Book a hotel that has route cards and really enjoy your stay.

Deciding where to run when staying at a hotel in an unfamiliar city can be difficult.  Runner’s World has made it easy with their route cards.  Available at Westin Hotels, these small laminated cards give you turn by turn directions for a three or five mile run. 

While staying in downtown Charlotte NC this week, I normally would have done a simple out and back on a typical downtown street so I wouldn’t get lost.  Instead, I used the Runner’s World card from The Westin Charlotte (www.westin.com/charlotte) and ended up in what has to be one of the coolest neighborhoods in the Charlotte area.  The Dilworth (www.dilworthonline.org) area has terrific tree-lined streets of beautiful, old, southern-style homes.  From colonials to mission-style to Tudors, and no two are alike.  I never would have found the Dilworth area if I wasn’t using the route card.

So, when selecting a hotel ask if they have route cards for runners.  It could make the difference between just “getting a run in” and really enjoying a run as you explore a new city.