Who said cross country is dead in Europe? More than 8,000 have entered 2019 English xc champs

rojo, it's deceptive because it covers U-15 as well. The 8000 are over the following 10 race

Timetable

11.00am: Under-17 women – 5km

11.25am: Under-15 boys – 4km

11.45am: Under-13 girls – 3km

12.05pm: Under-17 men – 6km

12.30pm: Under-13 boys – 3km

12.45pm: Under-15 girls – 4km

1.05pm: Junior women – 6km

1.35pm: Senior women – 8km

2.20pm: Junior men – 10km

3.00pm: Senior men – 12km

Basically, you need to add up all the Foot Locker Regionals and NXN Regionals + the State high school meets since there is no high school cross country in the UK. On top of that you need to add all the NCAA Regional Championships since there is no university cross country either in the UK.

GR said: since there is no high school cross country in the UK

I'll be sure to tell the three hundred kids who were at that high school cross country meet last Thursday. I'm sure they'll be intrigued to know it never happened. I'm also going to be at another schools cross country meet tomorrow, which is obviously not happening either.

On top of that you need to add all the NCAA Regional Championships since there is no university cross country either in the UK.

for ease of reference, in the UK cross country is spelled, "cross country."

cheers.

here is the result of the 2019 championships which absolutely definitely were not held at Bicton College, near Budleigh Salterton in Devon on 2 Feb 2019 because, like, "there is no university cross country either in the UK."

http://dbmaxresults.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=16421&RId=2241

cheers.

I don't think anyone has said cross country is dead in Europe. Do you think someone has claimed that? Because the evidence has never suggested that's the case.

Simple, there's a far better club system in the UK to engage everyday runners in competing. The population density in the UK probably helps, as does the sporting landscape there that doesn't have pro ball sports on the tele other than footy. It's probably a minority of high school and college xc runners in the US who know that USA Club Cross exists. Our infrastructure and its disjointed nature comparatively suck. Without googling, what are the USATF clubs in Baltimore that engage open and masters runners?

rojo wrote:

And that number is down from more than 9k last year. For comparison's sake, just 422 people ran in all the various races at the 2019 USA XC Champs.

From Fastrunning: "This year’s championships is the 131st edition of the senior men’s event, while the senior women race the for the 86th time, with 8027 runners entered across the 10 races. The figure is down on last year’s record figure of 9565 at Parliament Hill."

I guess it's just dead for the pros who largely appear to be afraid to race the Africans when they know they a) will get crushed and b) not make much money.

https://www.fastrunning.com/cross-country/englands-runners-to-battle-for-national-cross-country-honours/23537

Hell, tiny Scotland, population of 5.3 million, is crushing the US in terms of entrants as they have nearly 1000 (970).

https://www.fastrunning.com/events-and-races/events-news/chase-is-on-for-scottish-cross-country-glory/23594

Do you call Cross Country what you run in the States.....? Yes lets get started....

It's Larry Rawson. He's the only person to say that.

Meanwhile UK Athletics have a policy of not sending Seniorteams to Worlds

You're correct that there is no high school cross country in the uk.

Unless you count the county schools champs, the English schools champs, the Scottish schools champs and the Welsh schools champs. ANd dont forget the the district champs for the various age groups. And then there's also the home nations internationals.

Apart from that there's nothing.

Are there qualifying standards, or can any hobbyjogger run in the Junior/Senior races?

Professional XC races are held everywhere in Europe, especially in Spain, Italy, and the UK.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9S6NEIUCF46jnsmXAiuywA

In the US, are there are hardly any races like this anymore. Besides high school and college races, hardly any XC pro races exist.

notintheuk wrote:

Are there qualifying standards, or can any hobbyjogger run in the Junior/Senior races?

Used to be nine per club, six to score. Back in the late 70s early 80s before the advent of 'jogging clubs" the only running clubs in England were for the purpose of competition. There were a load of regional and national leagues for track and x-country. I would say that you'd have to have been capable of comfortably running inside 55 minutes for 10 miles on the road to make the top 1000 in the senior mens race. Had a friend who was a sub 30:00 10k runner who never made the top 100.

GR wrote:

rojo, it's deceptive because it covers U-15 as well. The 8000 are over the following 10 race

Timetable

11.00am: Under-17 women – 5km

11.25am: Under-15 boys – 4km

11.45am: Under-13 girls – 3km

12.05pm: Under-17 men – 6km

12.30pm: Under-13 boys – 3km

12.45pm: Under-15 girls – 4km

1.05pm: Junior women – 6km

1.35pm: Senior women – 8km

2.20pm: Junior men – 10km

3.00pm: Senior men – 12km

Basically, you need to add up all the Foot Locker Regionals and NXN Regionals + the State high school meets since there is no high school cross country in the UK. On top of that you need to add all the NCAA Regional Championships since there is no university cross country either in the UK.

Nonsense

There is both HS and University xc in UK

Well over 2000 ran just the men's senior in 2018 xc race so your argument of lots of races falls flat

Factor in population of England alone Vs USA

Probably helps that it's a small country in terms of geography and traveling to the meet doesn't require spending a ridiculous amount on airline fares and for many it doesn't require nearly as much time spent on travel. Going from Boston or Denver to Spokane or Tally requires a bit more than just getting on the train to head up the afternoon before the race.

I do think it's worth mentioning that at Club XC in Spokane in December there were 1229 total finishers in the six races. Obviously this pales in comparison to England's 8000 (and I didn't see masters listed on the schedule in England), but it might be closer to comparing apples to apples as I assume the vibrant club system is well represented at the English Championships. Also, I didn't bother to do the math, but that same December day in Reno there were hundreds of juniors competing as well. I don't know if Scotland or England, etc. have multiple "national championships" (i.e. Club XC Nationals in December and US Nationals in February) like the US does, but I thought this was worth consideration as comparisons are thrown about.

Thanks, Rizzo. wrote:

Probably helps that it's a small country in terms of geography and traveling to the meet doesn't require spending a ridiculous amount on airline fares and for many it doesn't require nearly as much time spent on travel. Going from Boston or Denver to Spokane or Tally requires a bit more than just getting on the train to head up the afternoon before the race.

Tbh given the prices and times of the UKs train system these days, it's probably quicker and cheaper to fly to a destination in the U.S than train it in the UK :).

Apples wrote:

I do think it's worth mentioning that at Club XC in Spokane in December there were 1229 total finishers in the six races. Obviously this pales in comparison to England's 8000 (and I didn't see masters listed on the schedule in England), but it might be closer to comparing apples to apples as I assume the vibrant club system is well represented at the English Championships. Also, I didn't bother to do the math, but that same December day in Reno there were hundreds of juniors competing as well. I don't know if Scotland or England, etc. have multiple "national championships" (i.e. Club XC Nationals in December and US Nationals in February) like the US does, but I thought this was worth consideration as comparisons are thrown about.

This is the only English National XC Champs (I'm running!!). Scottish, Welsh champs are taking place as well.

In England there are Southern, Midland and Northern Champs too, a few weeks ago. Regional before national if you will.

I'd also say, mainly to cotton shirt, whilst BUCS and schools races obviously exist, comparing them to US high school and university running is LAUGHABLE is scale, exposure, quality, funding....basically every metric you can think of.

GR wrote:

rojo, it's deceptive because it covers U-15 as well. The 8000 are over the following 10 race

Timetable

11.00am: Under-17 women – 5km

11.25am: Under-15 boys – 4km

11.45am: Under-13 girls – 3km

12.05pm: Under-17 men – 6km

12.30pm: Under-13 boys – 3km

12.45pm: Under-15 girls – 4km

1.05pm: Junior women – 6km

1.35pm: Senior women – 8km

2.20pm: Junior men – 10km

3.00pm: Senior men – 12km

Basically, you need to add up all the Foot Locker Regionals and NXN Regionals + the State high school meets since there is no high school cross country in the UK. On top of that you need to add all the NCAA Regional Championships since there is no university cross country either in the UK.

No high school XC in the UK?

Try English schools XC... fields of 300+ in every age group. How do qualify? Try County school XC. And before Counties there is Districts. I know it’s difficult, but a mere google search before you type prevents you looking like a bit of an idiot.

How many UK Parkrunners ? Must be 10s of thousands every single week. And the vast majority of them are "cross country"