Agree or disagree: Podium Runner names Stillwater, Minnesota and Boise, Idaho as 2 of the 5 best running towns in America

As a Minnesotan I can say that Stillwater is very nice but I wouldn't trade a large handful of places in the west for it.

Absolutely missing from the list is the SLC/Park City area. Trails are unparalelled and right next to the city, lots of flat paths also available should you need them. Can live up high in Park City and drop down to the Valley for some more speed work. Seriously its running mecca.

i've lived within 30 miles of stillwater almost my entire life. i will give you that people love it, but the town itself is nothing special in terms of running. the high school has certainly churned out a disproportionate number of fast people (not sure if that fact was taken into consideration), but for your average hobby jogger it offers the same selection of bike trails and subdivision type neighborhoods you would get anywhere else. they do have the st. croix river, which is lovely, but until a year ago there was hardly a running trail along it. the one they have now is always crowded with families and LOTS of bikes - it's great for a nice walk but running would just be a dodge-and-weave fest. all asphalt too.

if we include what you might term the "greater stillwater area" then you get two very nice state parks in William O Brien and Afton, but at that point you might as well be talking about the twin cities metro area rather than specifying stillwater. afton is about a 40 minute drive from Minneapolis and 20 minutes from downtown stillwater.

I would take DC over some of these places - Stillwater and Boise?? Really?

Would also put Bar Harbor on the list since you have access to Acadia which is some of the best running in the US.

+1

William O’Brien gets small awfully quickly. A nice trail you may have tried goes from Wild River to Sunrise, but to get any distance you need to go out-and-back.

And the town of Stillwater is just plain nothing special, not just in terms of running. 20 years ago it was still run-down-quaint—now it’s just suburban crud with a lot of faux historicism. Lame.

It’s great if you’re somewhat infirm of mind and body and like to walk, with decent staircases mixed in—bit for running? Not at all.

As a Minnesotan I LOL'd at this.

Mpls way better with asphalt bike paths, river road, great snow clearance, and a lot of dirt out west

Does Scott Christiansen still sport a mullet and Oakley M-frames?

Eh, it can have the best running in the world but if the weather is miserable for half the year its useless

I live just outside Stillwater and it's awesome for running. William O'Brien is a popular spot for Stillwater high school runners as well as Forest Lake high school runners. The actual city of Stillwater is a little crowded for running but if it includes outside towns then I would agree.

shootpost wrote:

Eh, it can have the best running in the world but if the weather is miserable for half the year its useless

+1 lol this is every Minnesotans struggle

DC runner 2 wrote:

I would take DC over some of these places - Stillwater and Boise?? Really?

.

Lived in DC for 10 years and can’t think of a single place that was awesome to run. What did I miss?

I'd say this is pretty accurate. Boone is a great running town, so are the others..... but really- who wants to deal with the terrible winters of idaho and minnesota? even boone gets a fair amount of snow and cold...DC metro area should be on here! besides cost of living the town has a great running community, loads of trails, mostly good weather, and access to great races!

I ran at Oklahoma State 1970-73 and the farm roads around town were great. Some good rolling hills. I live in the Boise area and believe that of all the places I have lived or traveled to it is tops for a distance runner. I don’t want more people here for any reason, running or otherwise.

Bar Harbor has great running areas with Acadia right there, but it's a huge leap from that to actually having a good running community. Thousands of places have good trails and runner-friendly areas, but does Bar Harbor have a single running store? Any running groups? One half marathon/marathon I think but that's not much. College of the Atlantic doesn't even have any xc/track teams. To be a good running town there has to be a community and young people and resources and races, not just nice picturesque paths and soft surfaces.

I cannot speak to any of the places on the list (have always wanted to go to Idaho), but reading the reasons for why they are the best running towns tells me that it's very road/trail-centric except for Eugene. Funny that it makes it seem like anyone could just walk into Hayward Field there and start running laps like it's a public access track. I guess this approach makes sense because I get the vibe that the majority type of people who read Outside and podium runner are road/trail type rather than track. But as a track guy I'd appreciate perhaps separate lists for track vs road opportunities.

Incredibly biased take here as a townie but I'd make the case for Boston as a top running destination for BOTH road and track:

-Boston Marathon and several other BAA races/events

-tons of running stores and clubs + 3-4 shoe companies headquartered in Boston area

-indoor and outdoor tracks everywhere, including two that host world-class meets

-urban xc course that has hosted top athletes as well

-terrific health care resources for runners

-schools with teams everywhere

free shipping with purchases wrote:

Mpls way better with asphalt bike paths, river road, great snow clearance, and a lot of dirt out west

Agreed. I used to live in the cities, and although I think Stillwater is adorable, I would never consider it a running city over Minneapolis proper. Mpls has endless greenways for both bikers and runners, paths around lakes, river parkway along the Mississippi, Theo trails right in the city, and yes, lots more dirt path/crushed gravel as you head west. And the snow clearance in the winter is indeed impressive. No weather stopped Minnesotans from winter running!

OutlawG wrote:

I'd say this is pretty accurate. Boone is a great running town, so are the others..... but really- who wants to deal with the terrible winters of idaho and minnesota? even boone gets a fair amount of snow and cold...DC metro area should be on here! besides cost of living the town has a great running community, loads of trails, mostly good weather, and access to great races!

I generally agree with this way of thinking. Every time I read a list like this, it looks like a list of places that I would love to visit in-season for a couple weeks of running. If you really want to move to a place to run year round, the real answer is probably something more boring like San Diego or Jacksonville.

Several high school all weather tracks in Boise open. One junior high track rivals many universities.

dil wrote:

DC runner 2 wrote:

I would take DC over some of these places - Stillwater and Boise?? Really?

.

Lived in DC for 10 years and can’t think of a single place that was awesome to run. What did I miss?

The canal?

I would probably pick charlottesville over DC tho.

Raysism wrote:

OutlawG wrote:

I'd say this is pretty accurate. Boone is a great running town, so are the others..... but really- who wants to deal with the terrible winters of idaho and minnesota? even boone gets a fair amount of snow and cold...DC metro area should be on here! besides cost of living the town has a great running community, loads of trails, mostly good weather, and access to great races!

I generally agree with this way of thinking. Every time I read a list like this, it looks like a list of places that I would love to visit in-season for a couple weeks of running. If you really want to move to a place to run year round, the real answer is probably something more boring like San Diego or Jacksonville.

I was actually thinking the panhandle of Florida between maybe Tallaclassy and Pensacola. Great beaches. But if you go a little inland, you can get some great hills. Weather is pretty mild once you go maybe 20-30 miles off the coast too. Lots of dirt roads and hills. I feel like you can get a little of everything. It gets cold in the winter, but snow generally doesn’t accumulate if it forms.

Jax is pretty boring and flat though they have a great race scene. Plus Bart Max lives there and he makes fun of runners in his area.