Conto wrote:
Are kids really that fast these days or are the courses in California short or pancake flat? The benchmark course back in the day for CT HS runners was Wickham Park. If you broke 16:00 there you were an absolute stud and likely state champion (or top 2 or 3). Breaking 16:00 likely meant you were a sub 4:15/9:00 guy on the track.
When I hear things like a 10:25 guy wanting to run 16low in cross... all I can think about is "you're nuts". Focus on breaking 17:00... then 16:30. That seems a lot more realistic at this stage.
Its similar for college cross country. "Everyone" in the south and west runs 25:00 for cross country. I'm used to VCP (old school course)... where 25:00 meant you're likely flirting with 14:00 on the track. Meanwhile, I see lots of these college kids with "25:00" cross PRs running not able to break 15:00.
Thoughts?
You are right that Northeast courses are usually tougher/slower than courses in California, including Wickham compared to Woodward... but Mt. SAC's normal course is only 2.9-3 miles, rather than a full 5k. The shorter Mt. SAC course is nearly a minute faster than Wickham, and Woodward is probably 30-40 seconds faster than Wickham.