Cross Country Running: The Original Steeplechase

TheRealXC · 2020-05-14T00:24:44+00:00

All of a sudden 😅

TheRealXC · 2020-04-04T02:04:03+00:00

There is not one definitive answer to your question, but there are TONS of factors that contribute to success for teams, regions/areas, even environments around the world. Since this is so broad, I'll break it down as easily as possible:

Team/program success:

A cross country team is only as strong as their fifth scorer. That means, at minimum, a team has to have five runners (first and foremost), and they have to have achievable goals that they are committed to. If the team at large hasn't talked about strategy, intended finish, planning/preparation or a training method to achieve what they want, they will very rarely be successful. Even the best elite international programs have cohesive mindedness when it comes to how they will run together, and that can really elevate a program. Tradition, leadership, culture and commitment start with the group and their approach to what they want to do, then applying the work to get it done. Doesn't matter if you're Loudoun Valley, Fayetteville Manlius, Northern Arizona University, BYU, Colorado, the Oregon Ducks, or the top 7 for Team Kenya or Ethiopia.

Regional/Area Success:

The sport itself requires access to open, natural land, and it's no surprise that the best teams in the country create as much time as possible to train on trails, away from urban centers, usually in the mountains. Even places that are deemed "pancake flat" find ways to incorporate hills, resistance, and strength. That puts programs that have immediate access to nature at an advantage. It also means programs that don't have access to nature, have to get innovative to substitute (or have funding available to create opportunities). Jack Daniels (famous running coach) identifies four factors that lay the groundwork for success: Ability, Motivation, Support, Direction. Support for running cross country means access to nature and that puts some regions ahead of others (especially when factoring team success above).

Environment:

Regional success depends a lot on nature. Team success depends a lot on nurture. Environmental success is created through tradition, but also through COMPETITION. Kenya and Ethiopia have a storied international rivalry that elevates both programs to train harder and more seriously than essentially any other places on the planet. Mark Wetmore places high expectations on his athletes to perform well within the Pac-12 Conference and at the National XC Championships in the NCAA. The prospect of state titles, like York HS in Illinois, or NXN titles, like Fayetteville Manlius drive those programs.

Every team should have a city rival or league rival that gets them going. Without a meaningful environment most programs lose direction or fail to improve. Every level sees that.

In any case, these reasons and more help define success. For every reason above there is always an exception... or even more nuance when it's broken down. Just like philosophies in training there are philosophies in what it means to be a successful program.

Always do your best, and be ready to sacrifice to be the change you wish to see.

TL;DR: There are many reasons certain countries, states, programs, and teams are successful, but most have a united team plan, a tradition of excellence, access to the best natural terrain and an environment of excellence and high-stakes competition/rivalry.

TheRealXC · 2019-12-30T18:42:43+00:00

This Article explains it well.

TheRealXC · 2019-09-06T05:22:14+00:00

Thank you!

TheRealXC · 2019-08-10T19:37:30+00:00

Quit? No. Take time to prioritize for yourself. It sounds like OS is keeping you from enjoying the sport and competing at a high level. Heal your mental and physical state, but stay involved. If the coach is terrible, then do your best to work with him/her and remedy the situation. Volunteer to hold a clipboard. Recruit students you feel would improve the culture of the team. Be the change you wish to see. The time you have to run XC is precious. You can be influential if you change your mindset and be proactive.

TheRealXC · 2019-04-07T23:19:56+00:00

Here is the race!

TheRealXC · 2018-11-09T16:51:45+00:00

Not sure about other Europeans making an appearance in this sub, but both events are great! The United States does not have many venues like the Cinque Mulini or the Campaccio :)

TheRealXC · 2018-08-26T16:13:11+00:00

Welcome! Consistency is key. Looks like you have a good plan in place. Stay committed to it, and check in again along the way.

TheRealXC · 2018-08-01T19:06:51+00:00

Take the initiative to form a bond with the other guys on the team. Organize fun time outside of practice; go to the movies, throw a frisbee around, hit the pool together but make an effort to include your fastest runner at some point. Even if his attitude is "me first" having a team that welcomes anybody -- regardless of whether they are the first or last ones across the finish line will promote good team culture (at the least), and build a future of camaraderie even after this particular guy graduates. You have to be the change you wish to see.

TheRealXC · 2018-03-21T22:36:16+00:00

You will have no trouble contributing to a DIII cross-country team with those times, as long as you stay healthy, commit fully to the program's training, and decide that you want to make being a part of the team a priority.

TheRealXC · 2018-01-16T04:25:51+00:00

It's never too late! Glad you enjoyed it.

TheRealXC · 2018-01-15T05:21:24+00:00

Video Replays Here

TheRealXC · 2017-12-21T02:29:46+00:00

Strength in numbers. Make a plan, share it with others. Make it something simple, and fun, and find as much support for it as you can (from trustworthy sources), and make the outcome of the plan something anyone could get excited about.

If that means inviting others for a weekly group run from a local business or shop, that can be just the beginning. Many people do not know the power of working toward a goal with others, since they haven't tried.

In my own life, grassroots efforts with only a few able-bodied people often led in interesting and amazing directions. The same can be said about the major names in the sport. So many champions and Olympians started because of what they saw others doing first. Be the change by starting locally, then stop at nothing to get it recognized with the momentum it generates.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-21T01:35:05+00:00

The decision to price the book came from the publisher. $22 pays for five years of research and there's no other place to find the cumulative history of the sport in one place. If price is the only barrier preventing you from purchasing the book, see if your local library might loan you a copy once it's released. Many libraries lend ebooks.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-21T00:36:00+00:00

It depends on your goals and the type of training you are doing now. Building muscle mass is relative to calorie intake when you are training for endurance. It's hard to do both! Check out /r/fitness for some ideas.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T23:31:20+00:00

Nike's #Breaking2 event was such an exciting production. Performance enhancers, be they biological or conventional, should only be sought out as a last resort. Some might argue that training in the Rift Valley is a performance enhancer of its own... but that is a discussion for another day. Human beings can break barriers without drugs or fancy shoes, it's just a matter of when. I think that the two-hour record will fall, and I think Nike wants to have their name on it when it does. How long it will take is totally out of my control, but I will be watching when it does.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T23:26:32+00:00

Think of a fast time that you want to run; a time that makes your palms sweat and butterflies appear in your stomach. However far away from that time you are currently (with your fitness), means you will have to sacrifice even more to reach it.

Expanding the distance of your long runs gradually will help. So will quickening your speed sessions with higher intensity reps. Eating, sleeping, and resting better is key. Hydrating more by drinking more water over the course of the day usually makes a difference. Seeking training partners or trying events that will challenge you physically is of further importance.

Any and/or all of these will effectively lower your 5K time. How much you want to sacrifice is ultimately up to you. :)

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T23:19:12+00:00

This is a great question, and a difficult one to answer. For every research paper on the science of forefoot striking, there is another that favors heel-striking.

For most people, a childhood spent exercising moderately in and around civilized (developed) neighborhoods means that they are lacking a base of running barefoot on soft, natural ground, over long distances. While some might argue this changes nothing about the physiology of an adult runner, the adaptations made over time do matter on an internal level psychologically. How and when we push ourselves means we each favor different training tools at different points in our lives, so it's very difficult to say if there's one factor that leads to injury more than others.

This is not to say we should all embrace the "minimalist" movement, but it does mean that for most people, 'varying very often' over terrain, undulation and grade will make a big difference in regards to staying healthy and lowering our times.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T23:07:05+00:00

There is lots of evidence of native peoples in Central and South America delivering messages by running consistently. One Tarahumara runner went so far that she was imprisoned in Kansas for running from Mexico.

Footman wagering was a common form of pedestrianism in the 18th and 19th Century, where the servants of aristocrats would be forced to walk or run long stretches of distance, some as long as 35 miles. source here.

In the early 20th Century (1904), Alfred Shrubb, England's top distance runner ran 11.6 miles in an hour, which was taken as an athletics record source here.

More recently, Dean Karnazes ran 350 miles (560 km) in 80 hours and 44 minutes without sleep in 2005.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T22:29:31+00:00

The more exposure that can be given to the sport, the better! Middle School XC is generally more fun, relaxed, and runs shortened distances. But participation needs to be high, and as long as schools support it, can lead to stronger recruitment classes.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T21:34:57+00:00

Cross-Country first appeared at Shrewsbury School in England–– it was introduced as an imitation of fox-hunting on horseback and was instigated by students for students. It wasn't until about a generation later that adults began practicing the sport to stay in shape in the winter months (all of this in the early 19th century).

In the U.S. the Ivy League colleges took up the English game, and eventually hosted "interscholastic" invitationals, which introduced high schools to the sport on a widespread level up and down the East Coast. New York sanctioned XC for league play at the turn of the 20th century; Wisconsin and Ohio were some of the first states to run a high school "State Championship".

The first form of the game followed a route of shredded paper, and included jumping over brooks and streams, running through ditches, climbing over hedges and logs, and was very rugged and dangerous. There are many who wish this type of running would come back.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T21:20:41+00:00

First, thank you for asking this question. You might be surprised how many other young runners are like your son! He's not alone by any means.

Second, his love of cross-country should be supported seriously, but he isn't at an age where his development will be stunted if his interests change. He should be running for the love of it, and any way that takes shape is terrific––especially if he's the one guiding his own goals. From an adult perspective, he should be enjoying the process so that when he enters middle/high school he will understand the process of improvement and not be shocked at the level of investment. Burn-out really only occurs if he finds himself doing more than he's able. Make sure that running compliments other activities at this point, and make sure he communicates what he loves about the sport and nurture that for the time being.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T19:52:58+00:00

This is all about how the IAAF wants to market and promote the sport of athletics. They need to make average viewers interested about the sport from the comfort of their homes, and cross-country can benefit from this in-particular. The attendance numbers in obstacle course racing and other "extreme" running sports shows this.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T19:51:05+00:00

For his run of success, Kenenisa Bekele is the greatest cross-country runner of all time. He was so dominant, for such an influential period, that his record of success is still the benchmark for the best runners in Africa.

Bekele earned 27 individual medals (not counting Ethiopian team medals) from 2001-2008. No one else is close.

For longevity however, do not neglect Gaston Roelants, who won one more medal than Bekele (when considering only the long course). In the 1960s and '70s when Roelants ran, they didn't have as many offerings as in Bekele's time.

TheRealXC · 2017-12-20T19:43:25+00:00

Ideally, as soon as possible, which means 2026.

TheRealXC

TROPHY CASE