Mammoth Lakes, CA: The town that builds Olympians

The Town That Builds Olympians
Thomas J. Story
Mammoth Lakes, CA: The town that builds Olympians. This tiny resort town of 8,000 in the Eastern Sierras may just have more gold-medal athletes per capita than anywhere else in the West. The combination of high and low altitude—plus big-time eye candy—is a training paradise for distance runners. Popped off the Olympian assembly line: Meb Keflezighi (marathon), Morgan Uceny  (1,500 meters), and Amy Hastings (10,000 meters), all headed to London this summer. Mammoth is also a part-time home to marathoners Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, and Mara Yamauchi, and other long-distance runners who come to whip their bodies into lean, mean running machines. Guess this means nearly every Mammoth-ite watching the opening ceremonies on Friday can say they know an Olympian.
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