I feel sorry for the pros who ran at this thing. Looks like they’re running through a construction site. I’m embarrassed for them, for our sport, and for all runners. This is worse than not having the meet at all.
Austin, Texas hosted the 2022 Cross Champs and welcomed a stacked field of competitors.The field included: On Athletics Club, Hoka NAZ Elite, Puma Elite, Roo...
Took the quick drive to Austin to watch the Sound RUnning Cross Country Championships. The race was incredible and I was even able to get interviews with Oll...
Well it seems that the pros and their coaches had no problem with it otherwise they would have not started. Sorry it was not the smooth carpet that most Americans like to run on, it was true cross country.
Wow. I thought you had to be exaggerating, but yea this looks absolutely terrible. It looks like a good 20% of it was on the track; plenty of parts criss-crossing on gravel and asphalt, and then narrow grassy patches on significant cambers...
Having ran Highschool XC in Ohio, there's tons of courses out there that would have been far, far better. It amazes me to think this is the best they could find. Perhaps they were really into the idea of easy spectating, and that's why they went with this one mile loop around the track, but that's no excuse really. Plenty of good 5k courses out there with lots of visibility for spectators. Idk, this does just look sad; guys ripping 4:30 pace on grass should always look hype but this is not it.
Also any hills ? I didn't see any to speak of... If you're going to run a flat, one mile loop race with 20% of the loop on the track... maybe just run on the track?
It was like a high school dual meet course. Very strange indeed. There’s some amazing courses out there. How about getting some professionally quality filming and forget the “spectator friendly” garbage for a handful of locals. This could potential draw tons of online views if produced correctly.
How come these "pros" never have a meet at somewhere traditional?
Van Cortlandt Park, Holmdel, Balboa Park, Great American, Terre Haute, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Apalachee, Huntsville, NXN courses?
I'm sure I'm missing dozens of other great courses.
I just don't get it. That meet the other day was the equivalent of playing an MLB or NFL game in a sandlot.
I agree with you. Nationals (trials for the worlds) was at VCP back in about 2006 or so. They didn't go into the hills but did a loop on the flat part. I went, it was great.
Mu daughter was a 10th grader and had her arm in a cast and the pro's were signing it.
I was talking to Joe Vigil- he asked me for advice on coaching teenagers! LOL I said you're one of the best coaches in the country. He said- yeah, but I never coached kids! LOL
I think it's a good idea to make them more spectator friendly, but I can think of some parks where they can make loops with hills (watch video of the 1983 world championships).
You weren't there. You don't know. Stop complaining about people giving back to the sport!
We don’t mind people giving back. But if they’re going to go through the challenge of getting pros at an XC meet then why not produce a better product for screen viewers. Isn’t that where the money is?
Wow. I thought you had to be exaggerating, but yea this looks absolutely terrible. It looks like a good 20% of it was on the track; plenty of parts criss-crossing on gravel and asphalt, and then narrow grassy patches on significant cambers...
Having ran Highschool XC in Ohio, there's tons of courses out there that would have been far, far better. It amazes me to think this is the best they could find. Perhaps they were really into the idea of easy spectating, and that's why they went with this one mile loop around the track, but that's no excuse really. Plenty of good 5k courses out there with lots of visibility for spectators. Idk, this does just look sad; guys ripping 4:30 pace on grass should always look hype but this is not it.
Also any hills ? I didn't see any to speak of... If you're going to run a flat, one mile loop race with 20% of the loop on the track... maybe just run on the track?
You don't even understand how to use the word "run."
You weren't there. You don't know. Stop complaining about people giving back to the sport!
We don’t mind people giving back. But if they’re going to go through the challenge of getting pros at an XC meet then why not produce a better product for screen viewers. Isn’t that where the money is?