2019 World XC looks like it's going to be LEGENDARY! Someone hire Jakob Larsen to run all of track and field.

Pro News/Info/Results Cross Country

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5 years ago 03/20/2019 5:13pm EDT

So in anticipation of next weekend's World XC champs in Aarhus, Denmark, we had Jonathan Gault do a profile on how the course was made as it looks pretty special. In case you aren't aware, the course will feature mud, sand and water pits, a beer tent, a Viking Zone, and a portion of the course will run up the roof of a museum.

When I read the article, I was blown away by the vision of Jakob Larsen and his team. Now remember, I'm a big time cynic. When people constantly say, "If only running was marketed better, it would be more popular," I always say, "Stop. Yes it could be marketed better but let's don't fool ourselves."

But as I was reading the article, I got more and more excited and found myself repeatedly saying, "This guy is a freaking genius. He GETS IT. Why doesn't anyone else high up in the sport understand it like he does?"

So read the article . I'll give you my thoughts in the next post.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/03/mud-beer-and-vikings-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-how-the-incredible-2019-world-xc-course-was-designed/

5 years ago 03/20/2019 5:14pm EDT

re: rojo

1) The guy understands that he is is in the entertainment business.

Jakob Larsen said:
"Of course we should never forget the athletes, but as organizers, we often tend to focus on the athletes exclusively and somehow forget that there are people out there that, all they want to do is they want to have a return on investment," Larsen says. "They are investing time to go to the venue or watch it on the television, etc., and we need to provide a return of investment on that. That’s our job.
"It’s an event. It’s a spectacle. The tricky part about cross country is that it’s a very long event. You have five races. It goes on forever and ever. We need to be able to provide entertainment for five hours of live television. But we also need to provide highlights that will work for like 10 seconds, 15 seconds, that will work on social media.".

He's even encouraging the fans to line up on the roof of the museum - which is a huge ass hill the runners run up several times - and scream and cheer right next to the runners like you see in the in Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France.

2) The guy understands the economics of the sport. If this could become a mass participation event with like 30,000 competitors, there certainly would be enough money to prop up the pros.

Jakob Larsen said:
"If cross country is to keep being relevant -- or to become relevant, I could argue -- we need to bring more resources into the sport, and the only way to bring more resources is to have more people on-site," Larsen says, adding that they had initially considered running the championship races on a single 10-kilometer loop to allow even more people to participate at once. Instead, there will be other opportunities for fans to race on the course on race day -- a 2k "sprint," a 4x2k relay, and a 4k/8k/12k race that will be run half on trails and half on the World XC course itself. All of these mass participation races will be held in the afternoon, after the championship races are over.
"I do in fact consider running to be a participant sport," Larsen says. "So step #1, ensure that a lot of people can actually take part in this. Then there will be spectators as well. From a Danish perspective, that would be how it goes.
"We can bring all the best runners in the world to Denmark and there will be spectators. But if we can ensure that they have family members running on-site or indeed, that the Crown Prince will run -- which he will -- that’s a completely different discussion. Then there will be a lot more people."

3) He understands - and this is something I think USATF and IAAF don't get with the Olympic Marathon Trials, etc - is that the running community - long distance's base - can't be forgotten.

The 2nd paragraph may have been my favorite. I italicized what I think many of those high up in the sport don't get.

Jakob Larsen said:
"In my opinion, I think it’s an important discussion for the running community and for the federations what role cross country hasIs cross country a potential addition to the business of running? Is it purely an (elite) competition like the half marathon was before Copenhagen? Is this an essential part of our culture? Because whatever the choice is, people need to adjust their behavior.
"Right now I would say that some federations, I think they are disregarding the importance of the running community. I think that they are forgetting the level of interest, if properly handled, this could generate within their running community. It’s especially European countries, I would say. European countries, they risk being disconnected from the running community if they do not back the running championships, like the cross country, like the half marathon. If they do not send significant teams, but choose only to go if they have a top-20 athlete, I think that’s a huge risk to take, in my opinion."

5 years ago 03/20/2019 5:22pm EDT

re: rojo

And then I read that the awesome 10% "roof of the museum," which is a grass slope, is the steepest part of the course. And here I was, almost excited that this course reminded me of a high school invite I ran in the pouring rain with cheerleaders along a hillside that is, in fact, greater than 10%.

Not that I'm saying it's all Wuss World any more, but it is. And it doesn't have Stacy there, cheering me on, and making promises about the evening.

5 years ago 03/20/2019 8:50pm EDT

re: rojo

I’ll be there! Super stoked, going to be awesome! (Not running with the pros though)....

5 years ago 03/21/2019 8:46am EDT

re: rojo

I love the idea, and I love you guys' enthusiasm about it. Makes me excited to follow it!

5 years ago 03/21/2019 9:19am EDT

re: rojo

This is great. The runners, countries/federations that skip WXC are weak sauce, and I've always thought that. I hope others take this idea too and push it forward.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 9:30am EDT

re: rojo

fyi - I have known Jakob since the first time we worked together on the World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen and will tell you that he is the real deal.

His enthusiasm, creativity, energy, dedication, and love of the sport is endless and to top it off....an amazing sense of humor.

I have been to the site several times (serving as the Technical Director of the WXC) and it is definitely a game changer.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 10:51am EDT

re: tarckstar

Almost as good as "Twelve naked dollies on top of Blanton Hill."

5 years ago 03/21/2019 10:59am EDT

re: D.Katz

Good potential here. I have said before they should create a "XC World Cup" season similiar to mountain biking or cyclo-cross. XC skiing and biathlon too. Get the crowds to attend and the money will make it a race for elites.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 11:35am EDT

re: Positive Contribution

Will there be a live stream for this?

5 years ago 03/21/2019 12:31pm EDT

re: snow blow

snow blow wrote:
Will there be a live stream for this?

https://www.watchathletics.com/schedule/watchlive/4268

BBC will also send, I guess it is just for the UK.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 12:49pm EDT

re: Positive Contribution

Positive Contribution wrote:
Good potential here. I have said before they should create a "XC World Cup" season similiar to mountain biking or cyclo-cross. XC skiing and biathlon too. Get the crowds to attend and the money will make it a race for elites.

Denmark hosted the cyclocross world championship last month; I half expected both events to use the same venue. (They don't.)

5 years ago 03/21/2019 1:36pm EDT

re: knox harrington

What a waste of effort. Like 5 people on the entire planet are going to watch this.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 2:57pm EDT

re: melo seeds

melo seeds wrote:
What a waste of effort. Like 5 people on the entire planet are going to watch this.

Define planet.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 4:02pm EDT

re: rojo

rojo wrote:
2) The guy understands the economics of the sport. If this could become a mass participation event with like 30,000 competitors, there certainly would be enough money to prop up the pros.

Agreed. The big marathons are the model, get lots of participants and use those fees to pay the elites. If we could figure out how to apply that to Track and Field it might have a future. I think it’s a much more realistic model than trying to make our sport spectator friendly.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 4:37pm EDT

re: knox harrington

knox harrington wrote:
Positive Contribution wrote:
Good potential here. I have said before they should create a "XC World Cup" season similiar to mountain biking or cyclo-cross. XC skiing and biathlon too. Get the crowds to attend and the money will make it a race for elites.
Denmark hosted the cyclocross world championship last month; I half expected both events to use the same venue. (They don't.)

We had a bit of a discussion about this on the cyclocross thread, I was saying how these guys know how to put on a great cyclocross race and if their world XC was even remotely close it was going to be great. I was told nobody cares about XC but it looks like they're doing a good job of it :) Some good photos here, scroll down to the bottom for some crowd shots:

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/02/gallery-scenes-2018-uci-cyclocross-world-championships/

5 years ago 03/21/2019 4:41pm EDT

re: David S

Oh I'm so dumb that was 2018. Here's video of 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGdemIWbpk8

5 years ago 03/21/2019 5:59pm EDT

re: Positive Contribution

Positive Contribution wrote:
Good potential here. I have said before they should create a "XC World Cup" season similiar to mountain biking or cyclo-cross. XC skiing and biathlon too. Get the crowds to attend and the money will make it a race for elites.

Would be great if there was such a circuit but the difference between those other sports and distance running is the other sports people will race more than once a season. Between USATF XC and World XC hasn't some teams (like Bowman) already at the limit of races they run in a year?

US distance runners never seem to want to race they talk and talk about training and getting ready yet they never seem to race and then they cry that there is no support for the sport. Why should my company support you as a runner if your never going to race.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 6:59pm EDT

re: rojo

I hope it goes well for the runners, but honestly, it looks like a circus.

5 years ago 03/21/2019 7:55pm EDT

re: rojo

This is amaze-balls, brofus! All they need now is a few 8 and 10 foot walls to climb over...throw in some monkey bars and a multi-rig...then they’ve got themselves a real race worth having!

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2019 World XC looks like it's going to be LEGENDARY! Someone hire Jakob Larsen to run all of track and field.

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