Official Is Your Home XC Course Rupp Certified?

duder wrote:

ihsa state xc - detweiller park, peoria, il

Rupp Certified

flat, repetitive, circular. sounds like a glorified track to me.

Not to mention..."short."

Did Rupp really need some sort of waiver to participate in NCAA ahtletics?

Here is what I don't get? Rupp runs for U of O, yet Al Sal decides when and where he will race? How does that work? Does Vin have no backbone? Is Al Sal on the coaching staff at U of O?

Besides that, this is funny.

Testing wrote:

Did Rupp really need some sort of waiver to participate in NCAA ahtletics?

When the whole "lets fire Martin Smith so AlSal can do whatever he wants" thing went down, there was a period of about two weeks where Nike, UofO, and NCAA attorneys negotiated Rupp into eligibility. Initially the NCAA wasn't going for it, but Nike eventually wore them down.

What Nike wants, Nike gets.

I think that there need to be different levels of Rupp Certification. Something like:

1. Fabulous!

2. Lightens My Loafers

3. That's So 1970

4. Hurts My Vageen

I'm a big Rupp fan and I'll defend this thread, I don't think anybody is saying that it was a bad call not to race him...but the excuse they gave was really funny and ridiculous. Too many ruts? It's cross country.

What about Holmdel park or Franklin Park? I'd say Franklin Park is borderline, there are a few roots here and there.

Holmdel Park- the last time I ran there wasn't Rupp Certified, but I heard they did some work to make it faster...this true?

njmatt wrote:

What about Holmdel park or Franklin Park? I'd say Franklin Park is borderline, there are a few roots here and there.

I would say no for Franklin Park. Bearcage hill has some unsure footing, so that makes it out of the question.

True and there are some loose rocks too.

God I remember when I was in high school, all the MA kids at my running camp would tell me how tough Franklin Park is. Then in college I finally ran there and I was not very impressed. But that's another story.

Also for Belmont Plateau it wouldn't be parachute hill that would kill Rupp, it would be all the condom wrappers and beer bottles. Plus the roots on that first little hill after the start. (I have only run the 5k course there, I don't know if they have an different 8k course)

03runner03, we just described basically the same course but with different levels of detail. anyways, it was my home course and I once created a cross section of the course showing elevation, using a golf course topo map. It was on the official map for a few years. I'd provide a link to it but since they changed the course a bit, the link has been taken down...

Yeah & guys like Pete Pfitz & Frank Shorter all ran a CU, they all turned out kinda good

It's easy to make fun of the guy, but you have to admit he was the best coached guy when it counted, THE OLYMPICS. He was the only male American distance runner who ran to his potential at the games. I thought Alberto was crazy for sending the guy around the world to break 4 in the mile. Eugene is the best place on earth to do it. However, when the Olympics came around he was ready. Will he win NCAA Cross? Maybe, maybe not! Who cares? The meet of 2008 has already taken place, in China. If his coach was worried he might get injured running in some meaningless cross country race in October, and pulled him out of the race, I say good call. The real question is, will he ever break 4 for the mile?

An Oregon subfour miler

oldtimeguy wrote:

IPlease use the following format.

Team ******'s Home Course

Location: ****City*****, ***State****

NOT Rupp Certified or Rupp Certified

Justifcation:******

I'll give two examples.

Van Cortlandt Park 2008

Location: Bronx, NY

Rupp Certified

Justification: Groomed back hills. Cinder path on flats is better than cart paths on even 5 star golf courses.

Van Cortlandt Park 1988

Location, Bronx, NY

NOT Rupp Certified

Justification: Broken beer bottles in back hills, lots of tree roots.

VCP - Not certified. Although the cinder path is pretty good, the grass on the flats is not. It contains many hidden ruts, holes, and depressions. I've turned my ankle numerous times on it.

As I was trying to make the gorge safer today for our home meet tmw, I actually thought to myself, "No way would Salazar let Rupp run this thing."

"I probably shouldn't let my guys run it tomorrow"

-I love the irony and hypocrisy of the above statement: It is hypocritical because it bashes a runner for not wanting to risk injury yet you hesitate about whether or not to throw your own runners in a potentially injury-prone area because you want them to be healthy and strong for a more important league championship race. It is ironic because Galen Rupp is faster than every runner on the Cornell team.

rojo wrote:

The Other CU Home Course (Cornell University's Moakley Course)

Ithaca, NY

NOT Rupp Certified

Justification: There is a huge downhill and uphill in the last mile known as the gorge. Going down and up this alone would make it way too dangerous. Throw in rut after rut in the middle of the gorge plus and a billion fallen leaves that make it wetter than a slip n' slide and you have a course that is a trial lawyer's dream.

As I was trying to make the gorge safer today for our home meet tmw, I actually thought to myself, "No way would Salazar let Rupp run this thing."

I probably shouldn't let my guys run it tomorrow but the gorge is a tradition.

You know, rojo, on a site that prides itself on the promotion and welfare of distance running, this is a pretty distasteful thread that you are perpetuating. And linking to it on the front page? What possible constructive outcome could come from this? I'm no Rupp apologist, and I find a lot of this comical, but your implied denigration of our potentially greatest homegrown distance runner-to-be is not only counter-productive, it's sophomoric. I expected more, especially from another idiosyncratic, professional coach (in another way) who shouldn't be trying to blend in as "one of the guys" at the expense of someone else.

Sagarin wrote:

You know, rojo, on a site that prides itself on the promotion and welfare of distance running, this is a pretty distasteful thread that you are perpetuating. And linking to it on the front page? What possible constructive outcome could come from this? I'm no Rupp apologist, and I find a lot of this comical, but your implied denigration of our potentially greatest homegrown distance runner-to-be is not only counter-productive, it's sophomoric. I expected more, especially from another idiosyncratic, professional coach (in another way) who shouldn't be trying to blend in as "one of the guys" at the expense of someone else.

What a pompous load of BS.

Shouldn't you be swapping witty barbs with Flagpole about who loves Ohio State more?

mrr 82.5 wrote:

Here is what I don't get? Rupp runs for U of O, yet Al Sal decides when and where he will race? How does that work? Does Vin have no backbone? Is Al Sal on the coaching staff at U of O?

Vinny doesn't have a backbone. At the Olympic Trials Alberto was overheard telling Lanana, "you're just hear to hold the watch and do what you're told."

Mrr82 wrote:

Why does Galen have to care about running "real XC". Geb gave up XC and focused on track. There's no rule out there that anyone has to care about running "real" xc. Galens goal is to help his team do as well as possible at Nats. Anything else during xc season is not relevant other then to keep improving his fitness. That's his #1 focus. Anyone who puts them down for skipping what amounted to a JV race virtually, no matter what his reason, is not in touch with reality.

His tasks are to stay healthy, and train hard, and get faster.

This is why I regret ever *considering* agreeing with you. I didn't say he had to care about running real XC. I do. I cared about it. I didn't presume to think that Rupp has to care about it. My post was lauding the excuse that was made for Rupp bypassing the meet he was scheduled to run, as it was a lame excuse. I think that his goal is to help his team.

Quit putting words into people's mouths, and though you won't hear me say it, quit trying to the smartest person on letsrun.

Martin Smith payback wrote:

mrr 82.5 wrote:

Here is what I don't get? Rupp runs for U of O, yet Al Sal decides when and where he will race? How does that work? Does Vin have no backbone? Is Al Sal on the coaching staff at U of O?

Vinny doesn't have a backbone. At the Olympic Trials Alberto was overheard telling Lanana, "you're just hear to hold the watch and do what you're told."

This thread has had some good humor, but this is quite slanderous. Vin knows how to best manage his relationship with Salazar in order to get the best outcome for the goals of Oregon running. He aint know watch holder he is a puppet master. Rupp benefits Oregon, so Vin makes it work plain and simple. There aint no Martin Smith payback, except the payback Smith is getting in his own state getting slapped around by rival (can we even call it that?) Oakie State.

Mountain West Course

Missoula Montana

Not Rupp Certified

Logs to jump, and a bomber of a downhill with uneven footing that is repeated.

Woodward Park

Fresno California

Rupp Certified

Mostly even packed dirt with some asphalt running. A lot of rolling hills but for the most part very managable. Road racing shoes work well here.

Shaw Baton Relays.

Battle Hill regional park, Wellington, New Zealand

Definitely Not Rupp Certified

2km loop, twists and turns over farm land, mixture of sheep and cow shit, 6 jumps varying from 1-2.5 feet high, 2 stream crossings, one pond to run through, one big hill with (jump at the top), always muddy, course record about 6.10ish. Real cross country.