I explored a little more of the coast in Asbury Park, New Jersey

Posted on by Vanessa Junkin (She Runs by the Seashore)
Four different panel colorful murals on the side of a building.
There were several panels of murals on this building in Asbury Park.

It’s been a while since I wrote about a new-to-me running location that wasn’t part of a race, but I always enjoy running in new places whenever I can. So, a week after the Providence Marathon, and after six full days of rest, I went out for a short run in the beach city of Asbury Park, New Jersey, in May.

My partner, Mike, and I were in town for a show and stayed at a bed and breakfast in Ocean Grove, which is right across Wesley Lake from Asbury Park. There was a closed building blocking part of the boardwalk from Ocean Grove to Asbury Park, but there were two bridges across the water (or you could cross on the sand).

In addition to just recently having run a marathon, I was also testing out some new inserts for my shoes, and I wasn’t feeling my best. I took the run at a leisurely pace and stopped to take photos and videos. I ran from the bed and breakfast up a tiny bit of the Ocean Grove boardwalk, then went up and over the lake and then up the entire Asbury Park boardwalk, which measures on MapMyRun at about 0.76 miles one-way from Asbury Avenue.

View of water with trees and buildings on both sides and the sky taking up close to half of the photo.
Here’s a view from a bridge over Wesley Lake.

Before making it to the boardwalk, I saw St. James Place — one of my grandmother’s favorite Monopoly properties — even though I knew the Monopoly streets were from Atlantic City.

The boardwalk involved a brief indoor section, the Asbury Park Bazaar, which was cool. At the end of the boardwalk was a garden-like area. I’d seen some murals from the boardwalk, so on the way back, I took my route past those to get a closer look. There were a lot of murals on the short run, which I enjoyed seeing.

I mostly continued back along the boardwalk, though near the end I took the road past The Stone Pony, where Mike and I had seen the show the night before, before heading back to the bed and breakfast — this time going down a different Ocean Grove street.

I enjoyed my run and got to see a decent amount, even though it was 3.3 miles. I would have enjoyed exploring more if I had not just run a marathon.

Murals on the side of a building along the Asbury Park boardwalk.
Art can be found along the Asbury Park boardwalk.

If we return to see another show at The Stone Pony and stay at the same location, I’d be interested in exploring the Ocean Grove boardwalk, which, according to MapMyRun is a hair over 1.5 miles, one-way.