CHARLOTTE -- Alana Hadley has been hitting the running trail for almost 14 years, competing in marathons and participating in UNC Charlotte's running club. She averages about 110 miles a week.
"I have seen how running, especially in Charlotte, has grown and it makes me really excited because I feel like this is a great place to train. It's got temperatures you can train all year round in and it never gets too hot in the summer or cold in the winter,” said Hadley.
Hadley says some of that growth also stems from businesses getting involved.
"I grew up knowing that there were those races every weekend. There's always a race to go to in Charlotte and I like that the breweries are starting to get running clubs together, just so those people who can't run in the morning with groups can run after work,” said Hadley.
North Carolina has certainly been lacing up it's running shoes with two major cities in the state making this year's “Runner's World” list. Out of 250 cities, Raleigh came in 19th, while Charlotte came in 30th.
"It's a great sign for North Carolina to have two cities in the top 30 for top running cities nationwide. Over the last few years, we've seen just an explosion with fitness centers and running and it's all resulted in people having better health. Our hopes that we would see people's BMI, their body mass index go down, so that they would weigh less overall in relationship to their height, and we would see their blood pressure go down, blood sugar go down, all the things that are markers long-term for cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Eric Warren of Novant Health.
Hadley hopes both cities top the list again in 2017. "Hopefully it's higher, but I know it will definitely continue to make the list since running is definitely growing."
In hopes that next year, the Tar Heel state will cross the finish line with a top ten finish.