2020 Foot Locker National Champs Cancelled

We just finished Desert Twilight here in AZ. Over 2000 runners. Spectating was kept lower, mostly due to parking. Still had a few hundred for each race. Week before we had Desert Daylight. 22 teams with both girls and boys runners. Week before that was Western Equinox, 78 teams and finally, started the season with the Chandler Invite at 53 teams. 5 weeks of racing. Most spectators wear masks. The kids are a bit more lax but they train together everyday. The mask issue is tricky because being outside and more than 6 feet away from strangers it is not needed so total compliance is hard to judge. Optically to an outsider it can look worse than what it actually is. We have not had any rise in the active cases reported from the racing. That hopefully says being outside and spaced out seems to be working. A couple more weeks and you could draw some more conclusive data.

They won’t get it from racing, it what they do the rest of the day. Eating out, large groups of friends, travel, parties, etc.

We would do a road trip to Mt. Sac. Every year the team got sick right after. It happens.

Why the need for super meets with 100 in the race? Why not just go back to dual meets and be safe?

I don't believe you know multiple healthy young people in the ICU at least not in real life. Maybe you have read about some in social media. The numbers are staggeringly low for people under 25 and it would be a massive statistical anomaly if you knew multiple cases, unless you literally host COVID parties for youngsters.

Scary or not its the way life is, no reason to cancel XC or any outdoor activities, it is what it is.

wejo wrote:

Bad news for high school distance runners. Both high school national champs have been cancelled. As Foot Lockers decided to cancel today.

https://twitter.com/FLCCC/status/1312081668019286017

At this stage it might be too late to try and organize something else but seems like in November something could be hosted in a centrally located state like Texas. Anyone think a one-off national championship might be feasible.?

I'm from Dallas so I'm a bit biased but DFW is accessible from everywhere. Anyone know what the restrictions are in Texas for XC Races.

A lot of people may decide it's not worth it as without the Foot Locker name there isn't the prestige but you would need a few prominent individuals to commit.

This needs to be decoupled from HS teams because many are under travel restriction. Individual runners who can prove a 15:30 or faster 5K are in. Make it 15:00 for IL because they only run 3 miles. Any setting would do including road and track - do a TT and upload the video online.

Make the entry pricy so you don't get any fakers who end up with 19+ finishes.

Virtual races should only be on track with video proof. Otherwise it is nonsense.

I think it would make sense for the regions to invite the top 5 runners from each state and have them duke it out in an actual race.

For 99% of people (spectators and racers) at the footlocker and Nike regional meets, there’s no reason for them to be there. A handful of kids in the regions have a legitimate shot at making it to nationals.

couple of points wrote:

AAU is hosting a meet in Tallahassee, Apalachee Regional Park, Dec 4th, with some minor tweaks and a lot of marketing could fill the void.

This sounds like the best idea. The top individuals all just need to show up for this one.

The AAU Cross Country National Championship is already organized and scheduled on a good course. The 15-18 age bracket would serve as the HS championship.

Without a cutoff, that AAU race will be overcrowded. Your finish will be determined by your position at 200m - you won't be able to move. But it's great they allow spikes. With so many people running so close to each other, the chance of spiking someone then causing a chain reaction, that chance is pretty high.

Foot Locker regionals are plenty crowded in terms of parking alone and they get 2-300 in the seeded races that do have cutoffs.

The easier solution is to move Foot Locker Nationals out of CA this year. AZ seems plenty happy to host. Then you can go on with all the other Regionals.

I agree except if I make it through all this without killing myself, I'll never laugh about all that was done. It's hell on earth.

Well I was referring to the parents. They are in the 35-45 demographic. Healthy, active, no underlying health issues. I referred to them as you get as they are under the at risk age.

Of those three one contracted it at a family gathering and flew home sick. He thought it a hoax and no big deal.

The other is a personal trainer. He caught it from an athlete who went to the Casinos after they reopened in alas Vegas.

The third is my co-worker, she got it from her daughter who got it at college and came home when she didn’t feel well.

So to clarify I know personally three (in the 35-45 age range) who were in the ICU whose loved ones were told they may not make it. I know many under 25 (extended family and friends) who have had it and they were not hospitalized. My niece got it in Texas at college they just told her to stay in her dorm for two weeks.

Not sure your point. It’s not the flu and have never known anyone go to the ICU for it, let alone three in the span of about 3 months.

Here is another option: http://www.youthcrosscountry.org/

[quote]astro wrote:

They could have pulled it off safely /quote]

Nothing says safe like having people congregate from all over the country during a pandemic.

Pandemic....laughable at how dumb people are. Not evolving very fast in the arena of common sense.

Volenti non fit injuria.

At this point people have a good sense of what the risks are, especially according to age group. If reasonable precautions were taken (masks wearing until the race, no spectators) then yes it could be done safely. Right now competitions are being held and so far so good. It is a matter of being smart. What isn't smart is treating this like either/or. You can take the illness seriously but rationally weigh the risks and act accordingly. Right now schools have resumed, sports events are taking place, people are going to work, etc.

I think you can look at the numbers and recognizes that you cannot live in a bunker and that minimal risk has to be aaccepted.

peonas wrote:

Without a cutoff, that AAU race will be overcrowded. Your finish will be determined by your position at 200m - you won't be able to move. But it's great they allow spikes. With so many people running so close to each other, the chance of spiking someone then causing a chain reaction, that chance is pretty high.

Foot Locker regionals are plenty crowded in terms of parking alone and they get 2-300 in the seeded races that do have cutoffs.

The easier solution is to move Foot Locker Nationals out of CA this year. AZ seems plenty happy to host. Then you can go on with all the other Regionals.

1) Footlocker regionals don't have an official cutoff.

2) Have you been to Appalachee? You could probably put a 1000 on that course at the same time, regardless they could tweak it some, maybe run fast and slow heat if it got that popular which is highly, highly doubtful. But they are the closest thing already organized that is out there that could theoretically accommodate that big of a crowd and could determine both a team and individual champ.

3)Wierd comment on the spikes, must be from California.....

4)Moving footlocker isn't an option, they considered that and cancelled anyways, its sad, I have attended with athletes twice before, 8 months ago I assumed would be going again this year, but alas alot has changed this year, you have to adapt.

Your president may die.

How true. If Trump would've treated this situation as a leader and as a public health concern, we might have been able to have Footlocker. As it is, the Fool in Chief has infected fellow Republicans because it was frowned on to wear a mask. His ego is much huger than his concern and compassion for people that surround him. What a dick!

Why is this website the way it is? We're in a pandemic, Wejo. It doesn't make sense for kids to travel from all over the country just to run 3 miles. Those kids will already have their scholarships locked up. Things aren't normal right now. Hopefully they will be next year. So why start this thread with this kind of framing?

WutRUDoingLRC wrote:

Why is this website the way it is? We're in a pandemic, Wejo. It doesn't make sense for kids to travel from all over the country just to run 3 miles. Those kids will already have their scholarships locked up. Things aren't normal right now. Hopefully they will be next year. So why start this thread with this kind of framing?

What is wrong with you, not a single one of these kids has any risk at all, why do you want to punish them? They have done nothing wrong. And some of us actually like XC competetion, thats the main reason we come to the site, not political discourse. If a national HS championship is "just running 3 miles" then you can go for a 3 mile run and leave the kids that want to compete alone