Toughest cross country still in use in the NCAA

unless the CS has been changed, it is a fast course. It is hard packed and fast. Kinda like Mt Sac.

Nothing like Mt. Sac. This is true cross country. Not that you can't run fast there but you have to be great on the ups and downs.

Kind of sad most xc courses are just plopped on some golf course.

Buffalo Ranch. Boulder, CO.

wookie wrote:

Rim Rock, may not be overall "toughest," but is challenging and incorporates many classic course attributes that make it hard to run, like steep hills, trails, grass, woods, and even covered wooden bridges.

Rim rock?? Maybe because you might actually step on a rock is the only thing tough about that course...it has one hill about 1 m long!

nycer 8 wrote:

ja, even heps moved away from Van Cortlandt for the much faster princeton course. I know there were scheduling problems, but still.

I believe it was all of the construction going on in the park that resulted in Heps being moved to Princeton for the last two years. Heps XC will back at Princeton in 2013 but I think they are still considering Van Cortlandt after that...

Van Cortland Park and Belmont Plateau (both 8k courses) are very challenging. If you think the course at Lehigh is 'tough' you are very wrong.

Belmont Plateau is the hardest historic course I've ever run on. There was another random course that involved river crossings and a ton of rolling hills, but I don't think it's still in use (Maryville University in MO).

areusure? wrote:

wookie wrote:

Rim Rock, may not be overall "toughest," but is challenging and incorporates many classic course attributes that make it hard to run, like steep hills, trails, grass, woods, and even covered wooden bridges.

Rim rock?? Maybe because you might actually step on a rock is the only thing tough about that course...it has one hill about 1 m long!

You must have never run Rim Rock with that commentary.

Panorama Farms (UVA's course). The times aren't slow because the course is ~170 meters short.

Definitely harder than Van Cortlandt and Griak.

The iron price wrote:

Slippery rock, PA

+1. Brutal, especially with rain/snow

Patriot League Championships were run at Colgate University this year. That course is incredibly difficult

Franklin Park - Boston, MA (Several) Sub 30min guy Dan Chenoweth (Harvard) owns collegiate record at 31:03

Harry Lang - Hamilton, NY (Colgate)home of Patriot League Champs in 2009 and 2011 runs about one minute slower than average (say Lehigh)

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is pretty hard but not as hard as the old course.

Alfred University also quite hard

tri`056 wrote:

Griak is not a hard course, sorry. Come run some Canadian xc races

^THIS^

Each time I have raced in the USA, it almost feels like they are trying to make the course exactly 8000 or 10000m. I don't know about Griak since I have never ran there, but the two I've ran at are both much easier than each CIS-related course I've ran on.

Bottom line: the Purpose of Cross Country is to see in the various conditions given to you on the day of the race who can get from point A to point B first (ie, start to finish)

(NOT to see who is the fastest man on a hard-pack dirt speedway)

Army's course can be extremely tough depending on how many times you do the bottom of the ski slope and continue to climb past a couple of the back greens.

[quote]Grawk wrote:

Belmont Plateau is the hardest historic course I've ever run on.quote]

Belmont Plateau at Fairmount Park Philly? I raced there twice in college, once 8k once 10k, and don't remember it being anything too tough. My 8k time was decent compared to other races that year. My 10k time was a pr although not much to go by for me at that time. As I recall the Regionals course at East Stroudsburg was a lot tougher 10k than in Philly.

I say Virginina Military institute or our at UVA's xc course

st. francis in loretto has to be up there. word is that NEC's is being held there next cross season.

The Animal Within wrote:

Nothing like Mt. Sac. This is true cross country. Not that you can't run fast there but you have to be great on the ups and downs.

Kind of sad most xc courses are just plopped on some golf course.

The old 4 mile version of Mt. SAC was much tougher than the 4.2 mile version of Crystal Springs.

The old Mt. SAC 4 mile started by going up the back side of Reservoir, looping around, going down poopout, going up the back side of the switchbacks, then coming down the switchbacks, back up poop out around to reservoir, back up the switchbacks then finising where the HS course finishes.