Jonathan Gault- thank you and I hope you enjoyed your time in Bathurst

It is mostly flat but there are undulations and hills especially at the northern end known locally as the cat's ears. I think it's also possible that there is too much paving in the park and it would end up more a road race than XC

I live in Sydney and run in CP several times a week. Definitely worth visiting. Run around the famous white fence and if you're up for a longer run, you can also do the Bondi to Coogee loop and see some of the coastline

I did not know much about Ellie Shea before, but I think she is now my new favorite runner. Cool shades and great interview!

Ellie Shea is a very good runner and a very smart person, but she has typically been extremely introverted, untalkative, and unfriendly, even as recently as Footlocker/Champs a few months ago. Maybe she is just happy to be in Australia. Or maybe she is finally coming out of her shell.

world athletics is dumb af then. The point of cross country is to run fast on grass tracks and to compete against others, not to run an obstacle course.

I agree with everything. JG and LR have been consistent supporters of XC. Also feel WA could've promoted it better. This Kenyan journalist thinks it should return to Kenya and it's hard to argue with her reasons. Eldoret would be fantastic.

I feel like elevation would be an issue though. Iten would be even more historic. in my opinion but it's even higher

Had a few beers wth JG. A good guy and a great writer on our sport. Remember Tim Tams and vegemite and Bentspoke if you can find it.

You can tell she's young - throwing in that she's grateful for the opportunity to compete etc etc etc. I almost thought she was going to socially locate herself and say As a white, middle class able bodied CIS female, I'm happy to blah blah blah. Thought she would have tossed a land acknowledgement in there too.

Didn't they build ramps / artificial hills at a recent event?

You'll love CP Jon. Grab a coffee in Paddington afterwards.

I would have held it in Melbourne. Melbourne has a much larger running culture than Sydney, and the XCR series here is the largest (I think?) cross country series in the southern hemisphere in terms of participation.

Bundoora / Cruden Farm / St. Anne's Winery are all tried and tested courses (and high accessible) with plenty of hills that feel appropriate for World Cross.

Maybe some time in the future!

Mate, thats American XC only. Other countries run real XC, not on manicured golf courses

I have run on grass tracks, moderate courses, and difficult ones that are like “true XC”

I strongly prefer moderate or fast grass ones. I hate never being able to settle into a rhythm

Re: Ellie Shea, I'm sure it's just her personality type to be more introverted/shy. No doubt she'll become increasingly more comfortable over time, as she gets more used to interviews, becomes part of a closer team dynamic in college, etc. Even now, I personally much prefer how she is to, e.g., the Leo Young constant hot-dogging approach (he's great, but no, not everyone connects with that sort of presentation either!)

If you want a really hard course in Melbourne, Brimbank Park or through the Botanic Gardens would be best for world cross country. Bundoora has the local cross country history and it's a good course, but unless you are from Victoria it's just a good course. Botanic Gardens would have been highly advantageous due to it's city centre location and you could lay out a great course without doing what Turin did in '97. Brimbank has that fabulous goat track hill. Can you imagine Chelimo, Aregawi, Cheptegei, Kamworor, Barega, et al, running up there with the vuvuzelas like the Victorian 10 mile cross country? And Brimbank has good access to the city centre and the airport.