Toughest HS X-C courses

That is correct, not only has nobody broken 16, but it is short of 3 miles. Over the years many high school stars have run there at the Bull Run invitational and MD State meet. Slow times are not due to a lack of talent. Maybe lil Centro can be the first one in November at states.

Yep, Hereford for sure. I'm from PA and ran there my freshman and senior years. I didn't even finish my freshman year actually; it was like 95 degrees, and I collapsed coming down the Dip towards the finish. The mats on the trees are put there for a reason. To give a glimpse as to how difficult the Hereford course is, I was a mid-17 min. 5k runner as a senior, and I only ran 19:20 on the 3.0 mile course. And I had a good race too.

where the west Virginia state meet was held about 6 years ago in Elkins is one of the toughest courses iv seen. Its odd if someone breaks 17 on that course

The PA state meet course at Hershey is a pretty tough one. It was even harder the first year they ran their when the course was backwards from what it is now. It also sucks, but that is beside the point.

Another PA (this is obviously me home state) course was slippery rock...real hilly.

very few people break 16 on either of those courses

Photo essay of Hereford...no doubt it is tough

The NYS Federation meet at Bowdoin Park. Very tough.

brandywine creek state park in wilmington, delaware

course record is 15:56 by sharif karie. next fastest time is by alan webb, 16:04. it's kinda fun watching the girls race at the salesianum invitational every year. although a lot of the mid-pack drops like flies going up the first hill, there's always an encore on the next one.

Morley Field, especially Upas Hill seems tougher than Hereford (by the photo essay).

Well tough cross country courses are dependant on how hard you go out.

I always heard Stanford's course was tough but never ran it.

In college Michigans home course was pretty tough. You finish on a long up hill.

The course that put the most hurt on me was Van Cortland parks 8k with all the crazy downhills and rough footing.

The high school state meet in ALabama (which I never ran) was on a course with high grass and a lot of hills. We used to think that was a hinderance for those kids in recruiting back before the internet and colleges looked at the state meet results.

The toughest course where I could never get in a rhythmn and hit you with steep hills at the worst moment was the All-Ohio course they run at Delaware, Ohio. Can be brutal.

- Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, in New York City is very difficult.

- As is Bowdoin State Park where the NY Federation Meet is held annually.

For the last few years my high school has run at the Big Ditch Invitational in Arroyo Grande, California. The course is very slow (all on thick grass and rough dirt) and their is a hill in the middle of the race that is almost a half-mile long and is very steep (about a 15% average grade). Michael Coe, the Footlocker Nationals runner-up, indoor 2 mile champion, and outdoor mile champion ran 16:45 or so on that course to give you an idea of how slow it is.

Parkside is pretty hard, though I've only run the 8k

The toughest course in Missouri by far has to be Sioux Passage. If anyone has ever run it you know what I mean. "Manmaker" is one of the biggest hills i've ever seen and runners go up it twice..

Wherever Marie Lawrence ran 19:43 or something for 5K unless she was just jogging but it looked like they were running through a lake or something on dyestat

Jeez I always thought half of Cali cross courses had long stretches of roads and pavement.

Never saw a cross country course that had a stretch on artificial ground until I saw a video of the West Footlocker Regional.

Lewis Morris park in NJ. There are two versions of the course and both are hard. There is this one hill that is one of the steepest I have ever seen, and that hill is run 3 times. I know a 9:24 3200, 15:40 5k runner that didn't even break 19 there.

Kansas City:

Shawnee Mission East High School, X-C course, (on campus), utilized for the big SM East Invitational, yearly that attracted the top talent from KC area and Wichita. Very hilly, very steep, short hill by the tennis courts and very long, moderate hills, up and down for the rest. the only flat part was the 200m finish on the track. I hated that course.

Judging by the pictures, Hereford looks like a breeze.

Arcadia in Kalamazoo is so tough, coaches stopped letting their teams run there. Now only the local teams do their workouts there.

Has anyone run Derryfield Park in Manchester, New Hampshire? The damn course is so cursedly difficult that you actually run up past a ski lift. Moreover, on the most freakishly steep section you must jump over two steeplechase barriers running across the cow path trail. Judging from the pictures, Hereford looks like a breeze in comparison.