And the 2019 Fittest City in America Is… – runnersworld.com

For the second year in a row, Arlington, Virginia, has been named America’s Fittest City by the American College of Sports Medicine. According to the report, Arlington’s “balance of healthy behaviors and community infrastructure” earned it the title.

Seattle ranks second in the study, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, is third. San Francisco and Madison, Wisconsin, round out the top five.

In determining the rankings, the report looked at the 100 largest American cities and considered a variety of indicators, ranging from walkability to air quality to park accessibility to rates of heart disease and stroke.

Arlington scored in the top 10 in 22 of the study’s 33 indicators in the fitness index, and the city ranked tops in the nation for exercise, with 92.6 percent of residents saying they exercised in the month the survey was conducted.

About one-third of Arlington residents (32.9 percent) said they met national guidelines for aerobic and strength activities. Madison topped the list of people meeting those guidelines, with 65 percent.

For runners in Arlington, the national survey confirms what they’ve long known. Runners have access to a variety of popular trails, like the Bluemont Junction, the Custis, and the Washington & Old Dominion, to name three.

The area is “very accessible by foot,” said Phillip Le, manager of the Arlington branch of the Potomac River Running store. “I don’t have a car, and it’s easy to get around. The running community around here is very supportive. There’s a variety of clubs, and if I go for a run in the afternoon, I always see someone I know.”

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Arlington is also home to the popular Marine Corps Marathon, which starts and ends at the Pentagon every October and has about 27,000 finishers. This year will be the 44th running.

Ultramarathoner Michael Wardian calls Arlington home and commutes to his job in Washington, D.C. by running.

The city ranks seventh on ACSM’s bike score. Minneapolis finished first in that category.

The news isn’t as healthy for other metropolitan areas in the U.S. For example, St. Louis, Missouri, ranks as the country’s deadliest for pedestrians, with 5.8 fatalities per 100,000 residents.

The Top 10 Fittest Cities

• Arlington, Virginia
• Seattle, Washington
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• San Francisco, California
• Madison, Wisconsin
• Washington, D.C.
• St. Paul, Minnesota
• Irvine, California
• Denver, Colorado
• Portland, Oregon

The 10 Least Fit Cities

• Corpus Christi, Texas
• Arlington, Texas
• Detroit, Michigan
• Bakersfield, California
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Toledo, Ohio
• Tulsa, Oklahoma
• North Las Vegas, Nevada
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma