Why have elites seemingly abandoned Mammoth Lakes, CA as a hotbed for training?

Runners flock to Flagstaff and Boulder in hopes that other groups pick them when their current contracts are done or get new contracts. It worked for someone like the Athlete Special. He was in Boulder when Brooks came calling.

Networking within the sport is easier when you're at the hotspots. Mammoth Lakes was only popular because Southern Cali guys used it and they were successful (Ryan Hall, Meb). Once they departed the scene it left a void.

Flagstaff and Boulder remain THE spots for training although I feel they're overrated. Laramie is the totally unnoticed, underrated spot for summer training. Caveat is you don't get the networking being in Boulder but I guess its close enough that you could take day trips.

geezer runner wrote:

barely a high school town wrote:

Park City is definitely not a college town.

Park City is close to Salt Lake City, which is a college town.

Basically anywhere that's near a good airport (big concern for most pros) is likely to have a college.

But also as an aside, most definitions of millennial start at 1981 and end with 1995. At a stretch 1997. So Sara Hall (1983) is a millennial. I.e. just about any pro 25/26 and younger today aren't even millennial but Gen Z.

I hope people stop coming to Boulder. The awesome version of Boulder in people's heads (i.e. purple mountains, love and dope) because it isnt.

It is hard to move in Boulder in the literal sense. The people here suffer from generations of neglect and have no etiquette. They are clumsy, dragging their feet, wearing flip flops in the office, chewing with their mouths open, bumping into you, loud, standing in the doorways (i.e. talking to others, looking on their phones) and are crazy, inconsiderate drivers.

mammoth is insanely expensive, i know i know so is park city. BUT mammoth had more severe covid lock downs, so you were paying so much $ out the wahoo to sit at home all day.

geezer runner wrote:

barely a high school town wrote:

Park City is definitely not a college town.

Park City is close to Salt Lake City, which is a college town.

SLC is NOT a college town, it has over a million people, and 2 million people just outside it LMAO. Try a city closer to 100k population that has a large university like Davis, CA and a few of the other UC schools. Those are real college towns.

Mammoth sounds like it would be a hassle to get to an airport relative to Boulder or Flagstaff or Park City. I would imagine this is a big consideration for pros--not just for race travel but also for media and other parts of their job.

Chief Niwot Knows wrote:

I hope people stop coming to Boulder. The awesome version of Boulder in people's heads (i.e. purple mountains, love and dope) because it isnt.

It is hard to move in Boulder in the literal sense. The people here suffer from generations of neglect and have no etiquette. They are clumsy, dragging their feet, wearing flip flops in the office, chewing with their mouths open, bumping into you, loud, standing in the doorways (i.e. talking to others, looking on their phones) and are crazy, inconsiderate drivers.

Boulder is pretty overrated. Altitude isn't high enough if you want those benefits. Too expensive. Incredibly pretentious. It's got nice trails, but so do hundreds of other towns in Colorado. And the culture is insufferable.

geezer runner wrote:

barely a high school town wrote:

Park City is definitely not a college town.

Park City is close to Salt Lake City, which is a college town.

Slc is 40 minutes away from PC, dude. That’s if traffic is good, and there’s no snow on Parley’s. At that, slc may have a university in it; but it’s definitely not a “college town”.

Salt Lake City does not have anywhere near a million people, or 2 million people just outside.

" With an estimated population of 199,723 in 2020, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,257,936"

geezer runner wrote:

barely a high school town wrote:

Park City is definitely not a college town.

Park City is close to Salt Lake City, which is a college town.

Having lived in SLC I agree with those who say it's not really a college town. But why does that matter? Is a late 20s pro going spend time going to student hangouts?

The difference with Boulder and Flagstaff is that they are cities in their own right - although not really big ones. But there are still a lot more housing options and everything you need can be found right in the town. Sure it's possible to get from Park City to SLC in under an hour and then what? There is not one single neighborhood there where everyone goes and driving back and forth is still a pain.

That said, Mammoth is lot more isolated than PC. The nearest city is Reno, over 3 hours a away.

zxcvzxvc wrote:

Salt Lake City does not have anywhere near a million people, or 2 million people just outside.

" With an estimated population of 199,723 in 2020, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,257,936"

If you round up to nearest million you can get there.

Utah is great until LDS knocks on your door, over and over again, trying to squeeze you for contribs.

I always felt like Mammoth was great for a stint of training, but as a full time base, it was far too remote.

I’ve always wondered why Big Bear hasn’t taken off more as a hot spot. It’s got the elevation, long flat dirt roads, hills if needed. It’s a relatively short drive to the So-Cal racing scene, and is not really any more expensive than some of the more remote locations

Mammoth Lakes was never any sort of elite hotbed in the first place. They got lucky with Deena and Meb emerging from their ranks as elite marathoners. Now that their time has passed, ML's runners have receded back into being an ordinary serious training group.

Big Bear Lake is a lovely place, but it's not a practical location to train seriously as an elite runner. Their roadways are fairly cramped with small shoulders. They don't have the long flatter stretches of rural dirt roads elites like for longer runs. They have one pitifully outdated track in the entire town. And it's a big tourist town year-round, so the traffic going through there is too much to comfortably live or run there.

Great until You get the VISIT ;-) wrote:

Utah is great until LDS knocks on your door, over and over again, trying to squeeze you for contribs.

The good news is I've lived in Utah for 20 years and that's never happened.

Great until You get the VISIT ;-) wrote:

Utah is great until LDS knocks on your door, over and over again, trying to squeeze you for contribs.

Buy a No Soliciting sign and stick it on your front door. Solves that problem fairly quickly.

Great until You get the VISIT ;-) wrote:

Utah is great until LDS knocks on your door, over and over again, trying to squeeze you for contribs.

Utah is less LDS by the day, and Park City is the least LDS in the state. But big credit to the LDS for creating the best-run state in America. Overwhelmingly Republican states tend to be that way, hence why everyone is flocking to them.

Boulder has good mix of everything but it’s extremely expensive. If money isn’t factor then Boulder is good

I live in a Republican state and it sucks