, told the Boston Globe. The race drew a field of distance runners that’s more culturally diverse—and more representative of the city—than the crowd that runs the Boston Marathon, organizers say. 

In 2024, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined runners at the start line, calling the race “the true Boston Marathon.” This year, hundreds of runners will toe the start line at Malcolm X Park for a 13.1-mile double loop that weaves through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Dorchester and into Mattapan. 

Registration for the race fills up fast. Keep an eye out for 2026 race details on the organization’s social media pages. 

Run with a friend—or dozens

Running is often seen as a solitary sport: one person pounding the pavement in pursuit of glory. But it doesn’t have to be. Run clubs are popping up around the country as a fun way to meet new people, make new friends, and maybe even find true love. 

“Running can be super intimidating,” says Prem Jain (Sargent’26), president of the BU Running Club. “There was and still is a lot of stigma around being judged by others or not being able to keep up. I personally struggled with that. When you run with others, though, you come to realize that very few will actually judge you because many of them understand the hard work and discipline it takes to lace up and run!”

Created in 2014, the BU Running Club is a space for new and experienced runners alike. Jain, a former high school sprinter, joined when he was curious about transitioning to longer distances. “​​I’m not the fastest, nor can I run the longest, but that’s not the point,” he says. “We just want to get people together to run and better themselves.”

Run clubs, informal groups that gather regularly to run, are experiencing a boom time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of clubs can be found in major cities and small towns, in cities that host World Marathon Majors, and those with a local 5K charity race—and people are flocking to them for a good workout with good friends. 

In Boston, groups such as the PIONEERS Run Crew, TrailBlazHers Run Co., and Frontrunners Boston formed to create communities for runners who are typically underrepresented in running culture—that is, Black, brown, women, and LGBTQ+ runners. There are dozens of groups to choose from—some form in specific neighborhoods (such as the Brighton Bangers and L Street Running Club), others organize around the post-run drinks or meal. Whatever your pace, there’s a place for you. 

And joining a club can be a great way to explore a new part of this—or any—city. The PIONEERS host a summer series with 1-, 3-, and 5-mile routes taking off from different neighborhoods in Boston each week. The BU Running Club has a variety of routes that can expand your loop beyond the Esplanade (although that’s always a scenic option). 

“My absolute favorite route that I run three times a week is the Esplanade, from Bay State Road to Lederman Field, near Mass General,” Jain says. “It’s a 4.3-mile loop, 2.15 there, 2.15 back, that I take at a nice slow pace to get my weekly miles in. My next favorite route has to be a 5K loop around MIT, which starts, again, at Bay State Road and loops around the MIT campus.”