I'm a reasonably fast high school senior, and I'm considering Carnegie Mellon and several mid-tier DI schools. I'm not going to post times, but I would definitely be in CMU's top five as a freshman.
Did anyone on the boards run there? If so, what was it like in terms of coaching, camaraderie, and having places to run? I know it probably isn't as serious as running at the other schools I'm considering, but any response is appreciated.
Just schedule an official visit and find out for yourself. Talk to the coach, get dinner with the team, stay overnight, etc. There's no reason to rely on people here to be unbiased when this should be part of your recruitment process anyway.
Can't speak from personal experience, but I have a buddy who ran for them a few years back. Sounded like everyone got along well, decent training environment, etc. Only weird thing he mentioned was all the showering. Like, the team was obsessed with showering together. Long run? Shower. Easy 5-miler? Shower time. Morning weights and circuits? Turn on the faucets. Always together and in the buff. If you weren't down, you got kind of excluded. Whatever, showering together for convenience is normal, but there's a line.
townie tom wrote:
Can't speak from personal experience, but I have a buddy who ran for them a few years back. Sounded like everyone got along well, decent training environment, etc. Only weird thing he mentioned was all the showering. Like, the team was obsessed with showering together. Long run? Shower. Easy 5-miler? Shower time. Morning weights and circuits? Turn on the faucets. Always together and in the buff. If you weren't down, you got kind of excluded. Whatever, showering together for convenience is normal, but there's a line.
Yeah, that's a tad weird but whatever. Other than that it sounds like a pretty good place to run.
Thanks!
Well there are not any girls at carnegie melon.
Carnegie Mellon is a D3 school....duh
My teammate from high school run's for Carnegie Mellon and was their top finisher at nationals. He has told me many times that they have a bunch of great places to run and its definitely a great place both academically and for cross country and you probably won't be top 5 lol their entire top 5 changes almost every race. Good luck though with your decision process!
Brian Harvey has really grown post CMU, so it doesn't appear they burn people out...
SWAZ wrote:
I'm a reasonably fast high school senior, and I'm considering Carnegie Mellon and several mid-tier DI schools. I'm not going to post times, but I would definitely be in CMU's top five as a freshman.
Did anyone on the boards run there? If so, what was it like in terms of coaching, camaraderie, and having places to run? I know it probably isn't as serious as running at the other schools I'm considering, but any response is appreciated.
campus is right next to a park with trails. in fact, you can't figure out where the campus ends and the park starts. other than that, the city is not running friendly. sidewalks is where it is at.
townie tom wrote:
Can't speak from personal experience, but I have a buddy who ran for them a few years back. Sounded like everyone got along well, decent training environment, etc. Only weird thing he mentioned was all the showering. Like, the team was obsessed with showering together. Long run? Shower. Easy 5-miler? Shower time. Morning weights and circuits? Turn on the faucets. Always together and in the buff. If you weren't down, you got kind of excluded. Whatever, showering together for convenience is normal, but there's a line.
yeah but that's just classic team bonding. You'll never be as close to someone if you don't lather them up all nice like in the shower after a run. Specially in those hard to reach places--mmmm gotta stay clean!
A buddy of mine ran there for one season and stopped because of the weird shower tradition. He said it was just weird. Lots of dudes just showering together a lot. He never said anything sexual happened though - just weird awkward group showers.
Current cmu runner, there are currently no weird shower traditions.. not sure what went on a few years ago that made someone feel uncomfortable. People do shower in the locker room after practice, which is convenient since there is laundry in the locker room (probably true for many programs), so you can shower and change after practice.
Not sure what the team does these days, but back when I was a Tartan, we certainly showered quite frequently.
In order to be National Champs in Soap Ball, you need to shower together
I ran track/XC there and enjoyed every minute of it. Pittsburgh has 2 large parks close by and plenty of places to run. Team camaraderie is plentiful, especially on the XC/distance squad. Coaching has changed since I attended but they would frequently win UAA coach of the year awards. You’ll have plenty of competition at the bigger meets. Just remember that at CMU you’re a student first and an athlete second. Don’t expect D1 treatment or facilities.
CMU alumni #2 wrote:
In order to be National Champs in Soap Ball, you need to shower together
Also a CMU alumn. We certainly earned our spot at the championships. There was nothing more important to us than the twice-daily shower practices. We were a very close team.
i didn’t always shower with the team but i would always watch
I hear something big is going down at the post UAA's shower this year. The soap ball competition has been weak for years, but maybe it's finally on the rise again? I'll keep my ears to the ground.
Ran 4 years XC and track.
I have friends and family who have run at mid tier D1 programs. Probably will have better facilities than CMU but I was surprised at how good CMU athletes were treated. Chartered buses to close meets, flights and decent hotels for away meets, per diem, etc.
Whoever said Pittsburgh wasn't a good city is BS. CMU is literally touching Schenley park which is huge, soft surfaces, great trails. You're 1.5mi from an even bigger park system, Frick Park. Not to mention good trail system on all of the rivers, epic runs to Mount Washington overlooking the city.
You're going to CMU for a good degree but I am willing to bet any XC alum will tell you their best memories were with the team. There is no lack of social life btw.
Question for you: who are you and how many beers can you chug?
Can you run a sub 15:30 5k right now? If not, you have no chance of cracking top 5 your first year at cmu. Even then it's not guaranteed.
The team is very close and A few years later some of my best memories of college are from the team at CMU. I had a similar decision to make between getting a scholarship and much lower cost of attendance at a mid tier D1 but picked CMU for the degree and better city/atmosphere. Making bank now and about to pay off loans early which is a plus. CMU is a place where it's up to you what you get out of it depending on how much work you put in. Much like running itself.
As for showering, just don't be weird about it. They're gonna want to shower with you. Nobody trusts the guy who goes home to his dorm to shower after practice. What's he hiding? Why doesn't he want to play soap ball? If you want absolutely batshit crazy team traditions, then you'll have to go to case western.