Best Running Towns/Cities in USA

Not saying it is the best but D.C.and the surrounding VA and MD 'burbs are a great place to run if you are locally competitive. Maybe not so much for faster guys.

Charlottesville VA

Manitou Springs CO

Boulder CO

Bend OR

Mammoth Lakes CA

Flagstaff AZ

Buffalo, NY.

Oxford grad wrote:

Buffalo, NY.

+10

Not NYC for training purposes. Not Boston. Not Fairfield County.

DCist wrote:

Not saying it is the best but D.C.and the surrounding VA and MD 'burbs are a great place to run if you are locally competitive. Maybe not so much for faster guys.

Probably one of the best urban running cities for trails right in the city.

If you have $ and a job, Boulder. If you're coming to Colorado just to train and want to live as cheaply as possible and don't mind being around morons, try North Longmont (Trump territory) or Colorado Springs. Both have +/-, but living in a closet in Boulder for a high rent makes little sense if you're just coming here to train

Flag over Boulder for numerous reasons.

Costs

Variety of terrain

Significantly less traffic

Proximity to great low altitude training when desired

Funny, no mention of Eugene, so called Track Town USA.

Hartford, CT. There's parks for loops, a river trail, a great marathon, plenty of trails just outside the city.

i think the ideal running city depends on the type of runner. If you are a pro or sub elite focused entirely on running, the answer is probably flagstaff or boulder or Santa Fe or Albuquerque. For me, the problem with these places is there aren't as many job opportunities and you also have to travel far for most fast races at sea level. That would be a pain and I don't imagine flying out to Stanford on a Thursday night for a 5k unless you're a pro or in college.

I think if you work full time and are trying to run fast times, but fit it in around the rest of your life, the best place is the Boston area. Mini meets plus several high quality indoor meets at BU in the winter, then you have the twilight meets in the spring plus that one Hoka meet if you're really fast. Aside from the hoka meet, Most of these meets are on a Saturday and are easy to get into. No flight or time off from work required to do these great races. I'm missing a bunch of good road races and xc races here.

The convenience of racing and the many running groups make Boston area my pick. You don't really need to live within in Boston's city limits, just close enough so it's not a pain to do the races. The winter weather isn't ideal, but the summer is tolerable and there are indoor tracks to train on.

Plus, they make really good beer on New England!

great

Asheville, NC

Fredericksburg, Md

Flagstaff, AZ

Traverse City, Mi (summer)

OK

Pittsburgh, Pa

Baltimore, Md

Madison, Wi

NYC

Terrible

Honilulu, HI

San Juan, PR

Miami, Fla

Dallas, Tx