The beach run was a huge success. We played about 10 minutes of fetch before starting. We ran the first mile on leash (though we took a break and took him off leash when he found a great playmate). He didn't lag behind at all and was a little in front of me so complete opposite of running on the sidewalk. On the way back I took him off leash and he mostly ran by my side except for the occasional dip into the ocean. We then played more fetch to end the outing. So not sure if it's that he loves the beach, which I already knew , or that he doesn't mind running on the sand as much. Either way I'll definitely be mixing more beach runs into our routine.