RI middle school X-country championships re-run due to some kids running wrong route

You'd think a race with that many people could just get a bike pacer to lead the front of the race if the place is confusing enough.

They did have a bike pacer for the high school state meet a week later at the same location

Follow-up: Less than 1/2 of the girls re-ran the race:

eastbayri.com

Middle School cross country championships marred by re-do controversy - EastBayRI.com

It was a race that Kickemuit Middle School 8th grader Eleanor Lial was looking forward to as her final race as a middle schooler. What happened was, by some accounts, unprecedented.

Link:eastbayri.com/stories/middle-school-cr...

What's the controversy?

Have them repeat it until they get it right. Same day. If it takes more than 3x, remove the port-a-potties. Also, call PD to threaten parents with loitering unless they move their cars to another lot that is at least 2 miles further from the course - no shuttle.

After the fifth attempt, have the parents run the course to see if they get it and whether there might be something genetic in the picture.

After the seventh attempt, tell them they give up their right to participate in a Jury. They would be peerless.

9 attempts and no Turkey for them this year. But if they complete within 10 attempts, give them a free Quail per family. Still yet, have the parents go through a full medical and psychological eval within 24 hours. Ask about cousins.

OK, why all this? They are kids. They made a mistake. Why does everything have to be a controversy? Why is winning by default so important?

Damn, yous take middle school XC seriously up in the Rhode Island. I respect that.

DQs.

you shouldn't get dispensation for misreading the map and skipping the orientation because you think you know the course.

i also don't like the smell of anything that feels like if the "wrong" people win in a strange situation, due to the mistaken assumptions of the "right" ones, it needs to be fixed so the right people get another chance.

Whoever won the first race is the winner. End of story.

You really remember an entire XC course from one walk through? I sure don't. I might remember a landmark and I try to remember the hills and their proximity to each other.

The problem seems to be that the course was incorrectly marked, and the wrong path wasn't blocked off, allowing people to run the wrong way. Never should have happened.

That being said, the girls that went the right way shouldn't have to re-run. Their times should stand.

Wow that's really interesting

I agree. And these are junior high girls. They can't read naps nor can they remember a course after walking it. So unless the course was clearly marked, something needs to be done.

Can you read naps?

I guess not. I can't type either.

sorry but in my day we jogged every single XC course as combined orientation and shakedown lap after we arrived. this is some arrogant kids who thought they were going to win the race didn't do their homework and that day they paid for it. and we're gonna bail them out.

there was no confusion for the boys. there was no confusion for the vast majority of the girls. this is like 8 girls who had run a different course before, made the wrong turn. the girl who won said to herself, that's the wrong turn, and didn't follow. you're implying it was confusing for everyone but apparently almost else knew where to go. couldn't have been that crazy. i get if 1/3 get lost and confusion is rampant. if everybody but 8 people out of a few hundred knew the right path -- and the ones who missed it skipped their warmup lap -- that's the 8 people's problem.

They went the wrong way. That means it was poorly marked amd confusing. They didn't do it on purpose so by definition, they were confused.

i don't think it was that confusing if 142 other people found their way round, in part because they likely read the map and did the warmup lap. we should do things for objective reasons and not because a handful got confused. whether it's objectively confusing is about the whole and not the subjective issues of a handful.

also bears noting that less than half of the 150 runners showed for the re-run, suggesting they chose the wrong fix.

last, if your concern is some of the faster runners missed the turn, the race decides who the winners are. you don't go back and fix things to make the standings come out right. or why do we run the races?

>>sorry but in my day we jogged every single XC course as combined orientation and shakedown lap after we arrived.<<

That still happens to this day, doesn't it? Every school with a decent coach does this, right?