West Lafayette, IN Running Scene

I ran one of the best workouts of my life on the West LaFayette hs track which was surprising. To be quite honest, looking back the track might have been short.

That said, I don't know of any strong running presence there. McCormick Woods -> Boilermaker Cross Country Course -> Hort Park is about as good as the running gets there. All in all I give the old route a 6.5/10.

Just in case you didn't know...

The Wabash smells like shit.

think twice about moving

Check out tippecanoe amphitheater-lots of trails there.

Also the wabash river trail extends from west lafayette to lafayette on either side of the river.

Celery bog on lindbergh rd has a nice loop to run on.

Near campus is mostly hort park, mccormick trails and the purdue cross country course.

westlala wrote:

Also the wabash river trail extends from west lafayette to lafayette on either side of the river.

Celery bog on lindbergh rd has a nice loop to run on.

This is why I mentioned the Wabash smells.

Now that you mention it I do recall the celery bog being okay but seriously, West LaFayette is a very old fashioned, boring Indiana town.

What about running groups? Are there any in the area that meet fairly consistently? I know that most will probably be slower than me but we're really just looking for a group of people who share a similar passion and lifestyle. Thanks for the responses so far!

West Lafayette is a great town. Solid University town with all kinds of people. I have spent a good amount of time there visiting grandparents over the years. Pizza King, Triple-XXX, Columbian Park. Good memories. I have logged some runs, but I do not know much about the running scene.

Purdue is a good school.

Anyway, my mom ran track for West Side and the track is not short.

Childhood Memories wrote:

West Lafayette is a great town. Solid University town with all kinds of people. I have spent a good amount of time there visiting grandparents over the years. Pizza King, Triple-XXX, Columbian Park. Good memories. I have logged some runs, but I do not know much about the running scene.

Purdue is a good school.

Anyway, my mom ran track for West Side and the track is not short.

Poehlein was notorious for giving out crazy workouts to his incoming frosh. I moved out there early and put in some mega miles for close to two months. On a late July night I more than completed the hardest of the interval workouts at the West LaFayette HS track. When I told him I completed it the next day and listed off my times in his office he looked at me in disbelief as if to say, "daw you're not supposed to be able to do that". I was shocked myself. But from August - October I showed every indication that I did.

You working with one of the manufacturers, at the university, local school system, hospital? I can't really imagine any other reason that people would move to West Lafayette.

Yes, I'm in manufacturing.

Any other thoughts on the area?

If you're married, I think you'll enjoy living there. It's a medium-sized Midwestern town, so single guys looking for a "club scene" or whatever will be disappointed.

There are way more running trails than when I lived there (already mentioned), but campus and local neighborhood roads have sidewalks, and main roads have wide enough shoulders that you can run between here and there easily. I little further out, and you can run on country roads. Hill workouts on Slayter ...

With the University, there will be the obvious sports, concerts, etc. Plenty of shopping, plenty of restaurants, good neighborhoods for both buying or renting. Reasonable cost of living, etc.

One great thing is that if you are looking for more that what is in town, you are really close to both Indy (1 hr) and Chicago (2 hrs). That goes for running too.

Well, if you want to jet off somewhere for a weekend long run, you got the Turkey Run State Park, Tippecanoe State Park, Shades State Park, Indiana Dunes State Park, Eagle Creek City Park on the northwest side of Indianapolis, and Fort Harrison State Park on the east side of Indianapolis.

The trails in these parks are not going to be wide, flat, and fast, and they may require a loop or two for a decent long run. But they will get you on some soft ground and nice scenery.

Indiana also seems to have lots of rails-to-trails conversions and trails along rivers that are increasing with every year. Not sure what is in the Lafayette area.

Southern Indiana also has tons of trail running opportunities, but like I said, the trails are going to be rough and hilly, so be prepared to deal with that. A good place to go on a Saturday or Sunday, if you have the time.

do yourself a favor and move to Bloomington instead, still a typical trashy Indiana town but a vibrant campus/downtown area & university culture that is far superior to that in West Lafayette. Bring up Engineering rankings if you want, but IU has some respected programs as well.

As was stated above, I'm moving there for work so Bloomington, or anywhere else for that matter, isn't an option.

Thanks for the responses on places to run. I'll try them out. It sounds like a place 10,000 times better than where I'm coming from.

Any groups or clubs in the area that people are aware of?

OP, the people trashing WL are just trolls. It is a great town with a vibrant college atmosphere. Lots of diversity and a very intelligent population. If you can, live in town near the University. If you move out to some burb, you may not enjoy it as much, but the same goes for any college town.

Try moving "outisde" of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, DC, Palo Alto, etc. No matter where you live, the sticks are still the sticks.

Midwest Bound wrote:

As was stated above, I'm moving there for work so Bloomington, or anywhere else for that matter, isn't an option.

Thanks for the responses on places to run. I'll try them out. It sounds like a place 10,000 times better than where I'm coming from.

Any groups or clubs in the area that people are aware of?

My out of the Lafayette area suggestions were more for weekend runs, or maybe a place to go to spend a night and go for a couple runs over the course of a couple days.

The trail running scene is strong. I would check out Indiana Trail Running, if you want to know more information.

Daw, hey "fire at the 1k", I like your name, I get the reference. Give me a hint to figure out your identity?!

We got a group of guys that runs about 3 mornings a week. Send me a text: 347-767-4430