Photo by Fort Photo

Are you looking for a sweet place to log some awesome miles this summer? A change of surroundings to boost your motivation? A new frontier to take your running to new heights? Of course you are.

Maybe right now, at this very moment, you're mulling it over. You're thinking to yourself, "You know, everyone who's anyone trains in Colorado...that's where I'm headed!"

Good choice, but now we have to narrow it down, there are just way too many great places out there. You're looking for someplace steeped in running legend and lore, with miles of easily accessible trails that you are free to roam like a wild antelope without fear of hearing the usual cliche, "Run Forrest, run!" hollered at you from passing vehicles while having bottles thrown at you. A place where no one will ridicule you for your shorty-shorts and spandex and leave you scarred for life, somewhere where you can live and breathe your passion with many others of your brethren.



Alamosa fits that bill. The land of the legendary Pat Porter, Joe Vigil and collegiate running power-house Adams State, it's positively saturated in running-ness. But then, perhaps rural isolation and UFO's in the night sky really aren't your cup of tea, maybe the majestic Great Sand Dunes just don't do it for you? I feel as though here I must interject the most profound exclamation I ever heard regarding the Dunes: "Seriously, you mean they're just giant dunes of sand?"

No, Alamosa simply won't do.

So we'll head a few (or several) miles north instead and immerse ourselves in an entirely different culture altogether. No, "different" won't do it justice, it's the opposite end of the spectrum altogether. Boulder! Boulder is terriffic! What runner doesn't know Boulder? I can't even count the number of current and past running rockstars who have made Boulder their training turf. But maybe Suburus and pachouli oil aren't really up your alley either, or maybe your granola consumption is too woefully inadequate to enable you to ever fit in amongst the locals*. Ah, but in heading up north so far, you passed right through a gem...

What you need is a happy medium: somewhere spread out enough to afford you the space needed to get in your miles and keep it off of the 'crete, but not so much that you'll be a hermit for the entirety of your stay, unless that's what you're going for, in which case that would be do-able here as well. Somewhere with a bit of personality, with enough to do to decompress outside of training, but not so much to do that you lose your focus.

Have I got a swell place for you: Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs is a touch underrated side (in my opinion) when it comes to its running reputation. Hovering at around 6,500 feet of elevation, you'll get some altitude training along with your mileage. No altitude tents necessary for you to get to the next level. No sir, it's built right into the place. If you keep to the west side of the city you'll be very hard-pressed to find an area that is not within a short jogging distance from a well-maintained trail. And sometimes it can be like a little Runner Hollywood at times; it's not unusual to get the occasional Lopez Lomong, Meb, Dathan, Shalane, or Shannon Rowbury sighting (to name a few). They have all had some training stints here, and Jenny Simpson regularly canters down the local trails at high speeds. Not to mention the dozens of sub-elites, all quite friendly, who knock out their miles and sessions in the multitude of awesome locations available to runners in the area.

So now I will take you on a virtual tour of some of the best places to run. Even though there are many, I'm only going to cover a few of the big ones in an effort to keep this a reasonable length. We will start at the north end of the city and run south with a couple of small detours east or west. I will try to enthrall, enrapture, and enchant you as I paint a picture with my words.

First off though, if you want to look well-versed in your Colorado Springs runningism and disguise yourself as less of a tourist than you really are, then the first step is to learn your abbreviated terms for various important running locations. Make sure that you refer to the Garden of the Gods as simply "The Garden," Ute Valley is called "Ute," Monument Valley Park is "MVP," And Palmer Park is "Palmer." Although there are many, many more, these are some primary locations that you must know. Other various locations go by different nicknames, but you'll pick up on them eventually and there’s no need to overwhelm you with information right now. When receiving directions to said locations, just remember that the mountains are west, it keeps it simple.

Probably the most well-known and far-reaching trail in Springs is the Pikes Peak Greenway trail, although that title sometimes is used interchangeably with the Santa Fe trail, or the “New“ Santa Fe Trail (I‘ve never figured out what‘s “new“ about it, it‘s been there forever). This trail composes part of the Colorado Front Range Trail, which spans over 270 miles going north to south, and intersects many of the main trails throughout Colorado Springs. This particular section of flat trail is about 14 miles of primarily crushed gravel. However, if you start on the southern border of the Air Force Academy grounds (this is officially the Santa Fe trail), that tacks on another several more miles undulating trail.

Heading south on the Greenway, you'll pass through a plethora of parks. One that is most populated by runners is Monument Valley Park. MVP plays host to countless high school and collegiate cross country races throughout the fall season, not to mention a mass of other races put on by various organizations during the year. At about 3 p.m. everyday, there are usually no less than half a dozen local high school teams, as well as collegiate teams Air Force Academy and Colorado College, putting in their intervals on the loops of varying distances throughout the park. Not only is the park home to many squirrels made docile by too many hand-feedings of bagels and granola bars (it can actually get kind of ridiculous) it's also home to one of the local running favorites, the Nielson Challenge, an open-to-anyone free two-mile time trial that takes place the first Saturday of every month. Needless to say, Monument Valley is a central training location for most runners in the area.

If we head a bit east from where we are at now, you will hit Palmer Park. Palmer has around 25 miles of running trails weaving up and over rocky terrain. It’s a great place to hit up if you've got a recovery run to do and you're a crappy trail-runner or a shuffler of any sort, because you'll probably have to run 9 minute miles to keep from eating it. A word of caution: watch for mountain bikers, because they're not watching for you. Oh, and unless you run the same trail every day, you'll probably get lost every single time you run here. Then again, that could just be my horrendous sense of direction as opposed to the complexity of the trail system, maybe other people don't have this issue. In any case, it's awesome here, I assure you. Ute Valley sits a short way northwest of Palmer and is very similar in terms of terrain and size, although perhaps a bit less on the rocky side with perhaps a fewer number of trail options--both very good runs.

Okay, heading a south and then west. Now we're in my personal favorite, Bear Creek Park. Bear Creek is enormous and you could probably run a different trail here every day for a month if you wanted to, and the scenery would never get old. If you stay on the east side then you can run the flat areas, but if you go to the west side you can get on some gnarly hills and beautiful mountain trails. If you‘re coming from sea-level, then you should definitely head here and run Section 16 on your first day in town, you‘ll love it. Bear Creek is also home to my very favorite long-run spot, Goldcamp Road. Goldcamp is so wonderful that it deserves its very own blurb...

If you're looking for a great long run, Goldcamp is your place. While you can access dozens of other trails from this road, if you start at Captain Jack's trailhead a short ways up past where the road becomes dirt and start heading upwards, you're in for some spectacular mountain views and quite a climb. And on your way back down, the effort is a bit easier and you can enjoy the scenery, which is nothing short of amazing. As you proceed on your run, you will pass through several tunnels carved into the mountainside. I should add that said tunnels are haunted, particularly Tunnel #3, but you can't access that one so you'll be okay. I've heard they're haunted by the folks who built the tunnels and died in the collapse of one of them, then something else about a school bus and small children, I’m really not sure which is the actual story. But the important thing is that they're haunted. I've never actually borne witness to any of these supposed specters, but they're there, so bring your ghost busting gear. If you're really concerned you can get some more info here: http://www.examiner.com/haunted-places-in-colorado-springs/infamous-ghosts-of-gold-camp-road. If you're not really concerned then you should do the run anyway, you won't regret it. But I can hardly capture Goldcamp in mere words, so go check it out.

Photo by bridgepix

A little ways northwest of Bear Creek Park lies Garden of the Gods. You could hit the trails and run to the Garden from Bear Creek or Monument Valley--it's all connected--but it's a ways depending on where you come from. Either way, after living here for a while I guess it gets easy to take this astonishing place for granted, but its enormous red sandstone rock formations are nothing short of breathtaking and the miles of trails are just as good. It's also home to the famous--or infamous depending on who you ask--Garden of the Gods 10 Mile in June. From here you can also access Rampart Range Road, which would take you up to Rampart Range Reservoir, which is another absolutely awesome place for a long run, but since it's technically outside of Colorado Springs then I won't talk about it.

Before I wrap this up, I feel like I should give you some pointers so that you can fit in with the local runners and make some friends relatively quickly. So in order to immerse yourself fully and blend into the Colorado Springs running culture, there are some things to look into that might help you out. One is the Jack Quinn's Running Club, this is a good starting point to meet people to A) run with or B) meet people who know people you can run with. Jack Quinn's takes place every Tuesday evening downtown at Jack Quinn's Irish Pub and is composed of a 5k "walk/crawl/stagger/run" followed by some family-friendly beer-swilling. Runners do love their beer. Things don't ever get out of hand, just a bunch of merriment really. And no, the run is not a mandatory pre-requisite for beer-swilling. If you complete 10 runs, you get a highly-coveted Jack Quinn's running shirt, and I swear those will be worth millions one day. Jack Quinn's is frequented by not just a large population of recreational runners but also some of the more competitive types, so there's a good mix. Either way it's a good way to meet some folks already familiar with the Springs' running scene. Another good way is to take a visit to one of the three awesome running stores in the area, the Boulder Running Company, Runners Roost or the Colorado Running Company, all places that can provide a great deal of information.

As an aside, if you are attending running social events like the one mentioned above, then I feel that I should warn you that you should prepare yourself for the question: "Have you done the Incline?" Don't worry about what "The Incline" is, just concern yourself with the fact that you will likely be asked this countless times by many people if you look like an athlete. If you say no, you will receive bewildered glances from those around you and then will possibly be ostracized by everyone who has accomplished this feat, they're a breed of their own. So the safest answer is generally yes. However, you will then be asked how fast you "did the Incline." Make something up, something under a half hour if you want to earn extra props and be somewhat popular amongst your new friends. Then however, you will be invited by numerous people to "do the Incline" with them, just go so that they'll stop asking you.

Well folks, this is all I’ve got for now, perhaps I’ll think about doing a Part II. This is a short summary, but I've had about all the tour-guide-ness that I can handle for a day so I’m going to finish this up here. But let me tell you, if you’re looking for a magical wonderland of running adventures this summer, this is the place for YOU. Happy trails.

*In knocking these two places, I'm jesting of course. I am actually extremely partial to both of these locations and they deserve props too, but in an attempt to be somewhat persuasive for the sake of this article it is necessary that I appear biased, so apologies to you Alamosans and Boulderites--you're good sports. Disclaimer foreclosed.