Best US City for Distance Running - March Madness Tournament

Day 5:

We're back! and jumping right into it with #13 Forth Worth vs #52 Richmond. The first category drawn is higher GDP per capita, which Fort Worth takes. Fort Worth pulls ahead 2-0 with the 2nd category, sunny days/year. Can Fort Worth get the sweep? Nope. Richmond wins the 3rd category, fastest runner in Chicago, a bit of a surprise to me. The fourth category drawn is... # of races within 100miles. This is interesting, given the proximity of some other large cities. Somehow Richmond wins this category and pushes us to a decisive round 5. The category drawn is... lower cost of living. Richmond wins and completes the comeback after being down 2-0. Richmond takes down Forth Worth 3-2

The 2nd matchup is interesting, #45 Madison vs. #20 DC. DC takes the first category, # of runners in the Boston marathon. Madison might not win this 2nd category often, but takes down DC in the category of greater elevation. All tied up 1-1. The national park system drives DC to win in the 3rd category, park % of total area. DC up 2-1. The 4th category is a first in the tournament so far, better men's college distance program. As the home of U of Wisconsin, Madison ties it up 2-2. Another matchup goes the distance, and the 5th category is... most prominent peak within 75 miles. This took some research, but DC wins this category fairly easily and takes down Madison 3-2.

The 3rd matchup is #29 Milwaukee vs. #36 Colorado Springs. This one ain't going 5 rounds. Colorado Springs sweeps Milwaukee with the categories drawn being better training weather in July, # of runners in Boston, and greater elevation.

#52 Richmond will match up with #20 DC in an interesting regional matchup in Round 2. Colorado Springs will take on the winner of tomorrow's first matchup #61 Long Branch, NJ and #4 Houston.

The other 2 matchups tomorrow will be #3 Chicago vs. #62 Mammoth Lakes, C and #35 Kansas City vs. #30 Albuquerque.

I'd say the raw number of runners in a particular race isn't a telling metric, it should be PER CAPITA representation at a common race.

Nissan Hardbody wrote:

I'd say the raw number of runners in a particular race isn't a telling metric, it should be PER CAPITA representation at a common race.

Runners in boston per capita is a category as well, it just wasn't selected in those matchups. There are 45 possible categories, and several are per capita and several are gross numbers.

There is SOME advantage say having 400 runners to run with say in a city of 2million vs. having 1 other runner in a town of 20 people (who may be nowhere near your level of running).

Day 6:

First matchup today is #61 Long Branch, NJ vs. #4 Houston. I'm not even sure how Long Branch got into the tournament, but here they are. Long Branch doesn't last long though, quickly being swept by Houston 3-0 in the categories of having the fastest runner in the chicago marathon, having the most parks, and having the fastest runner at the atlanta olympic trials.

Second matchup is interesting, and one that I think we can have a big upset in, #3 Chicago vs. #62 Mammoth Lakes. Being the bigger city, Chicago easily takes the first category, # of races within 50mi. The second category, I had to make sure, but Chicago takes it as well, most runners at the atlanta olympic trials. Chicago up 2-0. Mammoth Lakes avoids the sweep in another category I had to look up, lower annual precipitation. I wasn't sure if the massive winter snow would in Mammoth give Chicago the sweep, but Mammoth avoids it. The 4th category is another one I had to research, but also an easy win for Mammoth, higher score in the US news healthy community rankings. The final category, ANOTHER one I had to research, lower annual high temp. Mammoth takes it with their hottest day of the year having an average under 80. Mammoth Lakes completes the comeback and big upset over Chicago, 3-2

Final matchup of the day is #35 Kansas City vs. #30 Albuquerque. First category is better running weather in April, which I give to Albuquerque for having significant less rain while daily highs are still averaging in the low 70s. Kansas City wins the 2nd category, lower violent crime rate. I really wasn't sure where the last two categories would go, running clubs per capita and runners in boston marathon per capita. Albuquerque takes both and the matchup 3-1 on the strength of their larger running community.

Houston will face yesterday's winner Colorado Springs in the 2nd round while Mammoth Lakes and Albuquerque will match up in a batter of higher altitude training cities.

The first, the 2nd half of the first round will continue with #19 Denver vs. #46 Norfolk, VA, #51 Eugene vs. #14 Columbus, and #11 Austin vs. #54 Santa Monica. I'm looking forward to each of those.

list grandmaster wrote:

Nissan Hardbody wrote:

I'd say the raw number of runners in a particular race isn't a telling metric, it should be PER CAPITA representation at a common race.

Runners in boston per capita is a category as well, it just wasn't selected in those matchups. There are 45 possible categories, and several are per capita and several are gross numbers.

There is SOME advantage say having 400 runners to run with say in a city of 2million vs. having 1 other runner in a town of 20 people (who may be nowhere near your level of running).

Fair point, though by similar logic it's far more impressive to have 18 runners from a city of 20,000 running Boston than to have 25 runners from a city of 800,000 running Boston. The culture is quite likely stronger in the smaller city.

Nissan Hardbody wrote:

list grandmaster wrote:

Runners in boston per capita is a category as well, it just wasn't selected in those matchups. There are 45 possible categories, and several are per capita and several are gross numbers.

There is SOME advantage say having 400 runners to run with say in a city of 2million vs. having 1 other runner in a town of 20 people (who may be nowhere near your level of running).

Fair point, though by similar logic it's far more impressive to have 18 runners from a city of 20,000 running Boston than to have 25 runners from a city of 800,000 running Boston. The culture is quite likely stronger in the smaller city.

right, thats why both are possible factors

list grandmaster wrote:

First category is better running weather in April, which I give to Albuquerque for having significant less rain while daily highs are still averaging in the low 70s.

Wind not a factor? Gets awfully windy in ABQ in the spring. Not that I'd choose KC over ABQ, regardless. Sorry to be such a pain, what you're doing here is really interesting!

Nissan Hardbody wrote:

list grandmaster wrote:

First category is better running weather in April, which I give to Albuquerque for having significant less rain while daily highs are still averaging in the low 70s.

Wind not a factor? Gets awfully windy in ABQ in the spring. Not that I'd choose KC over ABQ, regardless. Sorry to be such a pain, what you're doing here is really interesting!

Both cities are windy in the spring per data - both average about 10-11mph winds in April. Deciding factor for me was 7 days of rain in KC, 1 in ABQ. Other weather factors I didn't find decisive enough.

Day 7.

We are in for some surprising results today and some potential controversy...

Matchup 1, #19 Denver vs. #46 Norfolk. I'm expecting a runaway win for Denver, and it looks that way with Denver taking the first two categories, Runners in Boston Marathon per capita and GDP per capita. Denver up 2-0. The third category surprised me a bit, violent crime rate. Norfolk wins this as Denver's violent crime rate is surprisingly high. Denver's lead cut to 2-1. Fourth category is warmer annual cold temperature. Norfolk takes another point, all tied up 2-2. Now the fifth category, US news healthiest communities score. US news gives scores to counties, but Virginia doesn't have counties - so US News gives a score for each Virginia city and each Colorado county. Denver wins this category, but I'm not certain how it would fall if Virginia had counties and a larger area factored into Norfolk's score. Either way, that's how the chips fall sometimes. Denver wins 3-2!

Matchup 2, #51 Eugene vs. #14 Columbus. This I'm expecting to be an easy win for Eugene unless Columbus gets lucky on the category draws. And that's what happens! Columbus wins the first 2 categories, largest marathon they hots and total # of running clubs. Both categories give advantage to the larger city, and Columbus goes up 2-0. Third category is high school running scene. I give this to Eugene, despite Columbus having superior depth. I think most high schoolers would prefer to be running in Eugene and appearing in Nick Symmonds youtube videos. Columbus 2-1. Despite me handing Eugene a category win, Columbus finishes Eugene off as the 4th category is ANOTHER that favors the larger city, most races within 25mi. Columbus takes down Eugene 3-1

Final matchup of the day is #11 Austin and #54 Santa Monica. Santa Monica takes the first category, better April running weather. Austin takes the second category, high school distance running scene. Santa Monica takes the 3rd category, higher gdp/capita while Austin matches again with the 4th category, lower cost of living. All tied up 2-2. Final category, park area/total area. This one is tough and clearly in Santa Monica's favor if you include the ocean/beach. Those aren't necessary helpful to runners nor are Santa Monica's other parks, but I'm sticking to the outline of the category and handing the win to Santa Monica. Santa Monica wins 3-2.

Denver will be matched up against Columbus in round 2 while Santa Monica will face the winner of tomorrow's first matchup, #43 Irvine vs. #22 El Paso. Tomorrow we will also see #27 Las Vegas vs. #38 Raleigh and #59 Greenville vs. #6 Philadelphia.

Cheers!

Can you post this in bracket form?

Should I use this thread to plan my first post-covid vacation?

Film Rep wrote:

Can you post this in bracket form?

New York 3, Blowing Rock 2

Sacramento 3, Mesa 0

Indianapolis 3, Salt Lake City 2

San Francisco 3, Providence 1

Dallas 3, Duluth 1

Honolulu 3, Detroit 2

Minneapolis 3, Oklahoma City 1

San Diego 3, St. George 0

Phoenix 3, Burlington 0

Omaha 3, Memphis 1

Boston 3, Toledo 0

Boulder 3, Jacksonville 0

Richmond 3, Forth Worth 2

DC 3, Madison 2

Colorado Springs 3, Milwaukee 0

Houston 3, Long Branch 0

Mammoth Lakes 3, Chicago 2

Albuquerque 3, Kansas City 1

Denver 3, Norfolk 2

Columbus 3, Eugene 1

Santa Monica 3, Austin 1

Irvine vs. El Paso

Las Vegas vs. Raleigh

Greenville vs. Philadelphia

San Antonio vs. Flagstaff

Miami vs. Portland (OR)

Nashville vs. Orlando

Redwood City vs. San Jose

Charlotte vs. Des Moines

Boise vs. Seattle

Tucson vs. Atlanta

Big Bear vs. Los Angeles

If it helps to clarify today's first matchup, City of Denver == Denver County, and of course Denver metro includes several other counties.

Does this work?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11p_h6WP44Am_cxzBJJhKcXaU6MOhP5bLyB_z6u-ZhzA/edit?usp=sharing

list grandmaster - I wasn't sure about some of the future seeding so I took my best guess. Let me know if I need to make any adjustments, or I'll just update as you post.

Reno Nevada!!!

(1) Reasonably high altitude. 4500 feet in the city, 5000 feet up in Golden Valley where I live. If you want to go higher, you can head up to Lake Tahoe or out to the middle of Nevada (Austin / Eureka) where it's above 6000 feet.

(2) Great weather year-round. Even in the hottest part of the summer, you have about 2 hours of cool weather in the early morning and in the evening before dark. The lack of humidity makes it pleasant during the summer. We have some snow during the winter, but it melts quickly.

(3) All-weather tracks at most every high school. No one really cares if you jump the fence to use the tracks.

(4) Trails galore if you get out of the city. Here in Golden Valley, about 6 miles north of Reno, there are tons of hilly dirt roads where I do most of my running and mountain biking. I see wild horses and antelope along the way.

(5) Excellent shopping and restaurants. The mid-town area is quickly becoming kind of a "hipster" community. Just about whatever cuisine you want is available, Thai, Indian, Chinese, Ethiopian, Soul Food, Mexican, Salvadorean, etc.

All-weather tracks at high schools is such a '90s point of civic pride. So no racing scene to speak of, eh? Looks like a 2nd-rate Albuquerque.

BTW, hipsters suck.

bracket guy wrote:

Does this work?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11p_h6WP44Am_cxzBJJhKcXaU6MOhP5bLyB_z6u-ZhzA/edit?usp=sharing

list grandmaster - I wasn't sure about some of the future seeding so I took my best guess. Let me know if I need to make any adjustments, or I'll just update as you post.

The seeding is based on the population of the city proper, with the exception of Des Moines which was a late add due to a Covid drop-out.

This is a fair argument. Reno will replace Redwood City as the 55 seed and face San Jose in the first round. Redwood City entered covid protocol and out of the tournament.

bracket guy wrote:

Does this work?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11p_h6WP44Am_cxzBJJhKcXaU6MOhP5bLyB_z6u-ZhzA/edit?usp=sharing

list grandmaster - I wasn't sure about some of the future seeding so I took my best guess. Let me know if I need to make any adjustments, or I'll just update as you post.

Yes you got it right, just need to replace Redwood City with Reno.