I ran the community race. Right after the alligator logs, there's an incline. That combo was deceptively tough. Add the warm weather on top of it, and it was not an easy run.
There's a reason only 5 pros ran under 29 minutes.
Per wikipedia, 52 countries were entered. But I think the month of January makes it tricky to schedule the event in places like Canada. I don't think the Africans would do well running in Ontario in January.
Why not? If the Canadians held WXC it would be in Vancouver, the same as UK/Ireland.
Kenyans have always done well in cold-weather NCAA climates. Kenyan and Ethiopia weather year round is similar to California in the winter, but not as hot during the Summer. Besides the lack of geography education in American schools, where's the beef?
As I sit here watching the preliminary races, I think back on Glasgow '78 and Limerick '79 and the mudbaths they were (John F'n Treacy). Bellahouston Park had a monster hill repeated 3 or 4 times often on hands and knees. Even think back to Houston USA cross nationals at Buffalo Bayou designed by a crazed Scotsman whose name escapes me now. REAL CROSS COUNTRY.
This course in Tallahassee might as well be in f'n Disneyland with its cure little astroturf "hill" and (oh be carefull!!) ALLIGATOR ALLY!!!!! Oh and that 50 meters of sand looks horrifying!!!
Should be renamed World XC Safe Space Championships
Ok I'm done
I Think it was George Buck who designed the Course, I did not know he was a Scotsman though
I ran the community race. Right after the alligator logs, there's an incline. That combo was deceptively tough. Add the warm weather on top of it, and it was not an easy run.
There's a reason only 5 pros ran under 29 minutes.
Yeah. I ran right before the women’s race and I’m in central/west FL. It was warm yesterday. Fine for an easy run, but hard conditions for an XC World Championship.
I bought tickets for the event, but had to work a full day on Friday, and my wife wasn’t excited about a 8 hour round trip drive. I was pleasantly surprised with the crowd turnout when I watched on TV.
As I sit here watching the preliminary races, I think back on Glasgow '78 and Limerick '79 and the mudbaths they were (John F'n Treacy). Bellahouston Park had a monster hill repeated 3 or 4 times often on hands and knees. Even think back to Houston USA cross nationals at Buffalo Bayou designed by a crazed Scotsman whose name escapes me now. REAL CROSS COUNTRY.
This course in Tallahassee might as well be in f'n Disneyland with its cure little astroturf "hill" and (oh be carefull!!) ALLIGATOR ALLY!!!!! Oh and that 50 meters of sand looks horrifying!!!
Should be renamed World XC Safe Space Championships
Ok I'm done
It's Florida, they're soft.
This should have been at a real course in the North East.
Imagine a couple loops of Bowdoin Park or a course in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania?
Per wikipedia, 52 countries were entered. But I think the month of January makes it tricky to schedule the event in places like Canada. I don't think the Africans would do well running in Ontario in January.
Why not? If the Canadians held WXC it would be in Vancouver, the same as UK/Ireland.
Kenyans have always done well in cold-weather NCAA climates. Kenyan and Ethiopia weather year round is similar to California in the winter, but not as hot during the Summer. Besides the lack of geography education in American schools, where's the beef?
Actually Victoria on Vancouver Island would also work. Unlikely to get significant in Jan; almost 0 chance of snow if you run it in March.
Victoria hosted a NACAC XC Champs in Feb a few years ago.
Brits like slow XC courses because they think it's the only way they can compete with the East Africans.
Maybe the course in FL was indeed too easy (personally, I would have liked to have seen a lot more hills), but I would rather see an actual running race than guys slipping and sliding in the mud. But mostly, let's be honest: XC means different things based on where you live. The UK is muddy. FL is flat. New England is hilly and rocky. Poland is snowy. The variety is a good thing.
Also, I thought the drones were awesome once their operators figured them out and got below the tree tops. We got shots from both in front of the runners and behind the runners, and the drone often went back to find the chase pack. You can't do that with a fixed camera or a gator. I hope some of the marathons start doing that (esp for the chase packs). Especially in Boston, the real race is usually in the chase pack rather than an early front runner.
Yeah I thought the course was gimmicky at first but after watching the races up close and then doing the fun run, it was a tougher than I thought it'd be.
The mud and water pits were easily avoided by running on the margins, but if you wanted to make a pass you had to do into the areas of the obstacles and you paid for it. The hardest for me though was the sand and logs -- logs straight into the hill was especially tough.
As I had two athletes competing on Saturday my female who raced both Aarhus and Bathurst sent me a message on Friday that the course was going to be tough. In speaking to her after the race it seems the sand was the hardest part of the course. The heat and humidity definitely took its toll on some runners who went out to fast. She ran a smart race and was only 30th at the first k split to finish 15th overall which was a good result. Lets hope there is a World XC in 2027 and we don't have to wait until 2029 for the next edition of this event.
Per wikipedia, 52 countries were entered. But I think the month of January makes it tricky to schedule the event in places like Canada. I don't think the Africans would do well running in Ontario in January.
Bring it to BC.
There is a good chance of drizzle if not downpour rain all winter, or you can get a nice sunny day out of nowhere. In any case, the course is likely to be wet if not boggy.
Temps of 0-10 C in the 30s or 40s F are almost certain in Metro Vancouver, where any one of a number of parks could host the meet.
We're having several World Cup soccer matches here, and hosted the 2010 Olympics, so logistics should be a snap relative to those.
I loved the course. The different obstacles created some drama that you wouldn't normally get otherwise. There was at least one fall in the water pit in the women's race which might have shook up the team standings, plus some of the athletes were slower over the barriers than others. All of those things help create little moments of separation and opportunities so that it's not just a pure fitness test. The water and sand makes you think a bit more about your shoe and sock combination. Don't want to run in some crew-length water-logged socks half way into the first lap with 9k left to go. I appreciated all of the variables.
Our NCAA cross country courses are set up so that that placings don't turn out much differently than a 10k on the track. A bit too safe and predictable for my taste. Is it really that much different from track if you're running on a perfectly manicured golf course fairway type surface the whole way with a couple of rolling hills?
Also, I like the 2k lap distance from a spectator perspective. You can see all of the athletes multiple times and not have to run a couple of kilometers to catch the athletes on a different part of the course just so you can see them more than once.
The difference is that you're allowed to cut the course during XC nationals, apparently.
As I sit here watching the preliminary races, I think back on Glasgow '78 and Limerick '79 and the mudbaths they were (John F'n Treacy). Bellahouston Park had a monster hill repeated 3 or 4 times often on hands and knees. Even think back to Houston USA cross nationals at Buffalo Bayou designed by a crazed Scotsman whose name escapes me now. REAL CROSS COUNTRY.
This course in Tallahassee might as well be in f'n Disneyland with its cure little astroturf "hill" and (oh be carefull!!) ALLIGATOR ALLY!!!!! Oh and that 50 meters of sand looks horrifying!!!
Should be renamed World XC Safe Space Championships
Ok I'm done
It's Florida, they're soft.
This should have been at a real course in the North East.
Imagine a couple loops of Bowdoin Park or a course in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania?
being from northern minnesota, i could say the same thing about Massachussetts or Pennsylvania. "they should have a course run in Alaska" the next person could say. point being: it's all relative. everyone running had the same conditions. quit whining.
This should have been at a real course in the North East.
Imagine a couple loops of Bowdoin Park or a course in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania?
being from northern minnesota, i could say the same thing about Massachussetts or Pennsylvania. "they should have a course run in Alaska" the next person could say. point being: it's all relative. everyone running had the same conditions. quit whining.
With all the ICE agents here in Minnesota, the only finishers would be white people.
Man oh man you guys are whiners. It was awesome. Get over it. Get over yourself. Go to bed.
Yes, I agree. World XC was awesome in person. The course was more challenging than I first thought. They had large downhills which led to fast stretches. With plenty of elevation changes. The mud pit was a disappointment, to dry and athletes found the edge was firm. But the obstacles gave what XC is about, variety of conditions, which challenge an all-around runner. There were many locations for athletes to make moves or pressure their opponents. I was at the beach when Kiplimo charged across the sand and pulled away for the victory. Ethan Strand got the crowd really going with his early performance, using the gators and the hill to the mud pit to open up the 4x2k race. Except for the U20 men race it didn’t look like the races were packs just waiting for the last lap. The challenges kept reducing the groups. The crowd was fully involved with every race. Typical XC fans running from place to place. Getting large USA chants for all the USA runners, Kiptoo taking the lead in senior race and cheers for Bartlett were the loudest of the day. And the aussies were a fan fav because of their FSU and NCAA connections. Ngetich’s performance was spectacular to say the least. Truely an enjoyable event for all that were there. My daughter raced in the club champs the next day and loved the course. And everyone I heard from that ran said the beach was the hardest part and a fun race.
Also, I thought the drones were awesome once their operators figured them out and got below the tree tops. We got shots from both in front of the runners and behind the runners, and the drone often went back to find the chase pack. You can't do that with a fixed camera or a gator. I hope some of the marathons start doing that (esp for the chase packs). Especially in Boston, the real race is usually in the chase pack rather than an early front runner.
Agreed. I attended the event then read the thread here, but didn't watch the Peacock coverage until last night. I anticipated brutal camerawork based on the thread. But coverage was surprisingly good.
The early races relied too much on high overhead drones. It helped me understand a few of the turns early on the course. But none of the runners could be distinguished. Hannah England kept her composure and did great during those races. Contrast to Tim Hutchings who would have been fuming in frustration.
Once they dropped the drones below the tree tops it reminded me of Mario Kart and the coverage really perked up. The only missing angle was from atop the slope. I don't know why they didn't have a mini camera showing the runners descending.
Mud was the big disappointment. Somewhere from Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning they apparently got scared of that section bogging things down or deciding the race via shoes coming off. Consequently they over rotated and made that area far too dry and uninteresting. I went there a couple of times during the mixed relay and never returned. I saw Jessica Hull skirt the left side with no issues. Others took an angular middle path with no issues. I briefly contemplated whether I could find a bucket somewherre and fix things myself.