Assuming your beach is sandy, running in sand is great for building quads and glutes. There's two opposing schools of thought about it's affect on one's knees. Some say a soft surface such as sand is easier on the knees and others say because it is uneven, it is hard on the knees. Whichever, when I've run in sand it has provided a great workout that did not include sore knees.
I walk the beach as it is gentler on the knees than a flat hard surface. Running the beach for any extended distance is just a lot harder than most anticipate. Everyday I see a tourist start to jog then switch to walking 100 yards later. They never make it far. Walking the beach for an hour is plenty of exercise and will build muscle and tone your legs you don't need to jog.
I will deliberately walk in the heavy drier deeper sand when I want more resistance
Beaches here are all sand ocean is a sandbar not a single rock or corral reef formation and there is 200 miles of it. You can walk the beach all day in either direction from my house and you will still be walking a sandy beach at night fall
The Outer Banks are a 200-mile string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States.
