Avocados Number wrote:
I suppose you could have, along with national "club" championships, national championships that pit counties against counties, cities against cities, states against states, and arbitrary collections of runners against arbitrary collections of runners (which, in fact, pretty much describes the national "club" championships).
What are city, county, state, and national boundaries if not arbitrary, especially in this day and age?
I understand that, in earlier years (back in the days of the AAU), there was real national competition among athletic clubs.
Not coincidentally, the US has collectively slowed in distance running since that time.
That may still be true in other countries. I don't think that club competition plays a significant role in U.S. distance running today at a national level.
Tell that to Joe Rubio and his Asics Aggies, Tom Derderian and his GBTC, Atlanta TC, Genesee Valley Harriers, See Jane Run, Team XO, Team Eugene, Philadelphia Runner TC, Wisconsin Runner RT, and the rest. It's from these ranks that come the runners who can progress to a level that the Hansons or Team USA might pick them up and go from there to national level success, and they push those above them in the competitive heirarchy. Without these clubs, the national post-collegiate distance scene would be incredibly paltry from the past decade-plus through today, we'd be on the level of the UK or Germany at this point. The clubs may not be what they once were (and not coincidentally, the US has collectively slowed in distance running since that time) but they have been and continue to be a saving grace over a span of time where USATF, the NCAA, and high school federations have done distance running no favors.