highest altitude track in the world?

I'm pretty surprised to see that the highest claimed track here is only around 11,000 ft. in AFS, I went to Potosi, Bolivia, a city in the altiplano that used to have the greatest silver and tin reserves in the world. It is at about 13,200 feet of altitude. I ran every day on the cinder track, which was probably about 13,000 feet (relatively low in the city). After six weeks, I ran a mile in spikes in 6:13, and at the time (after my junior year of hs) I had run only 5:06 at sea level. beautiful views of the barren landscape and El Cerro Rico. I'll see if I can get a gmap satellite look at this place. Of course, training at a high altitude is not supposed to help you because you can't run at anywhere near the same intensity as at sea level. But living at that altitude did seem to help me a lot. It was very easy to run at 8,000 ft at Sucre afterwards and then I felt great when I got back to California and ended up with a good year by my lousy standards and mvp in xc.

type in potosi, bolivia, pick satellite, and go to anything six levels from the top or closer and you'll see the tracks. seems more crowded and built up around the track than when I was there.

Dudester wrote:

I'm telling you, there is an all weather rubber track at Cloudcroft, NM at 9600ft. It's right there in town, on the grounds of the elementary/Jr. high school.

That is not true. They have a gravel track outside of town. No all weather rubber track. Don't know what you are talking about son.

La Paz, Bolivia is where many of the Mexican national team members go to train in the northern hemisphere winter and there is a track there at close to 12,000'. Potosi is higher though, and probably takes the cake unless there is a track above Kathmandu.

according to this site, potosi is the highest city in the world.

http://boliviaweb.com/cities/potosi.htm

however, another site lists a suburb of la paz, el alto, also in bolivia, as at 13,600, which would potentially have a higher track.

According to gmap-pedometer. The track at potosi is at about 12,770 ft. Damn thats high... There a track in the center of La Paz thats about 11,800 ft.

The track on Grandfather Mountain is about halfway up the mountain, not at the top. The altitude there is around 4,100'. It's also on private property so you need to pay the park entrance fee to access it.

Also in the Boone, NC area:

Lees Mcrae College in Banner Elk has a nice all weather track at over 3,700'.

App State also has a nice track at about 3,500'.

Watauga High School has a pretty beat up track also at 3,500'.

As far as I'm aware these are the highest tracks east of the Mississippi.

Heres one at roughly at 13000ft in La Paz, Bolivia

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1576818

The University of Wyoming is the highest public university in the country. (It's a shame that we have to remind CU of that fact every March but oh well.) The University built a track 2 years ago and it is decent but not much better than most high school tracks. There is also a rubber 160m indoor track that is 4 lanes. Really makes the lungs burn when its below zero out, at this altitude.

The track with the trees on the infield is in Dillon, Co, just off the bike path that goes around the lake. The track is asphalt and pretty crappy.

There is another track off the bike path at Summit HS, synthetic, fairly new. This track is also at a higher elevation than the lake, over 9000 ft.

LArunner wrote:

Actually, I believe that some of the New Orleans tracks are a little lower that LSU's. Most of New Orleans is around -5 feet, I believe.

I would imagine that whichever high school that has a track in/near El Centro, CA (near the Mexican border) is the lowest. That's about 50'-150' below sea level. That's a god-awful place in the summer. Temps average about 115*.

U. of SL(University of Shangri La) has a 16 lap to the miles track above the gym at about 29,000 feet.

Lhasa, Tibet has one in the mid 12,000's if you need a high track in Asia

Seeing some of the American responses to this thread is like listening to a couple middle school kids talk about who has more hair on his nuts. The highest track in the world is definitely not in the U.S. I'd put my money on South America.

geographist wrote:

Seeing some of the American responses to this thread is like listening to a couple middle school kids talk about who has more hair on his nuts. The highest track in the world is definitely not in the U.S. I'd put my money on South America.

Reading your response is like reading a stupid response!!

Anyone can say they have run some loops in some mountain town - but actually having an IAAF certified synthetic track is what most people would class as a 'track'. There are too many variables to consider if you start trying to determine whether a non synthetic track is legit. That track at Western wold possibly be the highest synthetic track in the world, and although there may be one higher it definitely wont be in South America.

knob wrote:

Reading your response is like reading a stupid response!!

Anyone can say they have run some loops in some mountain town - but actually having an IAAF certified synthetic track is what most people would class as a 'track'. There are too many variables to consider if you start trying to determine whether a non synthetic track is legit. That track at Western wold possibly be the highest synthetic track in the world, and although there may be one higher it definitely wont be in South America.

Yeah those primitive South Americans wouldn't have a track in the capital of their country which is at nearly 12000 feet. Oh wait, I just made a wikipedia page about it just to screw with you:

Oh and in case you might think they don't have a synthetic track:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2285234130082721655CIzLxA

dingle wrote:

Oh and in case you might think they don't have a synthetic track:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2285234130082721655CIzLxA

Impressive. In case you wanted to go higher to run some hills look in the background.

Leadville, CO 10,100 feet elevation.