Running in Buenos Aires

I’ve come to learn that Argentinian people, by and large, don’t like waking up early.

They just don’t.

Like their Spanish kin, they eat late, party all night, and sleep in. In a bustling metropolis like Buenos Aires, I was genuinely surprised to find that most gyms don’t open till 7 am, which means I’ve been hitting the streets for my morning runs.

Anyone who knows BA will tell you that Los Bosques de Palermo are the best for outdoor running. But it’s not like everyone can live next to the park. For me, it’s around 4km of urban jungle to navigate every morning to get back and forth from the city’s best outdoor running spaces.

In this endeavor, here are a few things I’ve learned about running in Buenos Aires:

Start before 5 am.

Any later and you’ll end up having to dodge far too many pedestrians. And you can say goodbye to gliding through intersections and red lights because there will be cars everywhere. Even if you head out at 9, 10, or 11 pm, there will be too much action on the streets to comfortably navigate multiple kilometres in a densely populated urban center.

Before 4 am works too, but then you risk running into riffraff — and everyone knows riffraff can be unpredictable.

Of course, you can run later in the day (and people do), especially during the cooler months, but here’s the thing: it’s too annoying in BA. The carousel of lights, intersections, and pedestrians will wreak havoc on your flow and timing.

On Saturday and Sunday mornings, even at 5 am, you’ll see throngs of people at the end of an evening of merrymaking. This can be sort of fun to run through but also hazardous. In Argentina, Friday nights attract the biggest crowds, so if you take a morning off, Saturday is a good one. Go out the night before. If you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em.

Have a route planned.

Look at this freaking grid:

I took out my phone and checked the map 12 times on my first run. I got it down to a couple on the second, then learned the way. You need a route and a plan, especially for getting in and out of the incredibly dense residential grids of the city.

Mapping a route in advance is key for ensuring you hit the distance you want, avoiding cobble-stoned streets, and maximizing the major avenues with broad sidewalks. Picking a route and sticking with it also helps you introduce detours and route expansions or pick up the pace to accurately gauge improvement.

Keep your eyes on your footpath the whole time.

I cannot emphasize this enough.

The sidewalks of Buenos Aires aren’t in good shape. Okay, fine, they’re in awful fucking shape. And the fact that you can’t notice all their imperfections as easily before dawn means you need to be perpetually vigilant and conscious of every footfall.

During an urban run, there’s a lot to distract you away from your next LZ. Even a moment’s lapse at the wrong time could easily lead to a fall or worse. The changing elevation, curbs, and ramps require careful, calculated movement to keep momentum without straining your knees or ankles.

Over time, I suspect this type of running will significantly improve overall agility and foot-eye coordination.

There will be urine.

Buenos Aires has a public urination problem reminiscent of Barcelona, and morning runners should prepare themselves for the olfactory experience.

Either that or you’ll run over recently hosed down sidewalks — a daily ritual for buildings and businesses to wash away the previous night’s latrine.

I don’t want to have to tell city administrators how to allocate their budget, so I won’t.

Enjoy the show.

Finally, running before dawn in the summer in Buenos Aires is fucking awesome.

The streets are quiet, the weather cool, the majority asleep.

Whether you’re coming from the arteries of Palermo, Belgrano, or Recoleta and cruising down Juan Bautista, Santa Fe, Los Incas, or Libertador, the broad avenues, majestic architecture, tall trees, and pinkish hue of dawn’s early light make the experience one of the most enjoyable I’ve had yet.