We headed to operating’s American altitude capital to seek out out why Diadora selected Flagstaff for its „Excessive Mileage Summer time“ marketing campaign — and landed one among NCAA observe’s most enjoyable younger skills as its first NIL athlete.
A robust model heritage alone is not the one aspect required to maintain a operating model related in a shoe enterprise as lower and thrust as a 1500m observe race.
Italian model Diadora are hoping that by combining their historical past with what’s changing into an annual month-long activation in Flagstaff, and by signing American middle-distance athlete Simeon Birnbaum on a NIL contract, they’ll seize the creativeness of faculty athletes and past.
There are few locations on this planet the place stepping out for a straightforward morning run means you can end up sharing the path with Olympic champions, world file holders and future NCAA stars. Flagstaff, Arizona, is one among them.
Sitting at nearly 7000 toes above sea stage, this quiet mountain city has quietly earned a fame as one of many best distance operating locations on the planet. Flagstaff has grow to be the North American equal of Iten in Kenya and St. Moritz in Switzerland, a spot the place the world’s finest come to organize for his or her greatest races.
Flagstaff’s rise as an altitude coaching vacation spot may be traced again to the build-up for the 1968 Olympic Video games in Mexico Metropolis. Its elevation intently matched Mexico Metropolis’s, whereas its dry local weather, in depth community of forest roads and dependable sunshine made it ultimate for high-mileage coaching. What started as a brief resolution quickly grew to become a practice. Athletes returned 12 months after 12 months, and so they found there was much more to Flagstaff than merely altitude.
At round 2,100 metres above sea stage, the air comprises considerably much less oxygen. Initially, each run feels more durable. Even skilled runners shortly uncover that their regular coaching tempo calls for significantly extra effort. Nevertheless, over time, the physique begins to adapt, producing extra purple blood cells and growing its capability to move oxygen by means of the physique. Returning to decrease elevations, athletes expertise improved endurance and cardio efficiency.
Sports activities scientists usually agree on the two,000–2,500 metre vary because the „candy spot“ for altitude coaching, making Flagstaff nearly completely positioned. With decrease elevations round Sedona and the Verde Valley being solely a brief drive away, athletes may also use the favored „dwell excessive, practice low“ strategy, residing at altitude whereas finishing more durable periods the place oxygen ranges are increased.
Whereas different areas sit at an analogous elevation, Flagstaff provides different parts good for runners. The local weather is constant, with heat sunny days, cool mornings and comparatively low humidity all through a lot of the 12 months. Summers stay snug in contrast with many components of the US, permitting high-quality coaching when a lot of the nation is battling excessive warmth. The terrain is equally various. Inside minutes, runners can select from tender cinder trails by means of towering ponderosa pine forests, quick dust roads, technical mountain singletrack, rolling gravel paths and world-class athletics amenities.
Buffalo Park has grow to be one of the recognisable coaching venues in American distance operating, whereas Lake Mary Street has hosted numerous marathon exercises. Close by trails climb in the direction of Mount Elden and Humphreys Peak, providing infinite selection for each street runners and path specialists.
Flagstaff can also be the house of Northern Arizona College (NAU). The success of NAU has created a unprecedented operating tradition all through the city. School athletes often practice alongside professionals, whereas visiting internationals typically share native trails with leisure runners merely having fun with a night jog.
The record of athletes who’ve educated in Flagstaff reads like a who’s who of worldwide distance operating, with it being a daily retreat for Mo Farah when competing and lately Jake Wightman. In actual fact, after I requested Birnbaum which athletes first impressed him as a runner, it was Farah’s 2012 efforts that he quoted.
Flagstaff has developed a welcoming and collaborative tradition. Guests typically remark that it is one of many few locations the place an newbie runner can be a part of an area path run and find yourself chatting with an Olympian afterwards.
Flagstaff has earned a fame as a operating mecca not by means of advertising and marketing, however as a result of generations of the world’s most interesting runners have persistently chosen the city to organize for his or her best performances amongst its forests, mountains and excessive desert
Flagstaff’s operating tradition evokes Diadora
Maybe the strongest indication of Flagstaff’s international affect is that operating model Diadora has chosen it as a location to host a month-long activation, permitting runners to immerse themselves within the tradition.
Its „Normalise Excessive Mileage“ marketing campaign is centred in Flagstaff. Quite than specializing in elite performances or race-day success, it celebrates the months of constant coaching that type the muse of each nice runner.
The philosophy is easy: for devoted runners, excessive mileage is not extraordinary; it is merely regular.
There might hardly be a extra becoming backdrop than Flagstaff. Each summer season, 1000’s of collegiate athletes, professionals and leisure runners descend in town to construct their cardio base forward of the autumn cross-country season and winter marathon campaigns. Right here, operating is not an occasion; it is a part of on a regular basis life.
Diadora’s “Excessive Mileage Summer time” reworked this concept right into a month-long neighborhood celebration. Working alongside the shop, Run Flagstaff, the model opened a pop-up hub in downtown Flagstaff that grew to become excess of a retail area. Morning group runs, Exercise Wednesdays, lengthy runs, and social gatherings create an area the place elite performers and on a regular basis runners combine as equals. The tradition is constructed not round exclusivity, however round a shared appreciation for the method of coaching.
That’s the essence of „Normalise Excessive Mileage“, and maybe the perfect rationalization but of why Flagstaff has grow to be one of many world’s nice operating capitals.
American middle-distance operating sensation Simeon Birnbaum joins Diadora
Regardless of learning on the College of Oregon and being positioned within the dwelling of among the world’s greatest operating manufacturers, when it got here to choosing a Title Picture and Likeness (NIL) associate, record-setting Oregon NCAA All-American Simeon Birnbaum appeared to Diadora and have become their first NIL athlete. Over just a few coaching runs with the model’s group in Flagstaff, Arizona, a partnership was born.
“After I noticed what the group was doing, I knew it was one thing I wished to be part of,“ says Birnbaum.
Talking volumes about Birnbaum’s strategy to his operating profession and his confidence in Diadora’s merchandise and athlete help, all of which will likely be important as he chases the very best ranges of the game. “The model’s targets in operating actually line up with what I need to obtain,” he says.
Birnbaum’s highschool profession included breaking 4 minutes within the mile as a junior and operating 3:37.93 within the 1500m, the second‑quickest time ever by an American highschool athlete.
As a first-year at Oregon, he received the 5000m on the Huge Ten Out of doors Championships in a meet file 13:31.87. He’s an All-American in cross nation and the Oregon file holder at 3000m indoors (7:39). With a PR of three:37 for the 1500m and seventh place at NCAA nationals in 2025, he’s emerged as one of the thrilling athletes of his technology, outlined by his immense expertise, fearless racing, and signature model.
Trying to the long run, Birnbaum is singularly centered on excelling within the furnace of competitors that’s the NCAA. “I need to win titles,” he says. “I’m centered on being the perfect for these championship races in March and June.”
I requested him which athletes he had most lately admired within the center distances and it got here as no shock that he talked about Jakob Ingebrigtsen. When probing how he would possibly really feel about probably going through Ingebrigtsen on the Diamond League circuit subsequent 12 months, he replied with the passion solely a 21-year-old might, maybe not but totally conscious of his nice potential, “Hey man, simply carry it on.”
Working in Flagstaff
Buffalo Park – The long-lasting 2-mile dust street loop.
Flagstaff City Path – A community of greater than 50 miles of shared pathways weaving across the metropolis.
Log just a few miles alongside Route 66
Whereas in Flagstaff, go to
Lowell Observatory – Stargaze in Flagstaff, the World’s First Darkish Sky Metropolis Location
Sedona – Well-known for its purple rock mountain views
Monument Valley – Observe Forrest Gump’s epic run!
Discover out extra concerning the Diadora Corsa
