Steph Bruce most impressive performance at World XC?

sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:

So Team USA did not do too great at World XC. That's obvious.

But it seems like Stephanie Bruce had the best performance for Team USA. She did much better than American runners with faster 5k and 10k times. Top American and 33rd overall. All that marathon training seemed to definitely help today.

5 Aussie women in before USA's number 2 runner. Not a good day.

Coahc wrote:

sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:

So Team USA did not do too great at World XC. That's obvious.

But it seems like Stephanie Bruce had the best performance for Team USA. She did much better than American runners with faster 5k and 10k times. Top American and 33rd overall. All that marathon training seemed to definitely help today.

5 Aussie women in before USA's number 2 runner. Not a good day.

Oops, I meant for the title to read best American performance. My bad.

All four British and Australian scorers finished before the 2nd USA runner. With all due respect to the USA teams (who are undoubtedly awesome runners on track and road), it is not surprising they bombed on this course as America just does not have a strong tradition of proper cross country. Across Europe, XC is a major part of the racing calendar and takes place on really tough, muddy, hilly courses under all conditions - torrential rain, snow, storms, you name it. XC is massive in East Africa too, with athletes competing over really challenging courses from an early age. The USA's manicured mostly flat gold courses really don't compare with the training effect - mentally or physically. And that really came across today. If America wants to be world class at cross country, they need to start setting proper cross country courses on their domestic racing circuit.

The Brits actually had six ahead of the US number 2. Five from the elite race and the winner of the mass race, Pippa Woolven, who finished six seconds behind Bruce in 35th place.

Unfortunately this. While all the athletes have done NCAA XC, how often have they actually gotten TRUE cross country.

So true. Where can you even find Euro style courses in the US?

OAN - Can someone tally up the injuries sustained by the runners ? That seemed to be a theme (excuse) as to why our A team did not want to run the race. In all seriousness, the USATF needs to entice ($) our elites to participate in these champs.

Funny how it snows in piles like that at Wisconsin, not where they run.

Lirunnerr wrote:

So true. Where can you even find Euro style courses in the US?

OAN - Can someone tally up the injuries sustained by the runners ? That seemed to be a theme (excuse) as to why our A team did not want to run the race. In all seriousness, the USATF needs to entice ($) our elites to participate in these champs.

Canada ;).

While our courses for championships have tended to not be as intense, at the roots level (high school, lower level club) many of our courses are pretty gnarly. Even if you look at university/college races, some of them have been pretty tough - one need only look at the course records/winning times and who set them to get an idea. Every year some of our university teams will travel to the US for meets and get lots of hype for their fast times, but these results usually end up being pretty meaningless unless the relative performance was impressive (ie. beat good NCAA teams/individuals).

Genevieve Lalonde, who was 20th in the senior women's race, was in her element with the Aarhus course. She has traditionally been pretty unstoppable in XC in combinations of bad weather and crazy courses.

Closest thing I can think of in the US to courses like that is when the XC Champs were in Bend in 2016. About 3600 ft. of altitude and a course that included a few pretty good climbs. If I recall correctly, a lot of groups skipped the race and complained about it. Craig Lutz won the race on the men's side. It was held again there in 2017 with World XC spots on the line but some big names were missing.

sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:

So Team USA did not do too great at World XC. That's obvious.

But it seems like Stephanie Bruce had the best performance for Team USA. She did much better than American runners with faster 5k and 10k times. Top American and 33rd overall. All that marathon training seemed to definitely help today.

Guess she will rush home and make snide comments about nike athletes on twitter now,

There are many courses that are arguably tougher than the world XC course at the high school level, at least here in PA. But it is true that after high school, many colleges race on more manicured / faster courses. Partially because, despite it being XC, everyone is chasing fast times and bids for nationals.

But tough courses certainly do exist in plenty at the high school level in the US, at least in the hilly / mountainous states.

sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:

So Team USA did not do too great at World XC. That's obvious.

But it seems like Stephanie Bruce had the best performance for Team USA. She did much better than American runners with faster 5k and 10k times. Top American and 33rd overall. All that marathon training seemed to definitely help today.

So the first runner across the finish line had the best performance? Excellent analysis

I watched the race and it looked like a historically bad performacne. I don't recall the U.S. ever looking this bad even in years where the team was composed almost entirely of tier 2 athletes. After looking at the data, the race was even worse than what it lookied like. This race would have been an excellent tune up for the London Marathon...I guess the Standford Invitational had better competition and more money.

TrackCoach wrote:

I watched the race and it looked like a historically bad performacne. I don't recall the U.S. ever looking this bad even in years where the team was composed almost entirely of tier 2 athletes. After looking at the data, the race was even worse than what it lookied like. This race would have been an excellent tune up for the London Marathon...I guess the Standford Invitational had better competition and more money.

The three BTC women owe USA running an explanation for this poor performance.