BALI ACTIVITIES - SPORT - RUNNING

VIRTUALLY any secondary road will make for interesting running, but avoid the major highways in Kuta, Sanur and Denpasar. These all carry heavy traffic and hardly make for pleasant running. There are plenty of trails and dirt roads through the country-side, but these are rarely marked on maps.

Kuta and Legian Beach
The beach is the only real option for short runs. The roads and lanes of Kuta and Legian are a runner's nightmare because of the traffic and crowds. The sand is firm even at high tide for at least 2 miles west of Legian. Cooler early mornings or evenings are best. You can find cowrie shells at low tide. At dusk, people-watching can be fascinating as you jog along. Tourists strut in various stages of undress.

For longer runs, try running for 10-15 minutes West of Legian along the beach. Warungs (small local shops) on the sand-dunes, and big hotels behind the beach signal the presence of a lane or paved road behind the dunes.

By following these, you can access a network of back lanes and quiet roads that wind behind the beach, eventually joining the busier main highway. You can put together a 10-15 mile run on these back roads, mostly avoiding heavy traffic. But, its quite possible to become temporarily lost as well. Local maps seem innacurate. Be prepared to explore!

Ubud
Its easily identified by the figure with a pointing hand for a head on the cover. Some nice country trails are marked. Some of these follow the ridges between the river gorges, or wind through rice paddies and along the river beds through forrest. There is plenty of traffic on the main roads around Ubud, but the secondary roads are very much quieter. The temperature, while still hot and humid, is cooler than at sea level.

Sanur Beach
Heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic make running around Sanur difficult. The beach is quite soft. The foot-path in front of the Grand Bali Beach presents a few kilometers of fair running. Lovely views of the reef and the sea. There is a marked jogging track around the golf course at the hotel, but its not very long. Nobody seems to mind if you run around this area. Main roads around Sanur are not good options for running.

Lovina Beach
Again, the beach is too soft for running unless you want a very solid calf work-out. The main road is runnable, but you have to keep a close watch both on the traffic and the footing. There are a few side roads which present quieter detours.

Other run sites
Apart from the major roads, particularly in the South East, which are unatractive as running locations, you can probably run just about anywhere on the Island if you take care.

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