A new place to train (Denver, CO or Charlotte, NC) Help

Denver, definitely Denver

Denver is great. Best city I ever lived in. They love runners and bikers. You can live right in the middle of the city and train just fine. Plus there a lot of guys to train with all over the area. Weather is awesome there too.

Nice small city??? Denver is a cool city, but small it is definately not. Charlotte sucks ass for running in the summer time, kinda nice in the winter I would expect. Denver area by far is better for the runner.

Lived in Denver, also live in Durham (Charlottes evil cousin to the east). I suggest you go to both again and spend some time there. I loved Denver, though, so I guess I'm biased.

Charlotte's okay, but totally humid.

I like Davidson (just north of Charlotte)--great xc trails at the college.

Denver is a very educated, progressive and beautiful city. It contains more parks per capita than any other city in the U.S. Washington Park is the place to run in the city, yet the Jefferson County Open Space Parks are about 30-45 minutes away. There you can run on some of the best mountain trails around, though sometimes they are overcrowded with mountain bikers. Denver was voted the fittest city in the U.S. recently. Everyone is active and works out here. Many transplants have stated that they felt pressure to get in shape once they moved here. Denver offers over 300 days of sunshine/year. Rarely is it cloudy, except for the summer thunderstorms which are in and out quickly (though we didn't see many of those last year as we were in a record drought with nearly seventy days above 90 degrees). All in all, Denver kicks ass! I've been to Charlotte, which is nice, but it doesn't touch Denver!

I live in Aurora which is a few minutes on I-25 from Denver. In downtown Denver you have tons of parks like Washington Park and Cheesman Park where you can train and possibly meet people to form a group. You can also go near Littleton in a few minutes and hit places like Waterton Canyon that are awesome. In Aurora where I am there are lots of reserviors to train on the trails. If you like, I train every summer in Colorado with a group that meets everyday in the mornings. If you are interested in running at all with us this summer, by all means email me. We are always looking for new people to train with and it might help you get started with some people to train with. The group is diverse from college runners to marathoners of varying ability.

Looove that Waterton Canyon run.

I am surprised that there are no Charlotte proud people. I was hoping to hear something from the Southerners about this area. The heat and humidity don't bother me(much).

Charlotte isn't the greastest city because of the hot summers but other than that its a good spot. Great running community, tons of races, group runs, a couple of running stores, a local running publication, tons of trails (McAlpine, Reedy Creek, Latta, Davidson, UNCC, plus others). There is always a group run or group track workout. I don't know about Denver but if you choose Charlotte you'll enjoy the running, except when it's 95 degrees on a summer day. The rest of the year is not bad though. Plus if you like the mountains you can get to Boone, Brevard and Asheville within 2 hours or go two hours east and hit the beach.

As for the city itself it's clean, as safe as most, and the always tons of events going on. I lived their for 13 years and the only thing I couldn't handle was the traffic.

I don't live there, but, without a doubt I would go with Denver. The entire front range is fantastic for running as well as for quality of life. We go out to the Boulder/Golden area each May. It gets harder to leave each time.

Why not Fort Collins or Colorado Springs (my bias)? Smaller cities that offer a lot and close enough to Denver to get what a person needs from a big city. Cost of living is also better in both places compared to Denver. (yeah, there are pockets in all areas where this will not hold true).

Come on out...no wait, stay away. It is horrible. So many Texans and Californians...We are buried in snow 9 months out of the year and most days we have to dig our way out of houses.

Stay away.

Don't worry, I would be a welcomed addition to any community. I like taking part and volunteer in the communities that I live in. Also, I won't be working, so you do not have to worry about me taking a job away from a local yo'cal. I have been in Philadelphia for the past yr. and this is city not me.

Sadly somewhat the state has been overrun by new immigrants, but no doubt that's what the Native Americans explorers and pioneers thought 150 to 100 years ago. Anyway, if you promise not to vote for Owens for governor, then sure come on out. Housing markets are probably good, because a lot of people are leaving. If you're not working then there are many places along the Front Range that are better than Denver.

I lived and trained in Charlotte for 7 years before relocating to Virginia where I live now. I would say CLT is a decent but not spectacular place to train. For one thing, it is close to board-flat (no place is totally without SOME hills but for the most part, it is flat) which limits your training somewhat unless you plan to race locally or on flat courses. There are plenty of well-maintained tracks you can use. The number of races has grown substantially over the years and if you are willing to drive you can find races just about any weekend. I think there are some knowledgable coaches/running authorities in the area and would suggest Larry Frederick at

www.runforyourlife.com

(he'll email you back) and Scott Dvorak at Charlotte Running Company. Scott was in the OLY trials for 5000 a few years ago.

Cross training wise you will find cycling difficult unless you are willing to travel well outside city limits. The city has grown quite rapidly and a few ago was listed in USA Today as one of the 3 fastest growing cities in the US. Simply put, the demand outstrips the supply. Over time that may improve if the city planners will think progressively. Clean air is a problem!! Folks have mentioned the humidity but in the summer the smog is quite heavy. CLT carries a poor air quality rating.

Socially and in terms of quality of life a lot will depend on who you are and what you are looking for. It is a good place for a family and fairly affordable but public schools are a problem and private ones cost 5-15K a year. As a single person the dating scence is not bad as the two major banks tend to attract young professionals. there are plenty of blond cuties in Beemers tooling around. Dating thru the running scene gets a little incestuous though.

all in all CLT as a place to live is not missing on much. it certainly is night and day different from Denver tho, both in terms of the type of people living there as well as climate and terrain. If I were placing running as a one of my top 2 or 3 priorites in life it would be a no-brainer for DV over CLT for me.

Best of luck wherever your travels take you.

Gohoos-

Thanks for all of the information, each piece was a big help for me. From your name, I assume you are a UVA fan. I am a double Heel and I appreciate your Charlotte feedback very much. Take care.

I guess all that is left now, is for me to give each spot a weeks look-around. I feel that Denver has taken a 5 meter lead going into the last 100 meters of a 1500 meter race. I will post the winner in a few weeks.

What is Colorado like in the winter for training? The east has been brutal this winter - cold and snowy. Do you get used to the snow out there? Is it cold? - I hate bitter cold and that is what we have had a lot of. If someone could enlighten us on winter out there we would appreciate it - looking for somewhere to move....

Ha! sorry, I just saw the answer further on down the board! Forget the last one - unless you have something new to add...