Rarified air: college runners flock to Flagstaff during pandemic

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By Shane Fricke
Special to Cronkite News

FLAGSTAFF – One of the attractions of running is that it is sport that can be done anywhere, at any time and by almost any person.

But if all of that is true, why are collegiate runners from across the country traveling to this northern Arizona city to train?

It turns out Flagstaff, a city of about 65,000 people situated at 6,900-feet above sea level, offers runners the perfect combination of rarified air, forgiving trails and housing that fits a college student’s budget.

“We chose Flagstaff because it’s a great running town at high elevation with lots of remote trails and has a relatively low cost of living,” said Liam Anderson, a sophomore on Stanford’s cross country team.

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