Not Rupp Certified: NOP not racing at Club Nats - Course Too Tough

I was actually very surprised the NOP signed up and I assumed they did not understand what the course would be like....this is their career....its a job.....if it were my job I might not risk it for a fun run. I worked on the course, and I'm running it, for fun! It does not make me lose respect for anyone who runs as a job and has to protect their future......it is the most challenging club nationals course I have ever seen.....and I have been running for a long time.

I jogged the course this afternoon and after a couple loops I turned to a teammate and said that if I were alberto salazar I wouldn't let Centro [or Jordan] run this course.

Between the snow-and-mud "aggro-crag" first/final 200m, the icy "mountain goat" uphill right turn, and numerous turned-over earth sections of the course, this is not a course for a world-championship contender.

When I run courses like this I always wonder if the meet directors/designers somehow think xc = trail-running-like conditions. If I want to injury myself I'd do a Spartan race.

Replying to the other thread, I bet 15 people go down, 5 with injuries that put them out for a few weeks/month.

Have fun on your "Warrior Dash" wannabe fun run, tough-guys. I'll be nice and cosy getting a deep-tissue massage after my 8 x 600 in 1:30 (2 min. recovery), and will be knocking down 3:56.xx at the Dempsey in six weeks while you little guys chase your sub-16 minute 5ks.

great lakes of utah by another wrote:

Replying to the other thread, I bet 15 people go down, 5 with injuries that put them out for a few weeks/month.

Is Chris Derrick going to be there to watch? I'd like to get his opinion (or anyone who went to World XC in Poland for the Miracle on Dirt).

In Poland, I said, "There is no way the NCAA coaches would let a race be run in these conditions. Everyone would be freaking out thinking it was dangerous."

In fact,I talked to an NCAA coach who told me he wanted to pull out his junior athlete from the race. In the end, they ran the race and guess what - everything was 100% fine.

As a result, I'd 100% normally say you are over-reacting but since were dealing with the animal that is Max King and he's a Cornell legend, I guess it's possible.

I certainly don't think the xc should be trail running and Max has a trial background but i also dont think xc should be a track meet on grass. So I'd love to hear what Derrick or someone like that thinks.

This is too funny

You idiots make fun of the pace of trail runners and then you are too scared to even try a xc course that would be considered extremely easy by most trail runners.

We won't forget this the next time we see your idiocy posted about something you are too chicken to try.

rojo wrote:

Don't take it so personally. People across the globe rip our great country of the USA for the same reason (we have an awful lot of debt) but secretly wish they could be a part of it. It's the same things in sports. Many fans rip the Yankees/NOP but if given the a part to be a part of it, they wouldn't turn it down.

It would be worth your while to learn more about how the world views america

rojo wrote:

great lakes of utah by another wrote:

Replying to the other thread, I bet 15 people go down, 5 with injuries that put them out for a few weeks/month.

In Poland, I said, "There is no way the NCAA coaches would let a race be run in these conditions. Everyone would be freaking out thinking it was dangerous."

...

I certainly don't think the xc should be trail running and Max has a trial background but i also dont think xc should be a track meet on grass. So I'd love to hear what Derrick or someone like that thinks.

I wasn't in Poland so I can't compare but in a world championship scenario you bite the bullet. As for the club guys and gals in Bend, this is their championship so they too will bite the bullet. Centro/Jordan have a different ceiling and I can't fault them for taking a pass.

So what is your definition of an xc course? We would all agree its a middle ground between trails and jogging around a flat field. I don't mind tough courses, and some of the issues with the course are exacerbated by the snow and ice that will hopefully be gone tomorrow, but when you hit a section over-turned earth you have to ask yourself what is this doing on an xc course. With that said, for all we know these sections are a function of the golf course's maintenance and had nothing to do with the design of the course. Outside of these few things, the course, in general, will make for a challenging race.

Trail runners are arrogant.

This course got some hair on its balls!

It was just a few months ago that the Oregon Project had three guys in the lead (not the lead pack, in The Lead) with less than a mile to go in the World Championship 10,000 final. Then there was Centrowitz (Silver) and Cain making the 1500 final as a high schooler. Oh, not to forget how they destroyed everyone at the USA Championships, as well.

After the drought we went through on the track for so many years, I'm a huge fan of the Oregon Project. That team goes all in when it matters and doesn't give a f$&k who anyone else is. They compete. If this team is a bunch of pussies, what does this make the rest of us?

DKCCC wrote:

I'm tired of people doing this. It happened with doping speculation about Mosier in the WCs and it's happening again. You don't know the whole story don't make crap up. Just because it's probably true that they didn't like the course doesn't mean it is true. Don't put it in thread titles and make people think that it's really true.

If you think something is true just because it's the title of a thread, you might be in the wrong place. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to believe everything you see on the internet?

That being said, I'm pretty sure it's true anyway.

Good night wrote:

It was just a few months ago that the Oregon Project had three guys in the lead (not the lead pack, in The Lead) with less than a mile to go in the World Championship 10,000 final. Then there was Centrowitz (Silver) and Cain making the 1500 final as a high schooler. Oh, not to forget how they destroyed everyone at the USA Championships, as well.

After the drought we went through on the track for so many years, I'm a huge fan of the Oregon Project. That team goes all in when it matters and doesn't give a f$&k who anyone else is. They compete. If this team is a bunch of pussies, what does this make the rest of us?

That's great, sounds like they're a bunch of good track runners. Too bad they aren't any good at cross country, or they'd actually come out and race on something slightly more difficult than a golf course.

I mean, what's the worst that's going to happen here, a sprained ankle? Can you imagine ANY other professional athlete sitting out a game on account of the conditions? You think Bekele in his prime would wimp out of a race because it was too hard?

I absolutely think Bekele would opt out of a local Addis Ababa race if it would not be what he expected. You see Bekele when focused on big payday races or championships. He does not back out of those and neither do NOPers.

Good night wrote:

I mean, what's the worst that's going to happen here, a sprained ankle? Can you imagine ANY other professional athlete sitting out a game on account of the conditions? You think Bekele in his prime would wimp out of a race because it was too hard?

Ho Hum wrote:

That's great, sounds like they're a bunch of good track runners. Too bad they aren't any good at cross country, or they'd actually come out and race on something slightly more difficult than a golf course.

Grow up "Ho Hum." If they hadn't tweeted this it would have never crossed your mind that Nike Oregon Project would even consider running a second-tier domestic championship.

If Max is going to set up a race anything like Jerry would, he's out there with a hose right now placing one more little surprise for everyone. This makes me smile.

I couldn't agree with Rojo more!

The "Rupp certified" joke was funny the first 500 times, but not anymore.

Shannon Rowbury is running, isn't she from NOP?

[/quote] Once this is confirmed as true, crap talk all you want.

(I don't like Alberto/NOP either but I don't think this withdrawal from Club Nats is the reason why Rupp will be viewed as a "successful sissy". It's that he's not seen as very masculine (see: face, voice, way he carries himself, way he races, facemask for pollen). You could almost say he is the antithesis of Pre. Face it A Duck, Letsrunners want a hero that is tough, manly, and leaves the competition in the dust. Unfortunately Rupp is only tough. Plus that reputation doesn't always have to spread to his teammates.)[/quote]

Tough enough for a silver medal? Maybe sometimes it takes a well thought out and yes, seemingly "sissier" route in order to look at the long term plan. If NOP chooses to stick to their plan and not mess around with club nats...so be it. Seems to work.

That being said, disappointed and frustrated in their withdrawal, for I do think it would be a great testament if they ran.