Let’s run around town! That takes on a literal meaning when you sign up for one of Laura Bradley’s Go Running Tours Florida.

“It’s not a sprint. We run a little bit. We stop somewhere, like at Old City Hall or the Tampa Theater. We tell them all the history and grab a few photos,” Bradley explains.

Go Running Tours is active in nearly 80 cities around the globe. These tours allow runners to get some exercise and knowledge about landmarks.

“When I first started out, I was getting people from over in Europe. I had a girls’ group from Michigan, all over the place. Actually, it started switching even before the pandemic to getting more locals,” said Bradley.

She gets clients from Wesley Chapel, Lakeland, or St. Petersburg who want to have a designated route and learn more about a nearby city. She does an “island hopper” tour that takes you through Davis Islands and Harbour Island and along Bayshore Boulevard. She can also take you on an Ybor City history tour, a mural tour of St. Petersburg, or even a brewery tour.

“Our standard one is a 7K in downtown Tampa. We start over by the Convention Center; we take the Riverwalk for a little bit then you really come into the fun of downtown and see the sites. Then, we connect back to the Riverwalk,” she explained.

Bradley’s story started in Delaware and chose to move to Florida with no job after college. It’s also why she started running.

“I didn’t want to spend the money for a gym, so I just started running every day, and then it became life and addicting and you just want to do it all the time,” she recalled. The more she ran, the more she fell in love with the area.

“Seeing all the signs and reading all the historic monuments,” said Bradley. She turned that love into a job by joining the Go Running Tours company. “I want to live my passion all of us a sudden in my 30s,” she said.

For those looking to train for the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic, Bradley can help you and help you learn about the city around you. Register and choose your race distance, 5K, 8K, 15K, or half marathon. Then, choose your location to run and time yourself. Submit those times to get your medal. Don’t forget that Bayshore Boulevard will be shut down to vehicle traffic on May 8th and 9th, so registered participants can run on the roadway with your bib.