El Paso TX, most underrated city in the US for runners???

People tend to make the best of where they are. Maybe Las Cruces is Boulder to you. Maybe Bakersfield is that for someone else. For me, LC is too low (and thus too hot in summer) and too isolated. If I had to choose a spot in NM, SF is where it's at. I found La Mesilla charming, certainly. Is there still an art cinema there?

tRg must live a lifestyle of being out late and drinking more than two beers. I'm with you, I'd rather do more running and outdoor activities.

The wall provides nice shade in the summer

Evan Jogger wrote:

People tend to make the best of where they are. Maybe Las Cruces is Boulder to you. Maybe Bakersfield is that for someone else. For me, LC is too low (and thus too hot in summer) and too isolated. If I had to choose a spot in NM, SF is where it's at. I found La Mesilla charming, certainly. Is there still an art cinema there?

tRg must live a lifestyle of being out late and drinking more than two beers. I'm with you, I'd rather do more running and outdoor activities.

Also true! I have been to Boulder...the higher altitude is nice as well as the scenery, but too cold for me!

It DOES get hot during the summer, over 100 degrees almost every day. That's when the 4:30 AM-5:00 AM runs start.

Mesilla is a nice little town, and yes, there is still the Fountain Theater there.

I went to NMSU in Las Cruces and ran X-Country and Track all four years. The thing about the summer in Las Cruces is that while it can be 100 in the afternoon, it is dry and pretty cool (60 - 70 degrees) from 5 AM to 8AM. There are a lot of trails along the irrigation ditches. Our team used to run in the Pecan orchards near the Rio Grande in the afternoon where it was shady and nice. And the lack of humidity makes a huge difference if you can wait until the evening to run if you miss or can't do mornings.

NM State is a good school ... and cheap. No men's Track team, only ladies. There is a new private medical school as well they built on campus. They put in a budget request to update the track but they haven't gotten it approved.

Downtown LC is getting a little better each year. It isn't there yet, but getting better. The Mexican food / Hatch chili is the best. It is hot and different than TexMex, Zona, or Cali versions so be warned.

That said the Kenyans don't seem to mind El Paso while they are at UTEP. They have a really nice track there. We would train with them a little and they would use the Franklin mountain "suburban roads" and even the golf course on the side of the hill there. Those hills were a reason they won so many national championships IMHO.

Evan Jogger wrote:

tRg must live a lifestyle of being out late and drinking more than two beers. I'm with you, I'd rather do more running and outdoor activities.

This coming from a website that promotes beer miles, 100 beers/100 miles, etc. I'm considering runners in general, not specifically ME. Okay, if you're looking for no balance in your life, then why don't more US runners move to Kenya?

LC is a cool place but definitely not for everyone. The running is great and it's a nice little place if you want to do your own thing. The food is amazing.

Oh yeah and El Paso is a dump.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Evan Jogger wrote:

tRg must live a lifestyle of being out late and drinking more than two beers. I'm with you, I'd rather do more running and outdoor activities.

This coming from a website that promotes beer miles, 100 beers/100 miles, etc. I'm considering runners in general, not specifically ME. Okay, if you're looking for no balance in your life, then why don't more US runners move to Kenya?

Are you asking me, specifically? Have we met? Do you identify me as one and the same as the website promoting those things I actually have zero interest in, even as a fan of the sport?

Beer miles and 100 beers/100 miles aren't for people with a "balanced life," those are chiefly for kids or people with peter pan syndrome who have little responsibility or accountability.

Anyway, LC, EP, Boulder, Portland, Flag, Seattle, or any other specific location isn't for "runners in general" or we'd all be there chatting each other up in that town's pubs and coffee shops and wouldn't really have use for this message board. People tend to settle where they find the best (financial, social, amenities) environmental support but you knew all that, right? That's why people aren't picking up to move at great expense to a location that doesn't offer the standard of living they expect.

I admit that I was teasing in response to you simplistically bagging on a town you clearly know just a little about.

I liked Mesilla, I dig the plaza style brought from Spain. Probably part of what appeals to me in Santa Fe and even LV, NM, plus much of Mexico, to a degree. I think I saw the original "El Mariachi" at the Fountain Theater! I drove that stretch of I-10 more than a few times, I now remember that foul spot with all the (dairy?) feedlots right along the freeway between the cities. I also raced a (very short) 8K on the NMSU campus around that time. I remember not waking up early enough a few times in the summer and would wait to get in my run just after sunset. The air was so dry and it felt like running on a skillet because the ground/pavement would radiate so much heat from below. So much dried salt on skin, hair, and clothing.

What are your favorite races in that area?

Spent a weekend in Las Cruces for the BATAAN Memorial Death March. I thought it was a pretty decent place. The weather was fine. If you want heat try Louisiana. Without humidity the heat is nothing.

I think in general people will find the opposite of their current location desirable. If you’re used to having all four seasons then you will find it interesting and maybe desirable to go live or visit a place that doesn’t.

The lack of any real trees is weird

Alan

Favorite races in the area: Las Cruces Super Sunday road race, held on Super Bowl Sunday, 5 mile and 5K distances; El Paso Half Marathon, Run Thru The Clouds 10K in Cloudcroft, NM.

What time of year is the Cloudcroft race and how is the course for the EP Half?

Evan Jogger wrote:

What time of year is the Cloudcroft race and how is the course for the EP Half?

The Cloudcroft race is held in the beginning of June. But I am not sure if they are still having that one or if it was cancelled.

The course for the EP Half is decently hilly but not too difficult.

Evan Jogger, The 8k race on campus was likely the Bastille Day race. I ran it a bunch of times. Never broke 35:00.

Beto O’Rourke is not Hispanic. What a clown this turd is.

His name is Robert O’Rourke and he’s Irish.

Slow ride wrote:

Evan Jogger, The 8k race on campus was likely the Bastille Day race. I ran it a bunch of times. Never broke 35:00.

That's it, that's totally it! In the evening, IIRC.

nmRUNNERgirl wrote:

Evan Jogger wrote:

What time of year is the Cloudcroft race and how is the course for the EP Half?

The Cloudcroft race is held in the beginning of June. But I am not sure if they are still having that one or if it was cancelled.

Did that used to be the Governor Gary Johnson 10K?

The course for the EP Half is decently hilly but not too difficult.

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2335901728

Hard to not be as the only flat stretch is along the Rio and that's either barrio or no-man's-land patrolled by the BP.