The LA Times goes to Flagstaff: “For a distance runner, there’s no place in the world like Flagstaff."

TY for clarifying!

Imagine thinking this? Hundreds of teams go there and tons of camps every Summer to train. Mammoth is a great place for training in the Summer.

Rojo doesn't care. He just likes any opportunity to insert himself into a topic.

Dunno when you lived in Laramie, but the entire Pilot hill area is new and tons of trails and soft surfaces. Plus you can train low in Fort Collins (65 miles away @ 4900 feet).

Our atomized society is comprised of lonely people. Thus dogs, comfort food.

How do you train low in Laramie?

The LA Times is not seeking to reach the running obsessed audience. I am glad they covered it.

And Sierra Nevada in Spain. A whole center there to stay at and train.

Not really low enough to justify a 65 mile drive!

bummed that Granny's Closet closed but I'm glad Mike and Ronda's is still there. best place for breakfast in Flag. an institution.

agreed, poster lost me at "dog friendly," it has gotten to the point it's annoying. Can't even go on a run without being assaulted by someone's untrained, loose dog. sounds not fun...

Mike and Ronda's is not even close..... Martanne's is the place to eat breakfast. Crown Railroad near bowling alley was the best ....but that sadly has closed. Granny's was ok late 1990's early 2000's but became quite meh fast. If only Pay n Take had cheestakes all would be perfect in the world.

The mountain biking is where it is at....running is for the nerds.

Grow a pair.

Nice article overall. "World class university", who knew?

The LA Times recently highlighted Flagstaff as a premier destination for distance runners, emphasizing its unique appeal. With its high-altitude environment and stunning natural landscapes, Flagstaff offers optimal training conditions that are unrivaled elsewhere. The elevation provides a natural edge by enhancing aerobic capacity, while the diverse terrain ensures a variety of challenging routes. The town's scenic beauty and supportive running community further contribute to its reputation as a top training ground.

Pat Porter (coached by Joe Vigil) has to be considered one of the original U.S. "altitude" trained athletes. He trained at Adams State University in Alamosa, CO in the early 1980's under Joe Vigil, who in my opinion is the "Godfather" of altitude coaching and training in the U.S. Pat was hugely successful in cross country and ran in the 1984 Olympic Games and went on to become one of the greatest American distance runners of all-time. Denna Kastor was also one of his athletes and can be considered one of the first U.S. women to be altitude trained and enjoyed a storied career. Training at altitude was somewhat of an unknown in the U.S. in the 80's and only began to become popular in the late 80's and early 1990's when international athletes began venturing to Alamosa, Flagstaff, Boulder, and Albuquerque. In the early 1990's, Albuquerque was considered the best place to train for altitude, with mild winter and summer climates and ideal fall seasons. Many world-class Kenyans, Moroccans, and Europeans were seen running the trails under the Sandia Mountains above the city year around. At this time a small group of Americans began training in Albuquerque and would often train with the various international athletes. Many would go one on to making various Olympic and World Championship teams. The only drawback was limited access to a low altitude training location nearby. Today, it has become a necessity for middle-long distance runners to spend some of the training year at altitude.

watch one of the recent videos with jakob where he does 400s and 200s. he complained about the wind throughout the whole video

Thank you for the nice historical recap.

But, the story starts at least a decade earlier.

Pat Porter may well have been the first prominent US distance runner to live and train at altitude.

However, if any US distance runner "popularized" altitude training, he would be Frank Shorter.

Shorter was based in Gainesville, FL in the early 1970s as a member of the Florida Track Club but would make training stints at altitude in Boulder, CO, famously convincing Steve Prefontaine to join him on occasion then running an unacclimated Pre into the pavement..

Frank's marathon gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics is historically pointed to as the flame that lit the fuse which ignited the first running boom in the US.

Later, Shorter co-founded the Bolder Boulder road race in 1979.

Then, Pat Porter & Joe Vigil came on the scene.