Best Running Routes in the Beaches: How to Prevent Common Running Injuries
written by Hilary Mallinger, Sport Physiotherapist
There's something magical about running along the Beaches boardwalk on an early Saturday morning. The sun rises over Lake Ontario, the sound of waves mimics the rhythm of your stride, and you're reminded why Toronto runners consider this area a hidden gem. But as physiotherapists serving the Beaches and Scarborough communities, we also know that even the most scenic routes can lead to injuries if you're not careful.
Whether you're training for your first 5K or you're a seasoned marathoner, understanding how to prevent common running injuries is just as important as finding the perfect route.
The Classic Boardwalk Loop: A Runner's Paradise
The Beaches boardwalk offers one of Toronto's most beautiful running experiences. This flat, well-maintained path stretches along the waterfront, making it ideal for runners of all levels. Starting at Balmy Beach and heading west toward Woodbine Beach, you'll cover about 5km round trip with stunning lake views the entire way.
The boardwalk's smooth surface can feel easier on your joints than concrete, which is great news for your knees. However, there's a catch that many runners don't realize: running the same route over and over can cause repetitive stress on your tissues, one of the leading causes of running related overuse injuries such as IT band syndrome, runner’s knee, and hamstring or Achilles’ tendinopathy.
Prevention tip #1: Alternate your route! If you ran east to west yesterday, reverse it today. Head up to Taylor Creek on the weekend, or east towards the Scarborough Bluffs another week. This simple change helps balance the load on your muscles and reduces injury risk significantly.
Runner's Knee: The Most Common Complaint
Patellofemoral pain syndrome, commonly called runner's knee, accounts for nearly 40% of the running injuries we treat. You'll feel it as a dull ache around or behind your kneecap, especially when running downhill or climbing stairs—something Beaches runners encounter frequently when connecting to the Leslieville neighborhood.
The culprit? Often weak hip muscles and tight quadriceps. When your hips can't properly stabilize your pelvis during the running stride, your knee takes on extra stress it wasn't designed to handle. Over time, this leads to pain and frustration. Moreover, a closer look at your training plan and running volume can help sort out possible contributing factors to your injury.
The good news is that runner's knee is highly preventable. Incorporating hip-strengthening exercises (for example, single-leg bridges, RDLs, and step ups) into your routine just twice a week can make a dramatic difference. We also recommend focusing on some hip and lower back mobility exercises after a run or on days off — spending just five minutes a day on this recovery work can prevent weeks of pain down the road.
Prevention tip #2: Not every run has to be fast! In fact, having some variation in your speed and training throughout the week is beneficial not only from a fitness standpoint, but running fast vs. running slower also stresses your muscles and joints in a different way, which can be helpful for injury prevention.
Listen to Your Body
Here's the rule we share with every runner who walks into our clinic: pain is information, not something to push through, and not necessarily a reason to stop running altogether. If you're experiencing persistent discomfort that changes your running form, training plan or lasts more than a few days, it's time to get assessed.
Early intervention is everything. What might take two weeks to resolve with physiotherapy could become a three-month ordeal if you try to "run through it." A professional gait analysis can identify biomechanical issues before they become injuries, keeping you on the road instead of on our treatment table. A review of your training plan (even if your plan is just an informal routine) can also go a long way with injury prevention.
Ready to run smarter, not just farther? Book a running assessment at our clinic today and let's keep you injury-free all season long.
