my understanding is that the next club race will be held january 2026 (instead of december 2025) in conjunction with world xc in tallahassee...
Hope this is true. It would be awesome. As far as sending our "A" squad, it is up to the athletes, not the governing body, if they want to compete. Of course, they would first have to show up at the qualifier. Perhaps if USATF provided some award ($$) for making the team and more if we place well, it would entice our best to compete.
What are your early thoughts on whether having Club XC with Worlds will help or hurt with Club XC participation? Hotels, rental cars, etc. will probably be more expensive. And I think they said the races will be on Sunday.
Course will be torn to sh#t from both senior and junior races. Yeah, getting to Tally from outside FL is about as fun and cheap as getting to Eugene. Flights, hotels, rental cars will be gouged with the uptick in tourists. USATF fat cats expense it all, they don't care. If I was committed to going anyway, sure I'd go watch the races. Don't know that I want to spend half the day on my feet dealing with crowds the day before a seasonal peak race. Especially if it's a warm day.
From someone that has never raced it, it seems like club nats always has a crappy course and conditions. I wonder what kind of budget/resources they are working with.
I'm surprised this got so many down votes. I brief history of recent years that I remember:
2024 - Tacoma - mud, rain, wind, sleet, long course.
2023 - Tallahassee - super hot and humid. Lots of misery.
2022 - San Francisco - rain, wind, laps around the horse track.
2021 - Tallahassee - hot and humid, but a touch better than 2023.
2019 - Bethlehem - Another sloppy mudfest and raining.
2018 - Spokane - Super cold, but pretty decent otherwise. Long course.
2017 - Lexington - Insanely cold, wind, snow.
It sounds like you are mostly complaining that the weather at a cross country meet in December is unpleasant? There is no amount of money that can change the weather.
The exact course distances for Tacoma were: 6K: 5.961 kilometers 8K: 8.022 kilometers 10K: 10.083 kilometers
Because the course used loops, this was how we got each race as close as possible to the exact distance.
My early thought as I continue to thaw out from Saturday is that it probably won't affect it too much one way or the other. I think that location is the main factor on participation. Accommodations, and rental cars may be a little more expensive, but World XC isn't the Super Bowl. It will draw participants and some hardcore running fans, but not huge out-of-town crowds. I'm excited to be going back to a mild weather venue where I won't freeze my butt off.
From someone that has never raced it, it seems like club nats always has a crappy course and conditions. I wonder what kind of budget/resources they are working with.
I'm surprised this got so many down votes. I brief history of recent years that I remember:
2024 - Tacoma - mud, rain, wind, sleet, long course.
2023 - Tallahassee - super hot and humid. Lots of misery.
2022 - San Francisco - rain, wind, laps around the horse track.
2021 - Tallahassee - hot and humid, but a touch better than 2023.
2019 - Bethlehem - Another sloppy mudfest and raining.
2018 - Spokane - Super cold, but pretty decent otherwise. Long course.
2017 - Lexington - Insanely cold, wind, snow.
Yea! I want my cross country courses around a track. Preferably a climate controlled indoor facility. They can toss a 1/2 inch of sand along a 10m section of it, but make sure it is not enough to slow anybody down.
USATF Associations bid to host meets. Usually this means that the most wealthy associations don't bid because it is a lot of work to host for a mediocre return. Hence, all but the prestigious open national championships end up at less desirable locations where weather is usually not ideal. But this is Cross Country. Weather and course conditions SHOULD be a factor.
I'm surprised this got so many down votes. I brief history of recent years that I remember:
2024 - Tacoma - mud, rain, wind, sleet, long course.
2023 - Tallahassee - super hot and humid. Lots of misery.
2022 - San Francisco - rain, wind, laps around the horse track.
2021 - Tallahassee - hot and humid, but a touch better than 2023.
2019 - Bethlehem - Another sloppy mudfest and raining.
2018 - Spokane - Super cold, but pretty decent otherwise. Long course.
2017 - Lexington - Insanely cold, wind, snow.
It sounds like you are mostly complaining that the weather at a cross country meet in December is unpleasant? There is no amount of money that can change the weather.
The exact course distances for Tacoma were: 6K: 5.961 kilometers 8K: 8.022 kilometers 10K: 10.083 kilometers
Because the course used loops, this was how we got each race as close as possible to the exact distance.
Has clubs ever been hosted in San Diego, Tucson, Austin, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, or Nashville? It's probably just the nature of weather around the US the first half of December. Put it in a southern location and it's apt to be roasting hot for the time of year. Put it anywhere else and it's a coin flip's chance to have some manner of cold and wet stormy weather affecting it. Hell, I remember US cross in January in a mud bog in Houston, the course was hardly runnable. Then the next year it was in Indy on a dangerously icy course.
Not sure why people are complaining about the courses, we should be happy these events live on.
I loved the challenge and had fun racing in that madness this past Saturday, beat a lot of people I probably wouldn’t have under normal conditions.
And I had a terrible race in those conditions. Lost a shoe in the mud early on the first lap and took a while to retrieve it and put it back on my foot. Didn't get to hide from the wind at all because I was making up lost ground and passing guys too quickly. It was awesome. Way better than racing on a hard, flat grass track and calling it cross-country.
Has clubs ever been hosted in San Diego, Tucson, Austin, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, or Nashville? It's probably just the nature of weather around the US the first half of December. Put it in a southern location and it's apt to be roasting hot for the time of year. Put it anywhere else and it's a coin flip's chance to have some manner of cold and wet stormy weather affecting it. Hell, I remember US cross in January in a mud bog in Houston, the course was hardly runnable. Then the next year it was in Indy on a dangerously icy course.
The USATF National Club Cross Country Championships are an annual cross country competition for running clubs in the United States organized by USA Track & Field. The championships typically feature a 10K men's race and a 6K...
The challenge for this event from a facility standpoint is the men's open race has gotten so big, you need an enormous start line and a good ~400m or more that is fairly straight and wide.
The other challenge is the same as it is for all USATF Championships... you need an LOC willing to bid.
He's 25 and his major was civil engineering why is he still taking finals?
Because he is finishing his major still while running professionally, and when you go on a mission for 2 years, 25 years old is a normal time at BYU to graduate. And dont worry, before stones are thrown, there is no age cheating in earning a civil engineering major haha you are allowed to finish when you are 25. I don't think it is controversial to finish your degree as an older person, except maybe on LetsRun.com.
He didnt drop out of school. He attends a lecture in the hour before I go into the same room for my class. Finals close after Wednesday this semester. Not sure when exactly he is finishing, maybe after this week or next semester.
He's 25 and his major was civil engineering why is he still taking finals?
Because he is finishing his major still while running professionally, and when you go on a mission for 2 years, 25 years old is a normal time at BYU to graduate. And dont worry, before stones are thrown, there is no age cheating in earning a civil engineering major haha you are allowed to finish when you are 25. I don't think it is controversial to finish your degree as an older person, except maybe on LetsRun.com.
He didnt drop out of school. He attends a lecture in the hour before I go into the same room for my class. Finals close after Wednesday this semester. Not sure when exactly he is finishing, maybe after this week or next semester.
Looks like he actually might bave 1 semester left (last line in the article).
