You should pay attention. The 10k is barely breathing in major championships.
LOL at the 10k fan boys... the only event they care about is dying out on the track.
You should pay attention. The 10k is barely breathing in major championships.
LOL at the 10k fan boys... the only event they care about is dying out on the track.
The 10K is more alive than cross country. There have been lots of good Olympic 10K races in the last 20 years. It is definitely worth watching. Where are all the great XC finishes as of late? I barely even recognize many of the top finishers at World XC. Japhet Kipyegon Korir?
Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:
[quote]Scobert Ranlon wrote:
Summer olympics for X-C. Maybe 13.1 miles. Throw in some tough mudder style obstacles. This will make lots of people happy at once (the "we need x-c in the olympics" crowd, the "we need a 1/2 marathon in the olympics" crowd, and the "we need the tough mudder in the olympics" crowd. Ok mostly joking about that last part, but make it a really rough x-c course)
Hmm... that's not a bad idea. A tough team cross-country race with elements of tough mudder (tho not quite as gimmicky) would actually make for very good teleivision. The bad news is it would have to be short enough to separate it from the marathon but longer than track races.
Maybe remove the 10,000 and keep it at ~12k ?
How about stadium XC? Course set out in the infield zig zagging back and forth with hills, log jumps and a bit of water perhaps? Similar set-up to a Super~Cross bike event. A team aspect to be included. Space would obviously be a limitation so..........make it a relay! Hey, I've saved our sport!
whatthewhatthewhat wrote:
Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:[quote]Scobert Ranlon wrote:
Summer olympics for X-C. Maybe 13.1 miles. Throw in some tough mudder style obstacles. This will make lots of people happy at once (the "we need x-c in the olympics" crowd, the "we need a 1/2 marathon in the olympics" crowd, and the "we need the tough mudder in the olympics" crowd. Ok mostly joking about that last part, but make it a really rough x-c course)
Hmm... that's not a bad idea. A tough team cross-country race with elements of tough mudder (tho not quite as gimmicky) would actually make for very good teleivision. The bad news is it would have to be short enough to separate it from the marathon but longer than track races.
Maybe remove the 10,000 and keep it at ~12k ?
My vote if for the Double Pikermi a the track. Imagine the excitement if someone got lapped and still won!
Stadium XC wrote:
How about stadium XC? Course set out in the infield zig zagging back and forth with hills, log jumps and a bit of water perhaps? Similar set-up to a Super~Cross bike event.
I agree, just once I want to see one of those dirt bike arenas rented out for a footrace. Indoor or outdoor.
This would obviously be the ideal situation. Could you imagine 60-100,000 fans packed in the same place to watch a cross country race with 800m-1k laps?
It would be a nuthouse!!! And great television,especially with the lead car filming the athletes from in front.
HardLoper wrote:
Stadium XC wrote:How about stadium XC? Course set out in the infield zig zagging back and forth with hills, log jumps and a bit of water perhaps? Similar set-up to a Super~Cross bike event.
I agree, just once I want to see one of those dirt bike arenas rented out for a footrace. Indoor or outdoor.
They have run world cross in an outdoor stadium before.
Haha nobody wants to watch Crossfit.
Stadium XC wrote:
How about stadium XC? Course set out in the infield zig zagging back and forth with hills, log jumps and a bit of water perhaps? Similar set-up to a Super~Cross bike event. A team aspect to be included. Space would obviously be a limitation so..........make it a relay! Hey, I've saved our sport!
Throw lions and bears in there and maybe sharks in the water jump. That would increase the ratings.
HardLoper wrote:
Stadium XC wrote:How about stadium XC? Course set out in the infield zig zagging back and forth with hills, log jumps and a bit of water perhaps? Similar set-up to a Super~Cross bike event.
I agree, just once I want to see one of those dirt bike arenas rented out for a footrace. Indoor or outdoor.
That's actually a genius idea. Tough Mudders are so popular - why not host a 5k before the race and charge $50 per entry and sell concessions?
Randy Oldman wrote:
Throw lions and bears in there and maybe sharks...
Sharks would be more appropriate for the last Olympic 10k--to be held in 2016. The 10k has already jumped the shark.
Star *69 wrote:
"Track medal hopefuls will skip the XC event if they think it will hurt their medal chances."
Ummm, you seem to be assuming the XC qualifiers will also be track qualifiers. Nope. Also, XC would have medals. Just like today, competitors get to pick which event to "try" to get into the Olympic.
You want the track stars to be running XC to make it interesting.
Most of the XC runners own't be doing the track events, yes.
But the main draw will be the track medalists, so you want them to get their track medal first.
agip wrote:
Star wrote:I'm telling you has to be AFTER the track distance races are run, not before.
Track medal hopefuls will skip the XC event if they think it will hurt their medal chances.
They are more likely to double back to do XC for fun after they have tried to accomplish their main goal.
The marathoners will just not be part of XC.
They are less likely to do it anyway.
Kenya will have a lot of leftover talent not on their track and marathon team and I'd bet the track 5K guys would fill the XC spots before their marathoners.
not a bad point.
but the track meet is usually at the end of the OG - I don't think they would change that. So having the xc race at the end of the track meet is not really practical, is it?
You have to spread out the 5000 and 10000 so people can double - so either way, you'll have the xc race right after either a 5k or 10k.
but if you have the xc race on day 1, you would have at least a week to recover, and likely much longer.
Sure, some people would skip the xc race to avoid tiring or injury, but likely just the potential medalists - that's only a few people.
The beauty of the xc race is the team element - have chips keeping a constant score on the screen - people would understand that.
And the visuals would be spectacular - the bright uniforms and flags - pure sport and spectacle.
First, I mentioned earlier that I would eliminate the track 10,000.
Track lasts over a week, so you get the steeple and 5000 out of the way early in the week (Friday prelim, Sunday final). The 1500 could be mid-week, final on Thursday.
Run XC on the final Sunday and the steeplers and 5Kers get 6 days of rest, anyone coming back form the 15 has two days of rest.
You keep your Olympic tradition of track being the second week of the Olympics, distance track racers can shoot for that medal, and you can have all of the top runners in the world (sans marathoners) go at it on XC on the last day of the Olympics or the penultimate day with the relays maybe.
To me if you want XC in the Olympics you want two things:
- Track is a priority, so no one doubling would run XC first.
- You want any track medalists you can get in the XC event to hype it.
cross country is a painfully boring thing to watch. Even after the pack breaks up and leaders emerge, you don't know the exact scores so you can't be sure which team is ahead until everyone finishes.
Its concept is also bogus, since it's always on short grass or mud. Real country is made of tall grass, forests, rocks and sand. It was probably invented by the same Scottish people who invented golf, hitting balls in cow pastures and running after them.
LOL, Bad Wigins-poo. Don't make your 10k-love so obvious.
Here is a real XC race. No mowed grass at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyQBSMeIhM
BTW. Steve Scott invented speed golf (hitting golf balls and running after them. His last name is Scott, therefore, by your way of thinking--if could be called that--it was invented by a Scottish person.
Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:
Hills and Thrills wrote:Letsrun has a surprising history of starting some pretty cool and useful movements among the running community.
Looking for ideas on turning my dreams of a Winter Olympic cross country race into reality.
If it doesn't start here, where will it?
Discus.
For the last freakin' time: the surface on which ALL winter olympic sports are performed is ice or snow. X-C *can* be performed on snow, but that is not how it usually performed, and that surface is not integral to its performance.
You want to push for a SUMMER OG X-C event, or a Winter OG snow shoe race.
That is all.
The part about the Winter Games being on snow and ice is accurate as of right now, but the new IOC President has said that he is open to changes. One person who follows the Olympic Movement closely said the idea is to put a few popular indoor sports in the summer games. That might create a new set of problems, but the IOC could change the charter easily enough.
The 10k is even more boring. Neither belongs on TV. But the downhill cheese race would be great TV.
Scott is a Scottish surname. Steve Scott didn't invent speed golf, he just reinvented it from his genetic memory. Except he forgot cow pastures. There are still people who play cow pasture golf, but cow pasture speed golf is the pure sport.
How about cheese rolling?
UNH wrote:
Hills and Thrills wrote:Letsrun has a surprising history of starting some pretty cool and useful movements among the running community.
Looking for ideas on turning my dreams of a Winter Olympic cross country race into reality.
If it doesn't start here, where will it?
Discus.
______________
Discus?
I threw the discus in high school. What does that have to do with Cross Country?
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