Now is the best time of year to get outside and pound the pavement, sand, or trails. There are runs, tours, and fantastic places to enjoy aerobic exercise. Runners and walkers alike reduce stress, lose weight, improve heart health, and lift their spirits. Here is a selection of activities and places where you can go the distance. 

Sanibel and Captiva 

sanibeltrails.com 

With 15 miles of white sandy beaches, Sanibel offers a great selection of exhilarating beaches to walk or run on. There are also 24 miles of shared-use paths for biking. Captiva has no dedicated bike paths, but cyclists can share the roads. There are beach accesses on both ends of the islands as well. 

NEARBY BEACHES 

Bowman’s Beach, Dixie Beach, Blind Pass Beach, Sanibel Island Northern Beach,  

Gulfside City Park Beach (Algiers), Tarpon Bay Beach, Turner Beach, Lighthouse Beach Park, Silver Key Beach

5K RUNS/WALKS 

Cape Coral 

Tour de Cape 

January 22, 2022 

Packet pickup: 6:30-8 am; race: 8 am 

tourdecape.net

Fort Myers Beach 

The Shrimp Run/Walk 5K 

March 12, 2022, 9-10 am 

fortmyersbeachshrimpfestival.com/event/5k-run/

Fort Myers 

Edison Festival of Light 5K Run/Walk 

February 19, 2022, 5 pm 

edisonfestival.org