Men's Roy Griak 2015- Why did everybody run so slow?

Your answer is multifactorial:

1. Unlike most xc courses outside of the Midwest, this is actually 8k

2. Unlike virtually ever large scale invitational, this is a tough course. The climbs, turns, and sogginess add at least 90 seconds to the finish times above the typical big invitational.

3. This year was hot.

4. This was the least competitive field for D1 men and women at Griak in my memory---probably ever. The that finished 3 through 15 that showed just aren't elite teams.

just a ponder in the pond wrote:

Have you looked back at years past? D3 the teams were garbage, D2 was okay and D1 barely cracked 25. Field is just watered down, not such a prestigious meet. It is a shame the first Roy Griak meet without him wasn't a huge thing. Maybe they should down the $350/gender entry fee and more teams would come...

The $350 entry fee has very little to do with field quality or size. Entry fee is such a tiny proportion of the costs associated with traveling to a meet. Many teams are taking flights to meets, and spending 2 evenings in a hotel. Additionally, per diem food per athlete is roughly $50/day. Those costs come up to about $500/runner or $10,000 for a mens/womens team of 10 per gender. $350 is saved by taking one fewer athlete, one fewer coach, one fewer trainer, etc... And, in reality, any other meet may still be $200 per gender. So, we are talking about $300 on a $10k trip (3%).

The number of teams and number of quality teams has much more to do with the course. Coaches don't feel compelled to shred their runners knees and shins on an up and down course. Further, they are looking to help their athletes post good times for the sake of a mental upswing. Running fast does far more for an athlete's psyche than running well on a challenging course.

Finally, with the pre-season officially closed, top teams will begin clustering together looking for post-season points. If the field lacks early commitments from qualify squads, they will struggle to attract further top 30 to top 50 teams.

Dangling Participle wrote:

The girl who got second in HS (to 7th grader phenom Grace Ping) ran 16:18 for three miles a week ago, ran 18:16 at Griak. One would expect under 17 for 5K on a more reasonable course.

The length of that "three mile" course is questionable, and as mentioned before the Griak 5k course is 100+m long.

Goucher Needles wrote:

...

4. This was the least competitive field for D1 men and women at Griak in my memory---probably ever. The that finished 3 through 15 that showed just aren't elite teams.

Which great team was there last year?

Entry fee's aren't an issue for the d1's, since the gophers foot the bill for hotels for the weekend (at the very least). Now for the D3's and D2's, I'm sure it plays a role. Unless your school is

Runcogrun wrote:

[quote]

The number of teams and number of quality teams has much more to do with the course. Coaches don't feel compelled to shred their runners knees and shins on an up and down course. Further, they are looking to help their athletes post good times for the sake of a mental upswing. Running fast does far more for an athlete's psyche than running well on a challenging course.

I realize that is a good thought/opinion but Griak was a solid, prestigious meet for many years until the past 2-3. In 2011 a 26:02 got 10th place. This year that would have won by almost 30 seconds. The question is..why NOW?

just a ponder in the pond wrote:

[quote]Runcogrun wrote:

I realize that is a good thought/opinion but Griak was a solid, prestigious meet for many years until the past 2-3. In 2011 a 26:02 got 10th place. This year that would have won by almost 30 seconds. The question is..why NOW?

26:02? The winning time was 24:52 by Abbey Jefferson, who is a 13:50 runner... Plenty of sub 14:00 runners on the starting line who did not go sub 25:00, since it's a tough course.

The past two to four years, the meet has really gone downhill in terms of quality. It's no longer an elite meet. Last year had three or four more competitive teams between men's and women's races. The rise of the Wisconsin Adidas meet has hurt this meet. Many teams are delaying their first big races until then.

H bbhbhuhbhubhgyftfy wrote:

just a ponder in the pond wrote:

[quote]Runcogrun wrote:

I realize that is a good thought/opinion but Griak was a solid, prestigious meet for many years until the past 2-3. In 2011 a 26:02 got 10th place. This year that would have won by almost 30 seconds. The question is..why NOW?

26:02? The winning time was 24:52 by Abbey Jefferson, who is a 13:50 runner... Plenty of sub 14:00 runners on the starting line who did not go sub 25:00, since it's a tough course.

He was talking about the D3 race, the quality of which was really sad. The two teams that took 2nd and 3rd won't sniff the top 10 of their respective regions. I bet Oshkosh doesn't come next year (why spend the money for that meet if there isn't any competition), so then it will really look like a JV race.

For whatever reason, the past 3 years teams have gone to the UW Eau Claire Blugold Invitational (which is this coming Friday) instead of going to Griak. Blugold used to be a mix of "2nd tier" teams and JV squads from schools that ran their horses at Griak, but has now become the infinitely better meet. Does anyone have any insight into why things changed?