Why does cross country go out so much faster than track? Seems dumb,

I’m with the OP. I once won a race by 9 seconds where I was in around 45th at the mile split. I ran almost perfectly even splits, so I wasn’t really passing anyone, everyone else just faded behind me. Never understood the strategy, it’s not an 800m where if you don’t get yourself in position after 400m you may not get the chance to recover it.

Yeah, people are going to treat this like it is a dumb question and down vote it, but it's a fair question.

Several points:

1) People think if they "get out fast" they can run the best tangents. Watch any NCAA. Regional or Championship. Even in the lead group, most people are not running tight corners because the field is too densely packed for several miles. The people running tight tangents on the right turn are stuck on the outside on the next left turn. The lead group can be five to ten people abreast for awhile. The middle pack isn't much worse. Sure, a solo runner can run the tangents. but how many people will ever be the solo leader in a huge cross country race?

2) Because teams like NAU get out fast and then win, too many other teams think that will work for them. Most teams don't have the guns to do that and are copying a strategy that they can't pull off.

3) There absolutely are teams that move up through the field to great success. Pomona-Pitzer won the NCAA Championship after being in 28th of 32 at the 1k mark (651 points). By consistently passing people they moved up to 8th over the next 2k. They finished with 80 points and hoisted the trophy. And that was over 8k. In a 10k there is even more time to advance through the field. The 1k leader (Wartburg) in that race finished 9th. The team in 2nd at 1k ended up 12th.

This is really true. It depends on the course and the quality of the competition.

I had really good results when I finally learned to keep the first mile a bit conservative, but at the Ridges (WI state meet) I started too slow and ended up stuck behind people who were slowing down. Had to run wide to get around big packs of guys, bide my time waiting for openings, etc. I think I would have been better off going out a little harder even at the expense of some early fatigue.