How does wet grass affect time on a grassy course?

it makes the times slower.

good to know. i ran a 5 miler at 8 minute mile pace last saturday, and 8:19 today. im confident now that the rain was a factor and i could have run faster. these are training runs.

Lower coefficiant of friction.

Again, times are pointless in xc. I've seen 24:00 xc guys run 28:00 on sloppy courses. On a bone dry course with short grass or sparse grass the dirty becomes almost like a track surface. With taller grass and/or wet grass your foot will sink a bit and you'll lose friction.

Basically the ground conditions dictate how fast you are able to run. Your muscles produce force, this force is sent downward and then the ground returns force. If the return force is lessened in any way then your speed will be lower. "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". A downward and backward force (your legs hitting the ground) is returned as an upwad and forward force (your running stride). The point of contact, the ground, can change the return force dramatically.

If you were to improve 19/second a mile on a bad course you would likely win the damn race. Basically go for placing among your team/race. Improve your position and the time will be whatever.

Alan

negatively

I ran well on wet grass - the muddier the better.

He's a mudder. His mother was mudder.

Wet grass on a grassy course affects time more than wet grass on a non-grassy course.

It really comes down to the composition of the topsoil and the angle of the sun's reflection.

It is not the fastest person who wins the race, it is the one who finishes first.

It makes a huge difference. In the UK we don't even measure courses, as courses/weather varies so much that absolute times would be meaningless. All that matters to us is the relative times between athletes. Most XC championships/leagues in the UK just give a range to local race organisers (as in the race must be more than 5 miles but no more than 7 etc).

I guess over set differences make more sense when you have golf course style races though.

That really is interesting. There are more factors than just the grass being wet. You get more tired running with more effort on a slippery surface.

Yesterday we ran our league meet on a grass course, 2x1.5+ mile loops. The JV boys and girls ran while it was raining, but the course was still in good shape. Then the varsity ran. By then, 250 people had run over the course 4 times (2 loops each JV race). The course was 2-3 inches of mud with a bridge that they crossed 4 times slippery like ice from the mud on it.

Times were more than 1 minute slower than when these kids ran this same course earlier this season. Big difference.

KozmoKramer wrote:

He's a mudder. His mother was mudder.

what's that from?

Are you speaking of the IN State XC Championships at Terre Haute yesterday. My son ran there as well. It looked like everyone on our team ran a good 20 - 30 seconds slower than usual.

It was a Seinfeld episode. Kramer overhears guys talking about it on the Subway, then scores big at the OTB.

lower coefficient of restitution, frition I'm not so sure about.You have spikes, they can't slip ie no friction.

Spikes sinking into hard dirt will grip more than spikes sinking into wet mud. Also, more mud will collect on your spikes making them heavier and slower.

Alan

movie wrote:

KozmoKramer wrote:

He's a mudder. His mother was mudder.

Well befor Kramer and Seinfeld----what's that from?

"It aint hay" Abbott and Costello

Mudder and Fodder

Lots of funny horse verbal routines in 'In ain't hay'. Lou doesn't understand that a horse eats his fodder (thinking Bud says 'father' and a Mudder can be a he (thinking of the word 'Mother'). "The horses forelegs are in front" says Bud. "What's those things on the back? Crutches?" Lou replies. Also used in "The Noose hangs High" with Leon Errol taking Bud's place but the routine isn't performed as well as it could of been (mostly due to Lou's reactions).

1943 movie

wineturtle wrote:

movie wrote:

Well befor Kramer and Seinfeld-- what's that from?

"It aint hay" Abbott and Costello

Mudder and Fodder

Lots of funny horse verbal routines in 'In ain't hay'. Lou doesn't understand that a horse eats his fodder (thinking Bud says 'father' and a Mudder can be a he (thinking of the word 'Mother'). "The horses forelegs are in front" says Bud. "What's those things on the back? Crutches?" Lou replies. Also used in "The Noose hangs High" with Leon Errol taking Bud's place but the routine isn't performed as well as it could of been (mostly due to Lou's reactions).

http://homepages.tesco.net/~Ye5.Man/routines.htm

Well of course these things are true, just pointing out that i don't really think that FRICTION is a factor in the equation, grip yes, restitution yes, friction well no not really.

Friction that's what makes vandergraafgenerators work you know, nylon belt, nylon pulley = friction =static electricity.