If you won't drive 20 minutes (!!!) to see a national championship race, then I question if you are really a fan of the sport at all. If you don't go I certainly don't think you can honestly call yourself one.
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There's no qualifying standards for the race. You should sign up and race it on a fun course. Last year at the same race, last place ran 47 minutes. (Granted that one was in the middle of no where in Texas so it had even fewer people than normal). It looks like some of the fast locals from the Stumptown XC series have signed up!
I'm looking at a 6-hour drive to Tallahassee and if Valby qualifies, that will probably be enough to convince me to go. I've never seen her run in person and will take advantage of it. Unfortunately, living in the Southeast, we almost never have any pro track nearby. Everything is in Oregon, California, or (indoor) NYC or Boston. I did go to Atlanta and Gainesville last year for nice pro meets but neither meet was held this year.
Asking because I really don't know. Is this an open course for spectators where you can run from point to point or is there a gate to get in?
It's at a golf course (Glendoveer Golf Course). Google maps shows it has permanent perimeter fencing basically all the way around. So I assume access to the property will be relatively controlled through a 1 or multiple gates / entryways. Once you're inside the permanent perimeter fencing I'm sure the race course will have some additional temporary fencing ... but it would seem you can just run around the race course / golf course *within reason*. There is also a woodchip trail around the course which appears to be freely accessible when the golf course is open. Awfully nice feature for the community.
This guy does a "behind the scenes" video every year - here is one of the first ones. But you can see how things are laid out.. Spectators can definitely move around the course should they wish. The USATF 2K, 8K, 10 K will result in new course routes.
Did anyone convince op to make the 20 minute drive or is he going to spend his day carrying his wife's bags around the shopping mall.
Actually that’s the only good reason to go. I had not considered that.
Otherwise, video coverage will be better than actually being there (and see the runners for 3 minutes). in addition, it will be easier to identify the runners and to find out who they are. You can have starting list with bib numbers handy and check out their profile on IAAF site during the race (maybe they would even identify the runners during the webcast, but don’t count in that. That would be a bonus.)
No parking, no standing up, no running back and forth to try to see something…
Those 3 guys are the 3 I would have been most excited to see there. I like Blanks and Young well enough, but not as much as the 3 that will be missing. I do live close to it, so maybe it's worthwhile enough for that reason. I'm stating this very explicitly so nobody gets confused, I'm talking about the US championshipships, not World. I live near Portland, not Tallahassee.
Hocker gets a pass.
I was going to travel coast to coast; I still might. The addition of the HS races makes the meet more enticing.
Do you really need a bunch of random people to decide this for you on here lol?? If you live that close, just go. It's like a once in a life time opportunity to watch not only top high school runners, but some of the US best pros almost in your backyard so to speak.
Just do the long run the day before or day after.
I'm not telling you to decide for me, but I do want to hear out the reasons to still go when I'm a bit disappointed about the field
Run to the event and run home. Two cats killed with one stone.
Those 3 guys are the 3 I would have been most excited to see there. I like Blanks and Young well enough, but not as much as the 3 that will be missing. I do live close to it, so maybe it's worthwhile enough for that reason. I'm stating this very explicitly so nobody gets confused, I'm talking about the US championshipships, not World. I live near Portland, not Tallahassee.
Who cares about yankee nobodies running XC, let alone some hasbeens.
I'm looking at a 6-hour drive to Tallahassee and if Valby qualifies, that will probably be enough to convince me to go. I've never seen her run in person and will take advantage of it. Unfortunately, living in the Southeast, we almost never have any pro track nearby. Everything is in Oregon, California, or (indoor) NYC or Boston. I did go to Atlanta and Gainesville last year for nice pro meets but neither meet was held this year.
I’ve seen her run many times for UF during her come up. Sat behind the Gators at one NCAA outdoors and was a couple of rows behind her. She truly is a goddess and down to earth. Make the drive. You’d do it for the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. This is right up there.
You can make a few bucks at the plasma donation center on 162nd and Glisan , park donate then jog the 6 blocks to Glendoveer golf course . Or . take the Max to Burnside and 148th.
Either way you might want to wear a bullet proof vest.
I ran at Glendoveer yesterday. There were signs that said the the west side of the jogging path was closed from 11/28 to 12/9 (which seems excessive to me). At NXN last year, in the pouring rain, spectators were doing a fair amount of running around. Last year the western part of the course (where there are multiple loops) were really wet and waterlogged - large puddles and mud.
There are 4 entrances/gates in the fencing, one at each corner, though two of them (the ones on the east side might be locked) The main entrance is near the clubhouse, but they aren't allowing people to park in the lot and the city has removed much of the parking along Glisan.
Linfield U, where you'd park is roughly 1.5 miles away and the bus drops you off at the entrance of the course near the finish. From the maps, it looks like they are extending the course further east from the 5k course, which is mostly on a less used part of the golf course. I think Nike had tents for the HS teams, but there is a fair amount of tree cover. As someone noted, there is a restaurant there if you need it.
Those 3 guys are the 3 I would have been most excited to see there. I like Blanks and Young well enough, but not as much as the 3 that will be missing. I do live close to it, so maybe it's worthwhile enough for that reason. I'm stating this very explicitly so nobody gets confused, I'm talking about the US championshipships, not World. I live near Portland, not Tallahassee.
If you love the sport and want to see it grow, take one for the team, man. Be a good human and go cheer for some people that you don't know. The only way the sport grows is when people show up.