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iRun LOCAL Expands Saratoga Running Tours
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Starting this week, iRun LOCAL owner Jamie Mastroianni plans to expand their historic three mile running tour.
The Saratoga Running Tour was created to offer a unique and healthy way to visit historic destinations around the city. The idea started six years ago when Mastroianni opened shop. After consistently going back to that idea, she finally created the running tour group.
“I just kept thinking...this town is so cool wouldn’t it be neat to have a tour where people could go and see a couple different sites in a reasonable amount of time and have someone locally that can tell them where to go,” Mastroianni said.
Participants will be led on a three and a half mile sightseeing tour that totals one hour. The cost is $30 per person, but Mastroianni said they do offer group discounts. At first, she picked dates when the tour would be offered, but Mastroianni said people started coming in to request them. Since then she aims to create the tours as the demands happen.
“Most of the time the tours happened because someone walked in and said ‘we’re here on vacation or here for a convention; could you take us on a tour,” Mastroianni said.
The tour would start on Broadway at the store and run to places such as the old arts district on Beekman Street, the racetrack and East Avenue.
“We talk about the railroads and how the railroads got started,” Mastroianni said. “The visitor center used to be a drinking center for all the water reservoirs and all the different springs. There used to be a tasting room in there.”
Because the tour is only an hour-long, hitting all of the historic destinations proves difficult, but Mastroianni said the tours could be customized. The tour could be shortened or lengthened, or a walk and not a run. However, Mastroianni said it’s the best way to see Saratoga in a limited amount of time.
This past Tuesday, Mastroianni met with the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association to present her running tour as a service that iRun LOCAL offers.
“So we can grow the tour, this is just the start of it,” Mastroianni said. In the future Mastroianni hopes to target bachelor and bachelorette parties as well as create more tours, like a brew tour, if the demand is there.
Mastroianni aims to bring dedication to assisting people of all different athletic abilities and help them meet their fitness goals while connecting with their local community. To do that, she plans to offer different events throughout this spring and summer. For one event, Mastroianni said they have a runner who leads their sunrise five miler that happens 5:30 a.m. on Thursdays during the warmer months.
The Ladies Run Squad, which happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays, is an eight-week training program to help develop running skills as well as learn about running in another event iRun LOCAL offers.
“We offer different classes throughout the year called the ‘I Run Healthy’ series. Every month we bring in a guest speaker,” Mastroianni said.
In February, an individual who competed in an Ironman came to the store and shared basic triathlon training and how to get started with the Ironman’s. In March, they will host a class on how to run trails and in April, they have a nutritionist coming in.
“We’re packing our events calendar pretty heavy this year. We are trying to make it a consistent event calendar so people know when we are having stuff and we can get the word out,” Mastroianni said. “Everything is open to anyone that wants to meet and connect with other people or be inspired by them.”
On March 19, they are hosting a happy hour fun run. It’s a free event where Mastroianni brings in one of their footwear manufacturers. They bring in demo shoes so participants can run in a pair of shoes that aren’t their own to try them out.
