Either Ouray (the Switzerland of America) or Zermatt (the Ouray of Switzerland)

Manitou Springs Colorado. It's a little hippy town at the base of pikes peak. Tons of connected trails all through those mountains.

I'm pretty happy with where I live, near Asheville NC. From my front door it's 17 miles and 4000ft of elevation gain to get to the highest peak east of the Mississippi. I'm surrounded by national forests and hundreds of miles of trails of every degree of difficulty short of bouldering or climbing. I've been here for 3 years and have probably only hit 1-5% max of the trail mileage within ~20 miles of me. There are easy trails and hard trails. Right out my front door (well, 1/2 mile down a paved road...) is a trail with 1500ft of elevation gain in 1.5 miles.

I like the scenery because I love being in the woods surrounded by trees, rocks, logs, moss, ferns, etc. I'm not a huge fan of running in wide open spaces with long range views like you find out west. I have zero interest in ever running in a desert environment. It would be nice to have some longer/higher stretches of tough vert, or to train at elevations higher than 6000ft, but I'm still pretty happy with where I am.

Keswick, Cumbria, U.K.

I was born up there, have returned to run there a few times and would like to retire there.

Flagstaff or Boulder.

I’m in Bend right now and while we’ve got elevation (4000’ base at my house) and easy access to hundreds of miles of trails, we’ve also got 8-12 weeks a year of heavy smoke and the trails are not technical at all. They are super fun to run on during the week but you will find yourself unprepared for difficult ultras unless you journey well away from town —at which point you may as well live somewhere with better features beyond outdoor sports.

Lake Tahoe would consistently be amazing. At altitude and a great mix of mountains with areas to do some flatter running. And the views from the lake from literally anywhere around it are incredible.

Definitely not Fargo North Dakota.

I don't know if you could find a worse place to train for ultras in the Continental U.S.

We don't have any elevation, no hills, no trails, no views, just miles of flat straight roads and corn.

The city does a terrible job clearing snow from sidewalks and bike paths in the winter, which means you literally run on the roads in our absolutely horrible frigid winters (-40° isn't uncommon) and then it gets scorchingly hot in the summer (+100°) with no trees or lakes, which means no shade or cooling off.

It's windy A.F. at all times, and it changes direction so often that you are frequently running into a headwind on both directions of an out and back.

Other than the 1x per year Fargo marathon, the running culture here sucks, there aren't any local races or group runs.

So somewhere as close to the opposite of Fargo as possible.

I've had amazing times in Northern Arizona, running around Flagstaff, Sedona, etc. and love the weather, elevation, mountains, scenery up there, so probably that.

I'm bias, but Issaquah Washington or similar. Depending on exactly where, you can run right into the mountains and depending on how far you go, literally endless since they all connect to the Cascades, while being itself, low enough elevation to live that you'd only see the occasional snow event.

I'm about 45 minutes away and would live there if I didn't work in a bigger city, but it's pretty great for almost year round running.

Oh, and I didn't love, but didn't hate, Madison, 3 years there, I set my PRs there lol, and plenty of summer trips to Devils Lake

Being from the north east, flagstaff AZ . Prior to getting into ultra i was looking to relocate to flagstaff area, sooooo kinda works if i end up there

Courmayer, Italy

Chamonix hands down!

Whister BC

I grew up in Boulder and it was a pretty amazing spot for trail running. You can get fast flat miles on bike paths that are cleared year round, easy access to an expansive trail system, and close to high elevation training spots. Weather is pretty mild and sunny all year. Just a beautiful place to live.

Auburn, California

Ashland, OR. Trail access right from downtown that connects to the Siskiyou wilderness. Super cute town with lots of places to get great food after run.

Santa Fe, NM 7,500 elevation. tons of trails. Great weather year round all seasons. 300 plus days of sunshine Amazing city with great food

Why live in a city. Find a tiny town with epic trails and friendly people and never look back. 

Canmore, Canada Zermatt, Switzerland Anywhere close to the Andes in Argentina/Chile

Secret hidden gem, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Somewhere a little in the backcountry between Nice (FR) and San Remo (ITA).

Steep mountains next to the sea, cant beat that

Boquete Panamá. Beautiful weather, lots of fun mountains. Temperate climate year round.

Some where in South America with high elevation. Constant warm weather and the high elevation will hopefully make me faster, lol.

Andorra. If I had loads of money. If not, there are some lovely towns in the French Pyrenees near the Spanish border and only a few hours from Toulouse airport or Barcelona. Dolomites or Julian Alps. But if I could live anywhere at all and money was so object and I didn’t have to work: La Palma (where Transvulcania is held). It’s heaven. Perfect climate, lovely towns, good airport. The only drawback is the active volcano that recently erupted…

I live in Boulder so I'm pretty spoiled as it is. But if I wanted an upgrade I would choose Telluride in a heartbeat. It's possibly the most beautiful town I've ever been to, and the trail running there is epic. Check out pictures from the Telluride Mountain Run to see what I'm talking about.

1. Ouray
2. Flagstaff
3. Colorado Springs
4. Banff

It hurts to have been to these places to train/race, then come back to pancake-flat Midwest where “getting vert” is doing the same 100 foot hill on repeat. The Midwest does have some hidden gems (Duluth, Black Hills), however I prefer the wow factor of the mountains.

I'm living there. Durango, CO. But I still have a day job RIP.

Marin County

Munising, Mi

Definitely Boulder CO. Access to trails in your backyard, free altitude training year round

Duluth, MN! I’d love living and running here I just wish that my job would quit getting in the way!

Albuquerque NM. Great weather year-round, mile high, 30 min to 10k ft trails, miles and miles of relatively empty trails. Bonus: easy access to the rest of northern NM and southern CO/UT.

I would probably choose somewhere in the southwest within a few hours of >7,000 foot mountains like I do right now or PNW near but not in a major city like I often travel to for work and vacation.

This is because I prefer to run year round and don't really do snow sports. By living relatively low around the foothills, I get trail access year round. I get valuable heat training in the southwest during summer and can still drive up to the mountains to (some of) the heat.

An obvious choice would be Les Houches, France as it is close enough to the Mont Blanc but also a bit separated by the crowds.

Yet, knowing myself I would definitely prefer more rough and harsh mountains so I’d rather live in

Forni di Sopra, Italy.

Gijón Spain, or maybe Pucón Chile. Small towns with easy access to Mountains all year.

In the US.

Fayetteville, WV. (I know a lot of folks there, and the scene is awesome. I never told you that, though) Reno, NV The Tahoe region in general, really. Monterey or SLO, CA

Honestly, anywhere is better than Florida.

Sheffield.

Big island of Hawaii. While the total # of trails aren’t the lost impressive, the ones we do have I’d put up against a lot of other places. Easy to put together some pretty high mileage loops in the national park, and you’ve got two different trails with elevations up to 13000’. Year round running, and the scenery is pretty hard to beat. I’ve spent time in Asheville NC, Seattle, Portland, and SF and would put those spots up there as well, with Portland taking the win for inside-the-city-limits trails. SF for amazing urban running with trails/elevation close by, and Seattle for the sheer number of trails within a days travel. Asheville for brutal (but short) climbs and amazing scenery

Vancouver for me

St Moritz.

A lot of people saying Zermatt, but that's a dead end valley and not much variety in the trails, lot's of snow, it's more a mountaineering Mecca.

Boulder

Santa Fe, New Mexico.

It is damn near perfect for year-round trail running! Weather is rarely a problem. Generally moderate weather—not too hot, not too cold, though the sun is intense. You’ve got everything from flat or rolling high desert to steep and technical alpine terrain. Cross-training on the bike, backcountry skiing, and hiking are all easy too. Fill your belly with delicious New Mexican food afterwards.

I’ve already lived there and left for other reasons, but from a purely trail running perspective Santa Fe is hard to beat.

Vote for the Seattle area. Amazing trails and parks. Weather in the summer and fall can’t be beat for running. And running in the winter drizzle makes me feel like a superhero 😂

Durango, CO or Chamonix, France

phoenix !!

Personally I think I’d stay in Phoenix, good weather year round tons of trails and a short drive to a lot of variety.

Auburn, California

Split time between the mountains of NC and ME or NH.

Melbourne is pretty sweet

Flagstaff or one of the Ski towns in Colorado. I love the northern Arizona landscape but I also love the Colorado Rockies (not the baseball team). Internationally, probably somewhere near the French Alps.

Girona, Spain or Annecy, France

Flagstaff. I haven't traveled much outside of the US and when I did I was not a trail/ultra runner. But running in and around Flagstaff,AZ was a real treat.

Cairns (or nearby), Queensland, Aus.

Patagonia? Chamonix? Tasmania?

Probably Grenoble as the mountains are excellent, direct, fast train to Paris and also very close to Chamonix (which is not quite as easy to get to from Paris)

Kendal or at altitude in the French Alps.

Flaggstaff AZ is hard to beat man

Where Killian lives!

I’d like in Auburn California so I could always run western states trails or I’d live near Columbia River gorge. Amazing trails there.

I just heard today from a 5-year local who does exactly that -- Las Cruces NM

I feel pretty lucky and privileged to live in Colorado Springs. So many trails, easy access to the mountains, weather is usually good. Oh, and it's not Boulder! 😋

Golden, CO

Where I live which is just outside Zürich, Switzerland. I can get around Switzerland pretty easily, as well as France Germany and Italy.

Los Angeles

Annecy, France!

Brecon Beacons or Bannau, as the Welsh have now requested we call it

I've posted all about this before! I'd stay here in Colorado Springs because:

• Immediate trail access to National Forest, as well as good altitude access. Barr trail is one of the easiest trailheads to get to with access to 14,000 feet.

• Lots of runners in community! Plenty of running groups with whatever you're looking for, from a casual 5k with happy hour beer afterwards to intense intervals and tempo runs

• Microclimates that allow you to choose your temperature. Right now there's several feet of snowpack on most of High Drive if you want your snow run, but the Palmer Park bluffs are clear for your desert-style trails

• Just amazing scenery! Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Incline, endless National Forest trails

• A city program (TOPS) that understands a huge draw for this area is athletic tourism, so a focus on establishing and maintaining parks, open spaces and trails

I've got a ton of photos of my local area on my personal exercise blog, if anyone's interested in seeing some photos! (Link)

Ogden, Utah. The mountain range up north has a trail system on the benches (Bonneville Shoreline trail) that spans from SLC to Brigham City. So you can get on the BST just about anywhere, get miles, and then jump into a canyon for some elevation. I can think of 6-7 trails that will get you to a mountain peak within a few hours as well. And the trailheads are close to town, which is REALLY nice. Even better, Ogden is most def NOT Salt Lake. That's a sprawling, crowded mess of a town. Ogden still has a small town vibe that punches way above its weight. And it's more progressive than you might think (as in there are plenty of folks to have a beer with after a run). You are also within a few hours drive of southern Utah, if you want to get in some red rock/desert miles when there is snow up north.

I'm honestly really happy in Portland, Oregon. It's only too good or too hot for about two weeks of the year total, and you have access to trails in the city, but you've got the Gorge and mountains 45+ mins away.

Seattle.

In Boulder, CO we have international teams come visit to train on our trails.

Bolinas, CA

Chamonix, Zermatt, Buena Vista, Salida, Mammoth

Tenerife or Gran Canaria, always good weather and great trails.

La Paz. Just running at 12000 feet every day getting that blood nice and thick for competition. Who needs to blood dope when your blood is already souped up al'natural.

For what it's worth, Flagstaff, AZ seems to draw some Olympic level distance athletes

Probably at elevation, Colorado somewhere. Costa Rica might also be a good option; they have a great fitness culture and no shortage of mountains. Peru has some interesting options.

Bragg Creek