Things you see and hear again and again at cross country meets

Parents screaming for/at their kid who is never far enough ahead to satisfy mom or dad.

In our area - srawny boys who take their shirts off as soon as they are out of the chute.

Spectator's trying to decipher the course map by turning it around and around in circles.

1. Coaches or parents yelling "SPRINT!!!" at their athletes in the last 100 meters of the race.

2. Parents asking their kids "Was that a PR?"

3. Kids running around barefoot after their race.

4. Athletes asking their coach "When do we warmup?"

5. If a person won their race by a sizeable margin: "I could have run faster with better competition."

6. "Do we have to cool-down?"

7. "Where do you want to go eat after the meet?"

8. "Who brought snacks???"

d3 girls talking about their stress fractures

"pick it up!"

"Stay in contact!"

"You can do it!"- channeling adam sandler.

"Lets go ___"

Watch and learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qvN3Omn4is

"Go to your arms"

"Run faster"

"She/he is more tired than you" as they point to the runner in front of their child or athlete

"Get the girl in blue, or red, or black, etc."

After the race "why didn't you run faster", or "was it hot out there" on a 90 degree day,

Parents smoking right next to the course.

Kids walk/slow jogging the entire race and then sprinting like crazy the last 100 meters and almost everyone cheering like crazy for the "amazing" kick.

The embarrassing enthusiastic pity clap and cheering for the kid in last place.

The spectators that never move more than 10 feet and see the start and finish, even on a good spectator course where they could see them a bunch of times with just a little walking.

The parents trying to take their kid home 2 minutes after their race is done.

The aggressive lead cart guy that makes the spectators scatter.

Ok, I need to work, but could come up with more.

Have a coach shouting advice to his runner and the opposition using that advice to beat him

I used to use that to out-sprint people (of course usually well back in field but there you go!

I've also seen my dad's friend big Bren (and ex runner) shouting out to his kid a very long time ago. Come on you're not even trying!

His kid was finishing 4th in some big race and was literally frothing at them mouth. After he race the poor kid looked like a horse after a hot Derby

Or, "drive the arms." Most kids are a disaster of running form.

I never hear this.

Absolutely. "Go get that guy! He is dyyyying!"

Yup.

Never really heard either. The latter situation doesn't really apply in WA State.

Don't think I've ever seen it, thankfully.

Seriously...every freaking race. A fellow coach of mine calls this "whipped cream on sh*t"...."it looks good, but it's not."

Also, kids running the first 100 meters at 14:00 pace, then promptly slowing to their typical 20:00 pace.

My personal pet peeve. I hate it. Every time I rant about it, people think I'm a jerk. But seriously, why does the slowest runner deserve way more applause than every other runner? It's ridiculous. In most cases, it seems more likely that he/she worked less hard than the average runner, not more hard.

Yup. Although, I also love the coaches/fans who sprint like bats out of hell just to catch one more glimpse of the runners. I'm absolutely guilty of it. Seeing the kids race gets my adrenaline pumping.

Right. As if you'd take your daughter home mid-way through the 3rd quarter of her basketball game.

I also enjoy the guy on the lead bicycle decked out like he's about to ride down the Champs Elysees on the final stage of the TDF. Let's face it though, cyclists always look this ridiculous.

Let me help you out:

- Kids warming up and then standing around for 15 minutes before the race starts

- Way before the gun, one kid takes off his sweats and then every kid around him frantically does the same

- Runners walking around half-naked after their race is over

- Slow kids heel striking while running up hill (an incredibly difficult thing to do)

- Kids immediately asking for their time after the race is over. I had one kid ask me for his time literally AS he crossed the line.

- Out of shape parents making self-deprecating jokes about their tendency to fatigue while simply DRIVING 5K

I surely could go on...

LOOKING GOOD!!

It would probably be interesting if you took out the cross country "theme" and instead focused on developing interesting characters.

Parents complaining about how dangerous it is that their children train on the roads near their school.

"You gotta move up!"

"Go now, {insert name}!"

At the beginning of Mile 3: "YOU GOTTA GO NOW!!!"

Tried and true classic in the Old Dominion.

Big Lizard in My Backyard wrote:

At the beginning of Mile 3: "YOU GOTTA GO NOW!!!"

Afterwards I had the dry heaves for an hour.

"- Out of shape parents making self-deprecating jokes about their tendency to fatigue while simply DRIVING 5K"

Man, I do hate that. A similar bend on the same theme is the parent, that no matter how bad the team ran, says "I think it's just great that they can even run 3 miles."

WTF do you think we do at practice ever day? Covering the distance is not even in question! If someone were to go to xc practice @ day and then couldnt run 3 miles they'd have to suffer from some kinda terrible medical condition.

"I had a dream last night that a hamburger was eating ME."

My HS coach would stand about a half mile from the finish and yell at us to sprint it in. Sure buddy, I'll just drop a quick 800 here for ya...no problem. Had I been able to speak I may have said something regretful.