Under-rated running towns........

Mobile, Alabama is an extremely underrated running town. With the Azalea Trail Run and the Food World Senior Bowl Charity Run it probably has the best tandem of 10k road races in the country. The Meet of Champions is also held there and it is one of the top high school meets in the country. The locals aren't particularly fast but the local road running club the Port City Pacers hold many good road races. Also University of South Alabama usually has some very good runners, although they are usually African (David Kimani, Tony Okello, Vincent Rono, etc).

Cincinnati is the best!

By far the best places are:

Gary, Indiana

East St. Louis, Ill

Pittsburgh, Pa

Newark, NJ

Marion Ohio. The home of Stan Nicol,king of the Pump and Run.

Vex wrote:

I gotta agree with Bar Harbor/Mt. Desert Island... I spent some time there last summer... There's a network of Carriage roads that go for miles and are closed to cars... Fabulous running....

http://www.acadiamagic.com/CarriageRoads.html

I don't want to test the winters, but summer running there is damn near perfect. Great temp., low humidity, & the carriage roads and variety are fantastic. The only problem I see is the conditions are so good that I had a desire to pound it every day & overtraining may come into play if there too long. Good call Vex!

Rome, GA

Asheville, NC

Athens, GA

Totally agree on Bar Harbor/Acadia. Great spot, except for October - March.

Corvallis, OR

Bozeman, MT

Kennesaw, GA

I love those trails, best place in Georgia to run

Lobsta Mon wrote:

By far the best places are:

Gary, Indiana

East St. Louis, Ill

Pittsburgh, Pa

Newark, NJ

As a suicidal person, I agree with your list.

I was assaulted in Gary, shot in East St. Louis, cornholed in Pittsburgh, murdered in Newark.

i'm assuming this post was an uninformed joke. granted, i know little of gary or newark, but pittsburgh really is a good running town - nice urban parks, trails along the rivers, challenging hills, etc. not the most competitive running town in the country, but definitely under-rated.and sorry east st. louis. you suck.

Lobsta Mon wrote:

By far the best places are:

Gary, Indiana

East St. Louis, Ill

Pittsburgh, Pa

Newark, NJ

Nekoosa, Wisconsin. The sights are great, the air is fresh, the hills are perfect, multiple bars, etc. It's great. The hotels are cheap and the fishing is great. If any of you plan on going, post it and I'll post some maps of awesome courses. Also, there is a race there in August, the Swiftwater Fun Run. Again, I'll post more info if anyone's interested.

One of the most enjoyable areas I have ever run, probably 2nd to Rockefeller in Westchester. A great deal of the secondary roads in Bedford are groomed dirt roads which wind through what I think, are some of the prettiest areas of Westchester. Pound Ridge (village) does not have the dirt roads, but it is equally beautiful. Pound Ridge Reservation is another huge area where people bypass, for Rockefeller instead, because the trails are a little more rugged. Bedford Riding Lanes is a network of horseback riding trails which link private lands and roads which actually allow you to explore the town and backyards (and these are not your average backyards) and horse farms.

There is no running/racing community per se, but the point was "underrated." Except for Pound Ridge reservation, few people know about these areas, I never see runners up there. I am sure that is how Martha likes it. Get a good map and check it out.

cville, va

sarasota, fl

florida keys- but you got to know where to go

Ohioan wrote:

After running in a couple of places in Ohio, I know greatly appreciate Northeast, Ohio, between Akron and Cleveland. There are many parks that have loops and trails that can entertain one for years, and a towpath and a bike path. Winter training is hard because the snow eliminates most trails, but I still think its a great place to run especially compared to western Ohio, which is flat with no trails, just mile blocks.

I'll agree that the NE part is the best running in Ohio, but the Toledo area isn't as bad as you describe. We've got 30+ miles of rail-trail and getting more, plus the best Metroparks system in Ohio. Our road-runners club doesn't do so much with training groups, but they put on a gazillion races and they're all extremely well organized. I could do worse than where I'm at.

Yes, the Keys are nice.

Santa Barbara...Lots of trails, hills, flat, tracks and its cheap as hell to live here.

Nashville: a cool, supportive web site (Nashvillerunner.com), great trails at Percy Warner and a marked mile loop at Centennial Park.

why no votes for Long Island?

Enumclaw, Washington.

Great weather, scenery, trails, Mt.Rainier. Also hometown of Deeja Youngquist.

Big Bear Lake, Ca. Miles of dirt roads through the forest at 7000+ altitude. Winters are mild (only like 5" snow so far this year)and the summers are like mostly 80's. Housing is fairly cheap but going up rapidly. Jobs are pretty easy to get in the Hospitality field.