moving to albuquerque and wondering what the running is like? is the city a fun place to live?
moving to albuquerque and wondering what the running is like? is the city a fun place to live?
Well, it's good enough for Paula Radcliffe. I heard it has great running trails and a ton of other elite athletes training there too.
Don't know much about the local running groups or the actual city though, but would be interested to find out.
Albuquerque is a great place to live and train. It is not that expensive compared to Boulder and other training destinations. You can do all the big city things even though it is not a big city. Traffic is not bad. The weather is pretty good year round. This past winter some elites temporarily moved from Boulder to get out of the nasty weather. People are nice. You should live in the N.E. area. You can walk out your door and be right on the trails which are at 6000 ft. Everyone trains at the Albuquerque Academy track which also has a great XC course. The best massage therapist in town is Josie Edwards...Paula and all the pros go to her, best running shop is Albuquerque Running Shop(they can tell you places to train). Lots of pros come in to town to train from time to time. Overall albuquerque is a great plan to train, it is just not as "cool" right now as boulder or eugene. Not too many big running groups but there are a few groups, it just depends how fast you are...you will have someone to run with. hope this info helps.
The foothills trails are great, however they are on the edge of town under the Sandias-depending on where you are it could be a 10-20 minute drive. You can't just walk out your door and reach them unless you happen to live in the upscale neighborhoods near them. I thought traffic was pretty bad, not NYC bad, but bad.
That being said there is great running in the area, just not in downtown ABQ, which is a concrete jungle. Check out the other side of the mountains and the Cedro Peak area. Even when daytime highs >100 F, the mornings are cool (50 or 60 F) and crisp.
ghost of mansfield hollow wrote:
The foothills trails are great, however they are on the edge of town under the Sandias-depending on where you are it could be a 10-20 minute drive. You can't just walk out your door and reach them unless you happen to live in the upscale neighborhoods near them. I thought traffic was pretty bad, not NYC bad, but bad.
That being said there is great running in the area, just not in downtown ABQ, which is a concrete jungle. Check out the other side of the mountains and the Cedro Peak area. Even when daytime highs >100 F, the mornings are cool (50 or 60 F) and crisp.
You've gotta be kidding. Bad traffic? Maybe compared to Las Cruces. If you've lived in any large metropolitan area, then the traffic in abq is a joke. As for the NE area- well, there are plenty of apartments available for relatively low rent. At the complex I live in, you can get a 1 bedroom for $500, or a large 2 bedroom for $650. My apt. is all of 8 mins jogging from limitless soft surface trail running in the foothills. And I'm sure you can get cheaper apts within a 10 min run of Tramway (the 10 mile bike path that borders the foothills). If you live farther west in the city, then you'll be closer to the Rio Grande, where there is plenty of running (it's just a bit more tedious than the foothills and mountains, which are absolutely amazing). And the year round weather is tough to beat. Hot in the summer, but not humid. Cold in the winter, but sunny and not much snow (this winter was an anomaly). Plenty of low key road races, and a couple of large running groups. Check out the Albuquerque Road Runners website. Have fun.