If Flagstaff is oversaturated, could Laramie (alt. ~7200 feet) be an alternative for high altitude training?

Altitude is overrated wrote:

Flagstaff is expensive for a reason.

It's a great location and the town is decent.

Laramie is cheap for the same reasons.

It's in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming and the town is probably lame ( I don't think I have come through there yet.)

It's so bizarre when people make these impassioned responses, and HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN THERE. Wtf is wrong with you?

Classic letsrun wrote:

It's so bizarre when people make these impassioned responses, and HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN THERE. Wtf is wrong with you?

You don't have to have been everywhere to make good guesses.

Just look at the map or go on google street view in Laramie.

They still have dirt roads there. It's a cow town on the edge of the prairie.

There are a lot of small towns that would be great for a running team. In almost all of them, however, a pro runner with a college degree is going to feel isolated. Part of what makes Flag special is the critical mass of runners that make it feel like not such a small town. There are people like you there. You can have parties and date. Not as likely in Alamosa.

As for Laramie, the only significant downside (other than the lack of a running community, which is by definition true for any under the radar town) is that the winters are rough. It would be a great place for a summer stay at altitude though.

Laramie is a tough sell to any person in their 20s or 30s looking for a social life.

Its still surprising that young people will flock to very expensive small cities like Boulder and Flag and pay 2-3 times the rent they could pay in a town like Colorado Springs. With the westside at '6300 and the north side of town at '7000, you'd think more young athletes would be moving here over Boulder at '5300. The Bowerman crew usually comes to Colorado Springs in the winter and they do there track sessions in town and long runs above '9000 outside of Woodland Park.

higheraltitudes wrote:

Hence, Laramie is the new opportunity. This is not for people looking for a job outside of running but if you are already sponsored/funded but looking for a base with low cost of living, less hype, and nonsense.

As if Colorado Springs and its accessibility to running amenities don't exist? It's not an opportunity beyond the statistics of its elevation and COL. Everything else about it sucks. Probably one of the worst college towns I've ever been to as it relates to running amenities and livability. On a par with somewhere else mentioned earlier in this thread, Alamosa. That's basically what it is, a larger Alamosa only without the Adams State lore. It's Pueblo at a higher elevation. If you're moving from Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, or Kentucky, it might seem like heaven.

I've never been to Taos, NM. What does it have to offer? Bend, OR area has a lot of potential if you can find an affordable home nearby.

I think that is exactly the sense that COS residents want you to have in the Boulder Bubble. You've got the creek path (overcrowded) and the north Boulder dirt roads out by the Res. COS has the Sante Fe (36 miles) and over 130 miles of trail accessible from town that aren't constantly filled with people. I'm not sure which running amenities you're referring to?

Also, which college are you referring to? University of Colorado, Colorado College, or the Air Force Academy (with its beautiful 12 mile Falcon trail loop)?

RichardRider wrote:

I've never been to Taos, NM. What does it have to offer? Bend, OR area has a lot of potential if you can find an affordable home nearby.

Taos, NM is a ski resort town so probably overpriced.

Bend, OR is a hipster town. Nice but overpriced as well.

Boulder bro

Been there donethis and that wrote:

RichardRider wrote:

I've never been to Taos, NM. What does it have to offer? Bend, OR area has a lot of potential if you can find an affordable home nearby.

Taos, NM is a ski resort town so probably overpriced.

Bend, OR is a hipster town. Nice but overpriced as well.

Bend, OR... Not a Hipster town..

GWT wrote:

Been there donethis and that wrote:

Taos, NM is a ski resort town so probably overpriced.

Bend, OR is a hipster town. Nice but overpriced as well.

Bend, OR... Not a Hipster town..

Yeah, it is. Just look at the amount of coffee shops there.

I just looked up Taos.

Elevation: 6969'

Nice.

Bend is not a hipster town. It's mostly California retiree money that has fueled the growth of Bend over the past 20 years. Yes, it has coffee, beer, and some good local food but, most of Bend is strip malls filled with chain retailers and restaurants. Deschutes County votes GOP and the nearby towns like Redmond, LaPine, Sisters, and Prineville are all rural conservative enclaves dependent on low wage agricultural and tourism jobs.

Yes it's a nice area and cheaper than Bend, OR.

Cedar City Ut , home of SUU. Cam Levins and Jess Baumgartner did well there.

from the SUU coach Eric Houle in an old Runner's world article:

Oh, yeah, we’re at 5,700 feet. The beauty of this place is: the track sits at 5,700 feet, I can get them in vans and drive up the canyon 30 minutes and they can be as high as 10,000 feet, or I can go south of Cedar City and they’re at 2,000 feet. To me, it’s one of the best kept secrets in terms of the availability of different altitudes in reach. It’s pretty sweet.

And when it snows here — like we have a big snow storm hitting us right now — we can’t get that track cleared. We don’t have an indoor facility so workouts are incredibly important and if I can’t make adjustments in the power runs then we’ll gather everyone and head down to St. George (about an hour southwest near the Utah-Arizona border) and do a workout. If it’s 30 degrees here, it’s 55 degrees there.

Infinite flat dirt roads away from the mountains. Rolling hills to the east and further to the west. High mountains to the east. Can be windy and doesn't have indoor track. College town and next to Zion's National Park and Brighton Ski Resort. Close to St George, and Las Vegas.

not so bad wrote:

Altitude is overrated wrote:

Flagstaff is expensive for a reason.

It's a great location and the town is decent.

Laramie is cheap for the same reasons.

It's in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming and the town is probably lame ( I don't think I have come through there yet.)

The only good thing is that your presidential election vote has a lot more say then the same vote in California.

Laramie is actually seemed like a cool little town when I stopped by in the summer. I'm not going to speak for the winter though. It does seem rather Trumpy for a college town, and very Trumpy once you get outside of town.....but I could see spending a few months there in the summer.

By Trumpy do you mean pro-small business, individual liberty, and lowest minority unemployment of all time?

Sounds good to me.

Laramie Averages:

https://weatherspark.com/y/3574/Average-Weather-in-Laramie-Wyoming-United-States-Year-Round

Flagstaff Averages:

https://weatherspark.com/y/2636/Average-Weather-in-Flagstaff-Arizona-United-States-Year-Round

I run year round, even in the snow and dark. I have been to Laramie many times. I can't fathom living there for many reasons. If all you do is work and hangout at home with family, Laramie might be alright. Be prepared to not be able to leave town as the pass gets shut down a lot in the winter. Any benefit you might get from elevation would be negated by poor weather, ice, wind and lack of training partners. A good training group in a town with moderate weather would be more beneficial than any altitude gains you might get.

Never been to Flagstaff.

Altitude training = weakness.

Train for the heat, or get your ass beat.

#ChampionshipMentality

jamin wrote:

not so bad wrote:

Laramie is actually seemed like a cool little town when I stopped by in the summer. I'm not going to speak for the winter though. It does seem rather Trumpy for a college town, and very Trumpy once you get outside of town.....but I could see spending a few months there in the summer.

By Trumpy do you mean pro-small business, individual liberty, and lowest minority unemployment of all time?

Sounds good to me.

It doesn't sound good to you. As a matter of fact, you've already voted with your feet as to where you would prefer to work and live. It's the polar opposite of Laramie. You prefer Seattle.