This Saturday I could potentially win a cross country meet, help!

Run with second place. Kick when you see the finish chute.

Sit-N-Kick wrote:

Run with second place. Kick when you see the finish chute.

This, and also look at the teams entered and see who their top guys are. You need to recognize the other top guys in the field that have a chance at winning. If you really think you could win, make a list of the top 5-10 other guys and try and find what they look like or at least their team so you know to go with them if they make a move. If the other people make a move, let them go, they will eventually come back to the field. Never lead either, if your goal is to win, let another guy lead. I had a teammate who always like to lead, and he wouldn't always win, not a smart strategy. Also if you were out of last track and XC seasons you won't be on people's radars, so they most likely won't be expecting you.

This is all stupid advice. There is nothing to overthink, it's one meet. Just go out with the lead pack and take the lead when you feel good.

I was in the same boat one year. First third hang loose-let the sophomore phenoms go out at sub 5 pace. Second third, move up-or more actually let the speedy Gonzales fall back toward you. FInal third, slowly accelerate to the finish.In a 5 k, to run 17, you want to go 5:40, 5:30, 5:20. That gives you 30 seconds to run the last 528 feet with your hands in the air, shouting gobble gobble MFers. Of course, terrain may change those splits, but adjust accordingly.Dropping the hammer for the win down the stretch is fun, but if you lack speed as I do, there's nothing more reliable than pulling away with a half mile to go.Win lose or draw, have fun! There's nothing like winning a race-no matter the division. Good luck.

The real question is, how well do you know the course? If you don't know the course, sit with the lead pack. If you do know the course well, run your race, even if that means taking the lead early.

Be prepared. Think through all the scenarios.

Make sure you get out fast enough to not get caught if the course narrows quickly.

If you are running within yourself and you find yourself in the lead – don’t freak out. Remind yourself that this is normal. F those guys behind you. Your race.

If you find yourself in the chase pack, and there are a handful of leaders x meters in front – don’t freak out. Check yourself, and make a move to close the gap, or grind steadily until they come back.

If your sharing the lead with one or two guys, have an idea of when you’ll make your push, and be ready if they do it first.

Start visualizing all these different things that could happen, so that when they do you’re not making crap up on the fly, you’re executing your run. Eventually you’ll run enough races where all of the above will have happened before, and you’ll know what to do. You’ll still visualize the scenarios beforehand, but you’ll have actually experienced them too.

I tell my top kids not to lead the race until they are sure they will be leading to the finish. With your anxiousness...I would agree with the poster above that waiting to lead until you see the finishing area is wise.

You will also want to make sure you know the turns/terrain of last mile so that you can concentrate on racing the finish.

If this was a varsity race, the advice to stay with the lead until you can see the finish might be good if you know enough about the competition and know you have some amount of a kick. It sounds like you don't know either.

My suggestion is to go out kind of slow in the second group for the first 800. Slowly catch the leader in the second 800. Sit on the lead for 800. At the half way point if you still think you can win, put in a little one minute surge to see if the others are ready to break. After the surge, let them slowly catch up. Unless they are in such good shape that they do a surge of their own, start a long drive 800 to 1000 m from the finish.

If they surge after your surge, you are in a race and like Jenny Simpson in the Olympic 1500, you don't want to go with them and waste energy with a mile to go. The idea is that you have to up your pace to the exact even pace that will get you to the finish in the shortest amount of time. Compared to locking into the perfect pace in the beginning of the race, locking in with 1.3 miles to go is easier. All you have to do is to fight to not change your pace rapidly, either slowly speed up or slowly slow down.

Never surge and then slow. It's a waste of energy.

The first time you take the lead should also be the last time you take the lead. Run with the pack until you make your move. Make it decisive and leave no doubt that you will win. A good spot might be with 1200 to go.

As you can see, there are a lot of strategies you can utilize in the race. Just remember that 9 times out of 10 high school (and college) runners will fly out way too fast the first mile. Some guys will go 5:10 or quicker the first mile but not break 17. My advice would be to hang back the first mile and hit a comfortable 5:30. From there, focus on pushing yourself and not settling into a pace. At this point in the race, if you feel like you're holding steady, you're probably slowing down. On the last mile you'll be picking guys off left and right and will come in contact with the leaders with about a half mile to go. Wait until 200m left and dust them.

That's exactly what a I told him to do, just in more detail.

Agreed. Best advice. I won my share of races back in the day and I always ran my race, never sat on someone and beat them in the end. I never had anybody sit on my shoulder and out kick me in the end, either. I know the feeling of amazement that you get from leading the first time and having that voice inside getting all excited, thinking, "I'm winning! Don't blow it! I'm winning!" Acknowledge it but let your focus go back to the race, and running your own race by how you feel. You could end up with a huge breakthrough and still not win because a much faster runner shows up.

Wasn't there another page of responses to this OP? What happened to them???

Never mind, found it: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=7656901&thread=7656889#7656901

This is 100% true IF you are trying to run the fastest race possible. The OP is trying to win. He needs the surge to know if anyone is going to cover his 800/1000/1200 meter drive. If they cover his surge at the half way point, he needs to plan to turn the surge into a drive to the finish as Almost suggests. If they don't cover it, the 1200m drive is really just to make sure no one out leans him because he doesn't need to run his best possible race time.

"Never surge and then slow. It's a waste of energy."

1) "shoo-in"

2) "as all get out"

3) Make sure you know the course. That's the biggest thing when running for the win. You could end up with a very slow field for some reason where you win by 40 seconds, so you can't count on having other runners there for sure.

Good luck.

The fact you are asking this question means you don't have the winning mindset.

But here is a tip:

* If you win the chute will be empty so take your damn time going through and enjoy it. Ignore any race official that is trying to rush you through. You just won the open section, you are king!

Also: Be sure to followup in this thread post-race. We need closure. Win or lose, you must.

The man who thinks he'll win never does.