Best of Boston

2003 Best Running Route

Jamaicaway/Riverway

Whether you’re training for the marathon or just trying to raise your heart rate, a jog along the Emerald Necklace is unrivaled. We tried them all—the Charles River Esplanade, the Minuteman Bikeway, the Commonwealth Avenue Mall—and still came away with the same answer as last year: Running through the gardens of the Back Bay Fens, along the Riverway and Jamaicaway, out to Jamaica Pond, and onto the Arnold Arboretum is literally a breath of fresh air. The serenity along the river, the dirt trails just before the pond, the water fountain at the boathouse, the hills and flowers of the arboretum—they combine to make for a perfect jog. Even if 26.2 isn’t in your future.