Now that Footlocker is dead, Let's Talk About Ways to make NXN even better

Rea Sea · 2025-08-21T16:57:32-04:00

Please suggest ways to make NXN better. It's an incredible event for the kids, but there are some things that need to be improved, especially considering the horrible course conditions every year due to the weather. - Increase Individual regional qualifiers to Teams of 7 and score them against the other individual teams and have a regional individual winning team. (Why are there only 5 in the individual boxes, but 7 in the Team boxes, anyways?). This would be very exciting to track, and the individuals will have the same additional motivation that the team runners have. Letting the next 2 runners in from each area is a big motivator, and there's room for them on the starting line.- Require similar courses for all NXR Qualifiers (elevation changes, surfaces). Challenging, but worth trying. - Adjust start times to later in the day on Saturday. If it rains overnight and the course is flooded (like it is every year), a later start will give the field crews more time to pump out the water and adjust the course, as needed. - Girls should always go first. It alternates every year, but in the typical wet conditions, the boys destroy the course far worse than the girls do. Change the course slightly between the 2 races to have the runners avoid the worst areas. Now that there's a 3rd race for USATF, that course is going to be a disaster. - Improve the course to eliminate sloppy, muddy, sharp corners where athletes fall every year. If you get stuck in the pack, you have no chance to catch up because the course is torn up by the leaders. Bring in some gravel or straw at those locations, and at the start line where people slip in the mud right out of the gate. - Provide more covered standing areas and bleachers for runners and spectators.

High School Running Distance

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9 months ago 08/27/2025 3:29pm EDT

re: Kickers usually win

Kickers usually win wrote:
That’s an awful idea. What makes the NXN great is being the best against the best. I guess adding more teams would be OK so long as they don’t get in anyone’s way.

Best of the best??

At least half of the NXN field is just riding the coattails of the actual best. Most of the field of NXN racers never go on to D1. What made FL unique was that it focused on the actual best of the best. It never pretended to be traditional team based XC, instead it allowed the focus to shift to individual athletes...most of whom rarely got a chance to race just for themselves.

And let's not even delve into who's better among the past FL vs NXN champions...because past FL champions have always performed better as pros.

Nike finally killed FL.

The Foot Locker replacement meet is coming wrote:
Maybe maybe not wrote:
Anyone willing to bet whether or not this meet is dead? IT IS NOT. Announcement this week.
It seems like Sound Running/Brooks are going to sponsor a meet at Balboa Park the same day that Foot Locker was going to be.

Well, my source turned out to be correct. Brooks is the new sponsor of what used to be Foot Locker.

Interesting, there will be an open 5k on the course right before the girls and boys races. So if any of you want to see what it's like to run up the big hill twice, now is your chance.

The Foot Locker replacement meet is coming wrote:
The Foot Locker replacement meet is coming wrote:
It seems like Sound Running/Brooks are going to sponsor a meet at Balboa Park the same day that Foot Locker was going to be.
Well, my source turned out to be correct. Brooks is the new sponsor of what used to be Foot Locker.
Interesting, there will be an open 5k on the course right before the girls and boys races. So if any of you want to see what it's like to run up the big hill twice, now is your chance.

I posted the thread about this new Brooks/Sound race with a link to the Sound Running page about it.... But the thread got deleted and the page taken down. Seems odd to me.

Either the race isn't set in stone or we found out about the race too early and they want to make a big announcement themselves.

9 months ago 08/28/2025 8:55am EDT

re: Balboa Sucks

Balboa Sucks wrote:
The model is dead, let it die Brooks.....and balboa sucks....i get it history, but the course has changed over the years.....40 kids in a race is NOT XC.

Cross country championships where some teams can literally pay for runners and other teams can't aren't that entertaining to some

9 months ago 08/29/2025 4:23pm EDT

re: Dudewhat?

Dudewhat? wrote:
Create a rocky mtn region (MT, CO, WY, NM,UT, ID)
Create a west region CA, OR, HI, AK, NV, AZ)
Combine NY to Northeast.
Combine heartland and Midwest.
Increase individual qualifiers by adding wildcard qualifiers (like if you won your state meet but missed out on individual qualifier by x%)
And for heaven's sake...don't have the meet every single year in Oregon. I understand that's a Nike requirement but come on folks...does.everything have to be in Oregon???

Should CO and UT really be in the same region?

Maybe let Utah have its own region instead of NY

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