During a run yesterday at lunch along the Charles River in Boston, I was realizing that I have had training runs and races in some pretty cool cities. As I usually do during a run, I was killing time doing some hard core people watching, one of my favorite past-times when killing the boredom of a mid-week tempo run. I noticed people of all shapes and sizes running, walking and biking. It got me thinking of my days running along the West Side Highway in NYC and the Potomac River in DC. It also got me thinking about cities and who can really claim that their city is the best running city. I know, there have been reports online and polls all over the place stating who is the best, who is the most active and other titles – but I thought I would do my own personal list.
Living in NYC was like a fitness freak wonderland. It always seemed you had seriously fit people all around you, either biking to work or with a yoga mat slung around their shoulders. My new city, Boston, seems to be a pretty fit city, I can only go by what I have seen in the past 7 months running around town and with the people I’ve met at work – who for the record are awesome and have been on board with the company Running Group we created.
From all of the cities I have ever lived in, trained in or completed a race in I’ve developed my personal list of iRunnerBlog’s best running cities. This is nothing more than a personal list:
- Denver/Boulder – for its altitude, beauty and overall perfectness for runners
- New York City – for its thousands of acres of parks, packed and competitive trails and the largest running organization
- Boston – for its marathon and for being #bostonstrong
- Chicago – for its amazing backdrop while running along Lake Shore Drive and its flat and fast marathon
- Washington, DC – for its Potomac and Rock Creek Park trails
Fast-Followers
- Stowe, VT
- Richmond, VA
- Dallas, TX
- Philadelphia, PA
- Miami, FL
- Bethlehem, PA
- Montauk, NY
- Overland Park, KS
I know this is by no means close to a full list, I can only go on what my experiences have been and where my travels have taken me. I am really interested to hear what others have to say.
What cities have been missed on my list? What is your top 5 list? Where do you want to go next?
– Scott