Brainstorm What USA XC Needs To Become More Popular

Allow gambling like in horse races. Big purses, too.

beer

I definitely hope Pete Julian takes the popularity he created for Nats and tries to carry it over to his Best XC race next year. I think he has proven there is an audience in Boulder for this stuff, and there are local sponsors too.

I'm not sure if any regulations would get in the way, but would there be a chance to build on other popular events? Like an open wave the day of NCAA Championships, or Footlocker? The courses are already setup, the sponsors and fans are already there. It seems like it would be a pretty simple addition. The only drawback I can see is that an open race would steal some of the spotlight from the students.

And isn't there anyone from Nike that reads these boards? Nike, if you could make XC races as popular as road running, every jogger in America would be lined up to buy XC spikes for their local XC races. Why doesn't Nike have marketing money behind this? I think most rec runners would really enjoy XC races as much, or maybe more than their local 5k's that are so damn popular.

xc nats MUST BE HELD on a diff weekend than tyson.

the loc is responsible for the locals turnout. boulder did a good job, has the org already for bolder boulder etc. vcp was a dud. portland was a dud. houston was a dud.

xc nats is a natl meet that should have had intl significance. usatf should hire natl level promoters to spread info to the media, tv, sprtwriters. tie more of the prizes to world xc.

there should be 1 hr t.v. for xc nats. not the 10 mins they had this time, what an insult.

have the top runners who qualify go to worlds and do their best, no one expects them to win, but there is honor in trying your best and losing, it is a disgrace to just not compete. and cut the excuses like i need to get a shot if i go there, it is a long plane trip and stop all the other baloney excuses.

1 mo thing. have a fan day at the hotel b4 the competition. let the kiddies get autographs, snaps with the studs and babes. theres nothing more important than ispiring new runners. that's your fan base, where the bucks come from.

The success of this years event came solely from Pete Julian and his staff. They were the ones to go out and get the sponsorship dollars, promote the event and pretty much everything else. USATF did very little as usual. The key to having successful races year in and year out is for USATF to go out and seek the best race directors and the best running clubs and see if they would be interested in hosting events. They also should screen candidates to see if they can market events properly. Every meet held in a metropolitan area should have at least 3,000 high school athletes at the event.

I also agree with the above comments...beer and autography signings would both be huge!

I love your idea of creating a cross country "season" culminating in the national championships which leads to the world championships. I would really enjoy following a season of maybe 4 or 5 big cross country meets around the country over the course of 3 months or so leading up to nationals.

However, this will probably never happen due to the reasons you mentioned.

I think the old system where nationals was run in November was better. Basically, everyone showed up because there was nothing else on the horizon to interfere with it. Unless you were injured, there was no reason not to be there. National class runners could have decent races and still finish 30th or 40th. Sometimes, top collegians would jump in the race (what did they have to lose? indoor didn't start for weeks). I attended 2 during the early/mid 90s and they were both fantastic and incredibly deep races. Even with the end of the 4K (giving us a single race again), the February race is a shadow of the former November incarnation. I realize the desire to put the nationals in line with the Worlds schedule, but I saw nothing wrong with having a huge and well attended nationals in November during our cross country season followed by a February Worlds trials race for people who actually planned to run Worlds. Just my two cents.

USA Cross this year 2007 was a dismal failure at the national and international level. Yes, Pete Julian, and the Boulder folks put on a good Christmas Day Run type event. The USATF staff left the ball at home and didn't promote the meet, they screwed up the coordinations, etc. A total fiasco. I hope USATF learned some lessons and will do a better job in San Diego.

Have a cart that drives around the course launching free T-shirts to the crowd. Some free giveaway for the kids when they enter, and $1 beer for the grownups.

No need to re-invent the wheel. There're some good suggestions above, but we can do more.

1) Allow full contact. Tackling and everything. The only rule is that you can't touch a runner lapping you. Other than that - free for all.

2) Girls may not be as interested in what I've ingeniously proposed above. So, may I also suggest that girls (surgically enhanced, and with sparse clothing, of course) run around from one point on the course to cheer. The winner can be determined after the finish of the race by a vote.

I do not know why we do not follow a proven formula more.

Minefields

Napalm

10-15 foot cliffs

Intermediate checkpoints that give you bonuses (like TdF)

Livestock allowed to roam free on the course (bison, goats, cows, even chickens)

Beer stops (mandatory chug every so often)

One weapon per runner (no guns allowed, but pepper spray, chains, and nightsticks encouraged)

also

definitely gambling like at the horse track

cull the bottom 10% of the field after each 2K lap (forced DNF)

T-Shirt launcher is a great idea, as is beer sales.

Lap / card girls

http://www.ringsports.com/_media/2005/funstuff/knockout_girl/rosanna_1_inside.jpg

This would be awesome at track events! Or some hotie with a big gun to start the events.

Music

Citizen race

Elite meet and greet

2 weeks after the event - public flogging of elites who qualified for the event, but choose not to go - medical exemptions accepted, but "psychotrauma" is not allowed and neither is "a cold" or "le flu". 25% of winnings are given on the day of the trials event, 75% is given upon completion of a succesful "good faith effort" at the world event.

DVD/Video of all races.

How about professional teams? After all XC is supposed to be a team sport. This would keep it interesting to see where the 5th and even 6th and 7th runners place.

Seriously if NASCAR can make tin cans going around in circles one of the most popular sport in America there are no excuses for not making XC more popular.

If someone could get some sponsors to contract some teams and have them go at it in a scheduled season? Who knows?

Team concept is a great idea. A "season" where runners and teams can accumulate points- teams could be shoe (or other sponsor) plus geograhic identification.

Agree completely. Having the national X-C season follow the HS and collegiate season--that is, as a fall sport--makes major sense. It's fine for the worlds to be in March, but the X-C championship "season" should be November or early December.

LAGAT.