Not completely unheard of using course for Nordic and cross country.
I am giving the roughest conditions to either an Alaskan school or Buffalo, NY area runners. Easily some of the most rediculous weather. Although it is funny that someone brings up Potsdam, NY. I recall a few weeks that the tempurate reached a blazing -10F without windchill in the morn.
Alaska finds it hard to consistantly make it above 5F some weeks.
Western State College. 8000 ft???
The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada
Ive been thinking about going to Minot State.
good think im from western montana im used to worse.
Laramie, WY - University of Wyoming would suck.
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=41.3114,-105.5911
Rest of Tonight
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Not as cold. Lows 20 to 25. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph.
Sunday
Cloudy. Chance of snow in the morning...then a chance of rain and snow in the afternoon. Highs around 40. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
Sunday Night
Snow likely. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Lows around 25. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph increasing to 10 to 25 mph after midnight. Chance of snow 70 percent.
Monday
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Windy. Highs around 35. West winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph.
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows around 20. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 25 mph in the evening.
You have to be a boss to run in London during the winter
If you run in London at anytime of the year, it's just given that you're a boss.
I was waiting for Grand Forks to be mentioned. By far the harshest winter I have ever run in! I'm currently on the team there and you know it's cold when everytime you go out for a run in winter, you have to consciously think, "Do I have enough protection on the berries to prevent things from getting frozen down there?"
That is why wind briefs are made.The real question is do I have something covering my face so when I breathe in it doesn't burn my lungs at -20F?
Arizona State or Arizona. I went on my early morning run today and it was 55 degrees. A bead of sweat rolled down my arm and i think i got the chills for a second. And don't even get me started about my mid-day 70-75 degree runs.
No Techies? wrote:
How about Michigan Tech? Gets the cold of the northern latitudes, the wind and snow off of the lake, and the campus is basically up on a big freaking hill. I'm not saying it is worse than some places in Alaska, but it is rough.
They're not real runners though. Pretty much all the distance runners are cross-country skiers, so they love the snow.
last year in my city in north dakota... -44 degrees without windchill and obviously snow, nuff said
marion davies wrote:
easily bates college...even mens thoughts freeze
You must be kidding.
A Boss here. It's -4'C outside and I did 12 miles through the snow this morning. Honestly.
This doesn't happen often but it's way nicer than steady drizzle at +1'C for weeks on end.
I run at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. We have a 200m indoor track that we do our workouts on from November-March which makes things easier but we do all our runs outside. It's not so much the -20 temps that get you, its more the 30 mph winds that often come with it.
This sucks.. wrote:
Which university has to deal with the hardest winter training conditions? I would have to think some of the Big Ten Universities such as Minnesota and Wisconsion would have to be up there, along with some smaller universities like Alaska, Adams, and Western State.
Adams State - very tolerable during the days in the winter. It's typically sunny and calm in the winter in Alamosa. The actual temperatures can be very cold but the humidity and wind are almost zero (the wind stirs up in a serious way in the spring, however). As a previous poster said, it can be well below freezing in Alamosa in the winter and still feel fine to run in your shorts and a t-shirt. The sun--as long as it's out--really does keep you reasonably warm.
Western State - quite a bit harsher than Alamosa, actually. Gunnison has a lot more winter cloud cover than Alamosa and a lot more snow than Alamosa. It's also windier in the winter months than Alamosa. Both are high elevation and post some really cold temps, but I'd take Alamosa over Gunnison in the winter in a heartbeat.
Wyoming - Laramie is just plain nasty in the winter. Wind, snow, cold, you name it. Possibly harsher than Gunnison, more wind, not as much snow.
Frankly, though, I think I'd take any of the above over places like Minot, ND.
I have run plenty of winter miles, can get very uncomfortable. I have been to Duluth but not in the winter. Lived in the twin cities and that is 3 hours south of Duluth. I would say the winters there in Duluth would be about as bad as anything in Alaska with winter averages of 20 degrees and lows down to -40. And being a midwest city, the wind is always blowing. So my vote goes to University of Minnesota-Duluth.
I think that the University of Alaska Fairbanks has got to be the worst. It is very cold and dry for many months of the year there. When the temperature does not top -30 for a week or two, there is no safe running.
However, a better question is what is the most successful xc program in a very harsh winter environment? I think that that Wisconsin wins this hands down with their incredible record. I think that Dartmouth is second (2nd place NCAA in 1987 and 1988 among other top 5s). Dartmouth was 2nd and Wisconsin was 3rd in 1987. Must have been a mild winter that year! Even though they don't offer any athletic scholarships, Dartmouth always has a solid D1 team and a long cold snowy winter in Hanover, NH.
I just checked the current weather. Madison is 10 degrees and clear. Hanover is 18 degrees and snowing. I rest my case.
I'm in law school at Notre Dame. That weather report for Laramie sounds balmy compared to the last week and the coming week in South Bend. I've lived in Ames, Iowa and all over the Chicago area and the lake effect snow here makes things tougher outdoors than ever it was in those places. I don't think ND is in the lead for the toughest running conditions, but it has to be up there.
wisconsin native wrote:
Hands down it has to be any college in the range of North Dakota, South Dakota, & Eastern Montana. Nothing compares to treeless areas with high winds when it's cold.
Are there any college cross country programs in Eastern Montana? I grew up in Montana, and ran collegiately in Montana. I live in Minnesota now and all of the people mentioning Montana are way off base. It snows just as much in Minnesota and you just don't get the same sort of combination cold days with high winds in Montana. I would think the above is on target with North Dakota. Fargo and Grand Forks would not be good places to train in the winter.
I was surprised to see that Alaska Fairbanks does have a team, so that might take it as well. Not only do the temperatures have to be the coldest, but lack of daylight is a big issue as well.