How can Louisiana be so bad, they have one of the best Track & Field programs in NCAA history in LSU! Obviously, it is hot and humid most of the year, but there must be a few good reasons to run there because they have had many great athletes!
One thing MA and all of New England has is an almost infinite number of races almost year round and very deep fast age group fields especially in older categories. And the weather builds character! Hot humid summers, rough winters, spring mud, and wonderful falls.
3 main categories in my opinion are weather, variety of terrain, and culture.
Top ten states to be a runner in my opinion are:
1. Massachusetts
2. Utah
3. Colorado
4. Arizona
5. California
6. Oregon
7. Washington
8. Vermont
9. Maine
10. Virgina
Top ten worst states to be a runner:
1. Louisiana
2. Mississippi
3. Alabama
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. South Carolina
7. Oklahoma
8. Ohio
9. Iowa
10. Kansas
I can't believe you left off Tennessee in the top ten. Tennessee has greenways all over where many runners get miles in. We have the rock n roll Nashville. There are running clubs all over middle Tennessee. Tennessee has to be somewhere between California and Washington in reality. No, we don't have the elevation of Utah or Colorado, but there's a very active running culture here.
The killer here is the Summer weather (and that can last well into October.) The Summers are just brutal, an 6-8M run can leave you so beat down, that recovery is a struggle. Whenever I travel out West during a Summer I realize how people can casually get in 85+ mile weeks w/o a lot of issues. The low humidity and cooler temps make a double 10/6 day into a very doable thing.
The Winters in TN really are a GREAT time to run. There have been years where I have gone through an entire season and never even needed to wear tights.
Alabama actually has some great places to run. Lots of dirt and clay roads. Generally October-March is good training weather. Never too cold to run outside. Culture isn't great but the high school scene is pretty decent.
If you run early in the morning, the summer is tolerable. And this time of year there’s no better place to run.
Went for a few runs in January of this year and they were more boring than the routes I usually do at home, just a sea of concrete, strip malls, and homes all built at once. Now there are some very nice trails nearby but you’re gonna be spending more time driving than running unless you’re running for at least an hour, which makes it not worth it especially when time is limited.
I honestly don't think there's a single state where just based on running alone, I couldn't be quite happy to train there. Maybe a southern state where it's hot and humid 6 months out of the year? Even then you could live on the coast of Georgia or Florida for some relief.
Seems like everyone can't help but introduce some non-running factor into their reasoning. Which of course only makes sense, but that's a bit outside the question.
Putting Ohio in top 10 worst is laughable. Cleveland/Akron area alone has one of the best parks infrastructures in the US
Exactly. People don't realize how good the parks are in Cleveland/Akron. The Summit County metro parks alone have > 150 miles of trails and there are hundreds more in the Cuyahoga Valley NP. The Cleveland metro parks have probably about 300 miles of trails.
Arizona sucks in the summer, but it is pretty great right now! I just came down to Phoenix from near Flagstaff where I live and right now Phoenix is hard to beat. I ran 18 miles on the canal banks this morning. Perfectly flat with pedestrian tunnels under the road crossings. The sun was out and the temps were high 40's low 50's.
Putting Ohio in top 10 worst is laughable. Cleveland/Akron area alone has one of the best parks infrastructures in the US
Exactly. People don't realize how good the parks are in Cleveland/Akron. The Summit County metro parks alone have > 150 miles of trails and there are hundreds more in the Cuyahoga Valley NP. The Cleveland metro parks have probably about 300 miles of trails.
I live in South Carolina now but lived in the Cleveland suburbs for four years and GREATLY miss all the running opportunities there, especially rail trails. Sure the winter can be tough but they plowed the Emerald Necklace trails. I did my second highest mileage month ever in January in the Cleveland area. Lots of good races, too.
Honestly the humid states make you a very strong runner especially if you are racing northerners in a hot race. Your confidence also skyrockets in the fall when temps drop. Gotta love poor man's altitude. The major downside is that if you don't beat the sun in the summer you're stuck on the treadmill or outside risking your health especially if you're training hard.
I'm going to advocate for Texas here. I do not think it's a top 10 but I don't think it's a bottom 10 either. There are a decent amount of paths in the bigger cities, and dirt roads out in the smaller towns. And the running culture is very solid especially in cities like Austin.
If you run the roads in Florida you are basically going to die sooner or later because one out of five people drive without insurance, drive without their headlights on, drive looking at their phone constantly and bonus there is no car inspection or even enforcement of exhaust so you are going to be poisoned to death by emissions bypass.
I guess if you can find a park or trails that aren't overrun or where people walk their dogs without leashes you might survive.
(and only track running is boring as hell, I mean why even run then)
Feel like Arizona would be highly contingent on Flag/Prescott (good) or greater Phoenix/Tucson (less good)
No reason not to include NH if you're gonna throw VT and ME in there. Nice rail trails and such, great summer and fall. Hell, Connecticut/Jersey/upstate NY/Michigan have some sweet rail trails as well and fairly big scenes for post-collegiate and casual running. Minnesota has a huge running culture
If I had to ride for anything not included, I'd say North Carolina. Their big population centers (Triangle, Charlotte, Winston) are generally fine-to-great for running and then you also have Asheville and Boone. I tend to prefer heat over cold + snow because at least you can get outside most days in the heat...just need to be up early
Iowa > Nebraska/Dakotas. Hawaii probably low-key sucks for running based on humidity and the fact I can think of only one runner of note (Pierce Murphy) to ever come from there. Arkansas is likely bottom 10. Nevada seems not amazing. West Virginia is so beautiful but has zero running infrastructure - alas
You've obviously never run a trail race in the Phx area.
Almost every US state is a very large place. Parts of every state may be great for running and parts may be impossible. The list is probably just trollbait, but trying to rank states as a single entity in how good they are for running is a fool's errand. You might as well rank continents.
In what world is it better to be a runner in Alaska or North Dakota than Iowa or Ohio?
I trained a lot in ND, its probably underrated but the winters are very very very tough... summers also not great... Iowa/Ohio are probably pretty damn good midwest states to train in... maybe too much snow in parts of Ohio
Massachusetts is not a top 10 state. North Carolina is even better. States that are good are states also with an abundance of gravel roads and dirt roads. Even in the winter when you can’t get high up they’re good for training. Seriously also Alaska is a good running state.
Yeah Id take NC over MA any day, we have Umstead Park, ATT, Badin Lake, Salem Lake, plus a decent running scene with UNC, Wake, NC State, Duke, not to mention PUMA Elite. If only it was at altitude.