To a degree I agree with rojo. There are many variables here. The biggest, is XC has been bastardized in this country to the point where it's unrecognizable. Secondly, USATF needs to take a serious look at it's athlete support. As it currently stands, the administrators make a $hitload of money and up and coming athletes get nothing. Giving $12,000 stipends to pros with 6 figure contracts makes no sense. There was a time when top tier xc runners were marketable. Somebody already mentioned Pat and certainly Lynn was. The top athletes do have some power here, they need to use it. Gone are the days of Deek, Lopes, Ovett and Bayi in the same race.
For those that are saying "Australia is too far away, man" - remember, it's the trip that every Australian pro has to make every year to compete in international meets.
The rest of the world has to do it once, in February - when training for a major championship won't be all that disrupted - and you're all bawling your eyes out.
Most of these runners "trying to get their 10k qualifiers" a.) will NEVER make national team for a World Athletics Championship event and b.) are missing an chance to get a qualifier through top 15 finish at World Cross. Also, if the US were to send their "A" teams," there is a good chance of going home with a MEDAL (in the team race), something that is completely out of reach for any current US 10k runner on the track (outside of maybe Grant Fischer).
Pros should run World Cross, an actual WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP event where one can earn/wear the USA jersey, legitimately compete for prestigious hardware, and earn a 10k qualifier in the process. I doubt most pros will look back on their career and be glad they instead ran in a meet no one paid attention to (outside of a dozen or so running dorks) because they hoped to earn a qualifier to an event they most likely didn't end up earning a spot for.
Unless they have financial (dis)incentives in their sponsorship contracts, I don't why top US athletes throw away these opportunities to do something incredibly special.
You’ve answered your own question(s), it’s because there’s no realistically significant financial incentive. The OP thinks US runners can pay their bills from the prestige that exists in his own mind like Marie Antoinette thinks the peasants should eat cake. So ridiculously out of touch. I love xc, but outside of the scholastic setting it’s the most niche of sports in the USA and that’s not going to just magically change on its own. Let me guess, the live stream will be paywalled on a subscription service late at night in the US. The viewership is sure to be in the dozens. If people aren’t watching it in numbers, there’s no marketability coming out of it. Might as well just call it a virtual race.
Most of these runners "trying to get their 10k qualifiers" a.) will NEVER make national team for a World Athletics Championship event and b.) are missing an chance to get a qualifier through top 15 finish at World Cross. Also, if the US were to send their "A" teams," there is a good chance of going home with a MEDAL (in the team race), something that is completely out of reach for any current US 10k runner on the track (outside of maybe Grant Fischer).
Pros should run World Cross, an actual WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP event where one can earn/wear the USA jersey, legitimately compete for prestigious hardware, and earn a 10k qualifier in the process. I doubt most pros will look back on their career and be glad they instead ran in a meet no one paid attention to (outside of a dozen or so running dorks) because they hoped to earn a qualifier to an event they most likely didn't end up earning a spot for.
Unless they have financial (dis)incentives in their sponsorship contracts, I don't why top US athletes throw away these opportunities to do something incredibly special.
You really think that people that can't hit the 10K qualifier on the track, will suddenly be able to get a qualifier by finishing top 15 at World XC? Most guys are just trying to hit the US qualifier, forget the World's qualifying.
Also, nobody cares about getting a team medal at World XC, its just not relevant. Did you know that Bahrain got Bronze at World XC in 2015? Of course not, nobody knows that because it doesn't matter.
So many keyboard warriors here think the athletes should conform their schedule to what they want to see instead of whats best for the athlete. Maybe you should be more upset with the governing bodies that can't figure out a way to incentivize XC racing, because it really makes no financial sense for the vast majority of pro runners.
1.) A team medal is better than NO medal, which barely any US runners have a chance of walking away from their career with. In that vein, making a US Cross team is better than making no US track team, which again, most will not make.
2.) I distinctly remember the 2013 "Miracle in the Dirt" team - they all seemed super pumped when they learned they got silver. And the letsrun forums certainly exploded over it. And also, how many people remember the results from any actual track event, including medalists?
3.) I, as a fan, want to see the US do well at World XC instead of perpetually underperform because our top athletes are sitting out. It'd be nice to see some of the top athletes run and help in the team score instead of go all in for US Champs hoping and then walk away with nothing and be forgotten about.
It's funny because you look at the US men's teams from the 80s, and they WERE competing at World Cross then going to worlds/running marathons and doing better than the 10k/marathon crop now, even factoring in the emergence of the East African teams.
Those that have a chance to medal at this years WC have their sights set on Budapest.
I am a big fan of XC but it is not logical to disrupt training periods (especially altitude camps at critical times) to travel to Australia. That would disrupt at minimum two weeks (if not more) of training (travel, acclimation to and from). Perhaps athletes and coaches attitudes would be different if this event were held in the northern hemisphere. Nevertheless, there are several other aspects that goes into racing this event or not.
Cross Country running is a tough sport and that is what makes it great to run and watch. However, it carries a risk of injury/tweaking something that could easily set one back a few weeks. Far too risky during a WC year and when incentives (contractual, financial, etc.) just aren’t there, the majority of top guys and gals that have a chance to medal on the track will not go.
If XC running became an Olympic or Diamond League event, focus and incentives would change and we would see a resurgence in XC. It can be a very fan centric event and dynamic to watch due to terrain/weather and so forth. Euro XC Championships was a great event but it was held in December and therefore not disruptive time wise during a lead up to outdoor season.
Yes, back in the day 70’s and 80’s it seemed most of the top names competed at World XC, that was then, competition is now far more fierce and East African dominant in distance events, training now is far more specialized, competing for medals is far more difficult now then it was back then.
You're making this too complicated. It's a 10k in Jan and a 10k in Feb.
If this would "disrupt at minumum two weeks (if not more) of training" these athletes need to find different coaches. They are already disrupting traning for the races they would do otherwise which in some cases is past the date of world cross. You'd be spending a couple extra travel days to do a global championship that you could be relevant at. Also, how often do runners of any level, especially pro, tweak a muscle or get injured in a XC race?
It's a boring course in the middle of a cow field near a small town famous for its gold rush days and a once a year car race. An opportunity was missed to set a spectacular course near a more populated area that could handle the accommodation and crowds. Oh how I'd have loved to see athletes run over Palm Beach (how Australian is that SlowMo!), and up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse. The drone footage of such a wonderful backdrop would have been a sight! Or any number of other spectacular and scenic venues where the event could "sell" the region. Bathurst is unfortunately not that destination. International runners who know where they're heading are not going to get excited at the prospect of a trip there for anything other than the race - forgettable - could have been anywhere. Bathurst is a perfectly fine place to live, unspoiled by any coal mines or fracking that's the blight of many other Australian rural towns, but it's not exactly a destination to attract international visitors/crowds either.
Last Friday on our Friday 15 podcast, we were talking about World XC. I am starting to get excited as a) it's always an amazing event and b) this year it's in Australia and c) the date has been moved up to mid-February (Feb 18). World Athletics has probably moved the date way up from last time (March 30 in 2019) so it won't interfere with outdoor track preparations.
Who wouldn't want to go? In my book, no one.
So here's the statement I made, "Any and all US long-distance pros that skip the event should have their pro card stripped."
I don't want to hear " But we need to get our 10,000 qualifiers so we can go to Worlds." THIS IS WORLDS. IT"S WORLD XC where you are actually relevant. On the men's side, all US pros not named Grant Fisher have no shot at a medal on the track anyway so let's go to the 1 Worlds we know you can make and then worry about that 27:10 standard/world ranking later.
On the women's side, a US team of Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer, Alicia Monson and somoene else has a great shot at a medal.
Let's do this.
Top HS U20s should attend as well. Top National HS Track meets, like Brooks PR, arent until summer. This meet once in lifetime opportunity with free gear, free travel and opportunities to meet top runners from around the world both pro and their age. Really nothing like it. College freshman should also consider redshirting indoor to go, I mean world XC and extra year of eligibility at the end of the career.
Who wouldn't want to go to Australia? I could understand not wanting to go to Europe or Africa, but Australia is a bucket list destination. Beautiful beaches, unique flora and fauna, beautiful women, great fishing, etc. Other than a lot of things that can kill a person, I can't see not wanting to go there for a paid vacation.
Hell if I was the BTC. I'd go there then make a training camp out of it afterwards at Falls Creek. Where would you rather be in February? Australia? Or Dumpy Eugene? Or whever they are putting their altittude camp this year?
I know where we can find $3.8 million to fund a very robust pro cross country program in the US.
Amazing post.
Can we stop with this nonsense about poorly paid distance runners? Joe Klecker, Fisher, etc make bank.
Plus I blame the shoe companies. Change the damn contracts. Put incentives in there for World XC/World Indoors. But fans also need to talk with their wallets. If a runner never races, then don't buy those shoes.
Thanks for stirring the pot as usual. I'm sure a lot of guys will skip the 20 hour flight to go race at BU instead. Have their pro cards stripped?
Were you ever a pro runner?
People can schedule themselves. I'm sure they've had their plans for a while.
John Kellogg rarely had weldon race. When I coach people, I rarely want them racing either.
But I think a big part of my role now is to be the voice of the fans.
Only somewhat related, I honestly think there should be a fan union for pro sports. How cool would it be if we strated a fan union in the US?I was thinking for the major sports. No, after watching 162 games of baseball, you aren't putting the playoff game at 1 pm on a workday making it hard for people to watch. You aren't spending $2 billion of taxpayer dollars on some boon doggle of a stadium to benefit a billionaire.
As a side note, I was at Champs XC on Saturday and I asked 6 of the kids if they were going to try to make the u20 world xc team. None of them even knew about it.
When I explained it to them, that they would get a free trip and get to represent the USA, they all said they weren't interested. They all wanted to focus on indoor track.
Representing the USA in international xc just doesn't seem to be a popular thing to do. Most runners have other priorities.
Is this a joke? Most depressing thing ever. But I heard Leo and Lex want to do it. Isn't that true?
the rojo hate on this forum is pathetic. it’s almost like it’s cool to disagree with and hate on rojo. get over your freaking selves, the guy is right about this. if you are good enough to go to XC world champs, you go. or you should not be paid to run.
Did Weldon go when he was top tier American 10,000 m runner?
I really don’t recall posts about that back then.
He ran US xc as did I. I was hurt and was like 10th to last or something. We sucked at XC.
HE ran World Half. He would have sold his soul to run World xc.
But LOTs of blame goes to World xc. They should send people to worlds with country quotas. We shouldn't have a system where guys skip out on a world championship where they are the sole focus of themeet to try to qualify for another worlds where they are 1 of nearly 40 events.
Thanks for stirring the pot as usual. I'm sure a lot of guys will skip the 20 hour flight to go race at BU instead. Have their pro cards stripped?
Were you ever a pro runner?
People can schedule themselves. I'm sure they've had their plans for a while.
John Kellogg rarely had weldon race. When I coach people, I rarely want them racing either.
But I think a big part of my role now is to be the voice of the fans.
This is very revealing. So your stance is predicated largely on your own situation. You are advocating that these runners (who might have coaches, who like you, rarely want them to race) contest an event or lose their professional card, whatever that means. So you might be advocating as a fan for these athletes to do something you admit you might not want them to do if you were their coach. So you are sort of a journalist who sees his role as being a voice of the fans. I appreciate your candor.
What if there are pros that don't like going that far away? Seems like could be good for those willing to spend a lengthy time in Australia and enjoy some warm weather training during the NH winter.
Lol, "warm", mate, February is friggin' hot and odds are the day of XC will be too. Anything from max 25° to 30°+ centigrade, course they could be lucky and get a cooler day.
Don't forget too, once you fly in to Sydney and have finished stuffing around you've then got around a four hour drive to Bathurst.
I competed in the world XC championship for juniors in 1994. i finished way back (was sick on penicillin, would have finished far back anyway). Daniel Komen got silver in that race.
The year after I ended my running career due to injuries and surgeries. I can still brag about having run against Daniel Komen and having competed in a world championship.
Rojo is right here. Unless you have a real chance of winning a medal in another championship and this one is going to interfere with that, you have no reason not to run this. Running is your job.
Sadly, World XC just ain't what it used to be, and certainly ain't what it used to be being held in Bathurst.
Repeating I know, back in the day it used to be the best distance runners from all events, marathon, track, road, XC, etc. Not any more, these days big money coming up in March onwards for road, marathons, track, can't blame them for prioritising. If it was in Europe it may have seen a bit more enthusiasm.
So you need to get over it Rojo, as 'I am Sam' posted "even Sydneysiders won't go", not too many of them anyway.