New and need advice

hbs: I hope you will go to the home page here and under "What to expect", read the Moving Stories. These will give you an idea what you are in for. For running, there is a group, STAR (St Thomas Association of Roadrunners). It is a good place to meet running buddies, which are highly recommended. You will find folks by word of mouth mostly. Also, when you are running here, wear a shirt or singlet- do not run in a sports bra only. The places that runners frequent include the airport road, the waterfront, Magens/Peterborg, and the National Park road. Good luck.

Hard to say as to where to avoid living. Try to find something that isn't at opposite ends of the island from where you'll be working. There are nice areas in all sections but there are pockets that aren't so nice.

Thanks for the info! Looks like I will be down there next week to look around and if I like it, to find an apartment. I will be working near the hospital so does anyone know of apartments in that area?

Holly

I'm moving down there in 10 days, I'll be working in Charlotte Amalie, I just turned 25 two weeks ago, and I run probably 3-5 miles a day, so it blew me away seeing this question. I've been looking at this forum on and off for the last month while I pack up my stuff and it doesn't seem to move fast so after i'm down there running around i'll post back in this thread and let you know what I think.

trainwreck,

You simply havent done your research. There is an incredible amount of information on the forum. Read through all the old posts and you will find questions you never thought to ask. Just because the thread is a year or two old doesnt mean anything has changed. Time move much slower and things stay more the same then are likely to change. In otherwords change is slowing coming here.

Sometimes you get 20 people responding to your post and sometimes you don't, there are pretty much no new questions on this board, but you can find your answers if you do a little research.

The islands in general are not run friendly or bike friendly. Do it with a partner and wear bright colors and pay attention to cars because they may not see you) these roads were not built with that in mind AT ALL. The roads are tend to be narrow (just big enough for two cars no shoulder) and windy. So you take your life into your own hands to exercise on the roads. Better to take up running on the beach.

I've seen runners on the sidewalk to airport and know of some that run at Charlotte Amalie High School.

Betty: Serious runners are addicts. They will run! It is more difficult to run here than in many places in the states where trails and water fountains are set up for them, however, it can be done. Runners find each other. As I said, it is good to run with someone and to be respectful of clothing customs.

I see runners every morning from Yacht Haven Grande near the cruise ship docks all the way along the waterfront. A lot of times their running is faster than how fast your car can go during rush hour. 🙂

Well I just got back ... a day late, gotta love airports! I will be back for good in a couple of weeks and I am really excited. I did a little bit of running around Hotel 1829, and ran up the 99 steps (boy did someone count wrong). The roads are very narrow so I can see that running along some of them would not be a great idea. Thanks for everyones help. Maybe I will see you around the island!

Good luck to you!

Re Reunning:
I know some people that run the Peterborg road (near Magen's Bay) to the tip. This must be nice especially since they recently repaved it.
Also, as someone else mentioned, the airport is pretty flat and safe and has many walkers and runners.