The Great NCAA XC Tailgate

Think this is a fantastic idea. Cross country meets are great because of the atmosphere and large groups of people celebrating pure sport across open fields. What a better way to start the day than tailgating the best meet in the country. I'm all for it

100% down for this. Shame this hasn't been done in the past. Think of all the missed opportunities. Nothing goes better together than corn hole and cross country.

1000% down. Only way to get people into cross country is to make it socially acceptable to be absolutely trashed while watching it. This is how you grow a sport.

cant think of a better way to spend a Saturday. Hawaiian shirts and tossing a football. all in

BROJOS/MODS:

Sponsor this and get it on the front page

watch out Flotrak will sign a deal with the park in the last minute that they will have an exclusive tailgate and charge people $20 to get in, make all kinds of promises then deliver nothing

bump on the front page sponsorship! if we could get the LRC community behind this we could make NCAAs an event to remember like World Cross in Uganda this year

Anyone familiar with the meet location at Sawyer Park for this year who could give suggestions for logistics/a location to set this up? I think it would be a really fun thing

how do we get this sponsored?

yeah, I'm not gonna be able to make it , but this would be awesome. Tailgated a couple home meets with a few other alumni at my school before but get a couple hundred people at NCAAs and it would be pretty cool

I live across the river from Louisville, and while I haven't been to Tom Sawyer for NCAA's, I have had teams run the last few years at the Trinity/Valkyrie Invite. I am not sure of how they will do parking, but there is a lot that they use for the BMX course that would be a perfect place for a tailgate. Right by the start/finish area.

i live in Louisville, generally parking is in the grass, but tailgating could still happen. I definitely will show up, I live about 3.5 miles from the park and run there at least twice a week

This would actually be the best thing ever. I would legitimately make the drive to NCAAs to do something like this. Get a tradition going, that'd be amazing

ISU had organized tailgates from 2008 at least- the NCAA put an end to them in 2013ish- letsrun had a tailgate as did flotrack/saucony

Possibly the parking lot off N. Hurstbourne Pkwy across from Hounz Lane Park? It's big and a bit out of the way. Right by the model airplane runway.

I wanna say the course goes right by it. Not sure if that parking lot is open for the races. Either way it's a very easy 400m to the start area. Much easier to get to before and leave after the races are over as well.

Another option could be the Sawyer Hayes community center. Very easy to the start from there. Or just do it at Hounz Lane.

The NCAA can't stop us from promoting the sport forever. Bring back the tailgate!

Sounds like an epic sausage fest in the making!

I would totally be down! I know other's would come up from Chattanooga too.

What might be a good idea is someone local talking to a business nearby and getting express permission to use the parking lot, which would prevent any issues that could come from having beer in a state park. Or could just go for it!

Great idea. Not sure what the NCAA policy is on tailgating -- if you can't do it at the actual venue, as one poster suggested, I think that's BS. But tailgating is one of my favorite things about going to football games, and considering the actual races at NCAAs only last for about an hour total, this is a great event for the fans to pre-game.

Also I've been to the past three NCAA XC meets, and I think it's worth noting that the two best tailgate setups I saw were Michigan State in 2014 and Syracuse in 2015 -- and both of those schools won NCAA titles those years.