Frequently Asked Questions
The following are some of the most-asked questions by parents and athletes who are new to the sport of Cross Country. The questions - and answers - are not meant to be all inclusive but will hopefully provide some information and insight into the great sport of Cross Country.
HOW LONG IS THE SEASON, HOW LONG ARE PRACTICES, AND HOW LONG ARE THE MEETS?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RUN "VARSITY" OR TO RUN "JV"?
IS IT NECESSARY TO MORTGAGE YOUR HOUSE TO BUY GOOD RUNNING SHOES?
HOW MUCH DO WE RUN IN PRACTICE?
DOES EVERYONE RUN IN EVERY MEET?
IF I GO TO A MEET AS A SPECTATOR, WHAT WILL I SEE?
Hopefully some of your questions have been answered in the above information.
As the season progresses - and more questions occur to you - do not hesitate to ask.
QUESTION #1: WHAT IS CROSS COUNTRY?
Cross Country is a team sport involving running 5000 meters (3.1 miles) over varying terrain - or "cross the country." Cross Country courses can be found in parks, on golf courses, in fields, in woods....anywhere a 5000 meter course can be set up. There are basically two kinds of meets: dual meets involving just two teams and invitational meets involving as many as 20 - 25 teams.
QUESTION #2: HOW DO YOU KEEP SCORE?
Cross Country is a bit different than many other sports because in our sport the LOW score wins (just think golf!). A team’s score in a meet is determined by simply adding the places of the first five runners for that team. Therefore, if you are a math wizard, you will quickly determine that a "perfect score" (as low as a team can get) is 15 (1+2+3+4+5). Look at the sample dual meet below and see how the score of the meet was determined.
| Team A | Team B |
|---|---|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
8 |
___ |
___ |
28 |
27 |
Even though Team A had the top runner and 2 of the first 3 places,
Team B - because of better team balance and "pack running" - wins
the meet 27-28.
QUESTION #3: HOW LONG IS THE SEASON, HOW LONG ARE PRACTICES, AND HOW
LONG ARE THE MEETS?
Our season begins with mandatory practice in mid-August (the State Athletic Association sets the first day of practice as the Monday of the week of August 15). Our meets usually begin around the first of September, and the final competition of the season is the State Meet, which is always the first Saturday of November.
Our practices usually last around two hours. 5:00 is a good general time to keep in mind for an "end point" for practice.
The length of meets varies quite a bit. A dual meet is over fairly quickly - the girls race, the boys race, and everyone goes home! That usually takes around an hour or an hour-and-a-half. Invitational meets are longer. On a typical Saturday during the fall we may leave school at 7:00 a.m. and then return at 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon. Whenever we travel, a time schedule will be available for when we leave, when we run, and when we will return home.
QUESTION #4: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RUN "VARSITY" OR TO RUN "JV"?
In dual meets the terms "varsity" and "JV" mean nothing. In a dual
meet, both teams line up all their runners, the gun goes off, and
everyone runs. In invitational meets, there are normally two
separate races - a varsity race and a JV (junior varsity) race. In
the varsity race, each school is allowed to enter its 7 top runners,
and in the JV race each school can enter as many runners as they
wish. Our varsity runners for a given invitational meet are
determined by the meet (or meets) previous to the invitational.
Unlike picking a "starting 5" in basketball, our 7 varsity runners "pick themselves" based on their performances in previous meets. It
is not uncommon to have the 7 varsity runners vary a great deal
during the course of a season as runners improve, injuries occur,
etc.
QUESTION #5: IS IT NECESSARY TO MORTGAGE YOUR HOUSE TO BUY GOOD RUNNING SHOES?
The good-news answer to this question is NO. Of course, more can be
spent, but a good pair of running shoes can be purchased for
$60-$80. Another thing to keep in mind is that a cross country
athlete really needs only ONE thing as far as equipment goes -
shoes. No bats, gloves, sticks, racquets, pads,etc. Just shoes! When
it’s time to buy shoes, your best bet is to go to a running store
like Tortoise and Hare or Running Fit. Once you’re in the store,
tell them two things: 1) what you need the shoes for (that will help
them point you in the right direction) and 2) that you are a member
of our team (that means a discount!).
QUESTION #6: HOW MUCH DO WE RUN IN PRACTICE?
There is no simple answer to this question because it varies so
much. With 70 or 80 athletes on our team, it is obvious that there
is a wide spectrum of abilities, experience, and even age. With that
in mind, our basic approach is to not have our athletes do or run
anything that they are not READY for. That means on a given practice
day a four-year veteran with perhaps 2000 miles behind her in her
high school career might be running an 8-10 mile workout while her
teammate who is new to the sport might be running 2 or 3 miles.
Also, it is not always the distance that is the most significant
aspect of our training; more often than not it is the intensity of
what we run that is the most telling part of a workout rather than
simply how far we go. One of the other main goals in our practices
is to always be progressing - to hopefully run more (and faster!)
than you did in the past. If an athlete ran 2 miles without stopping
last week, then she may be able to go 3 miles this week. If an
athlete ran 5 repeat miles in 6 minutes last week, then she may be
able to do 6 of them this week.
QUESTION #7: DOES EVERYONE RUN IN EVERY MEET?
With only two exceptions, the answer is YES! Except in the Regional Meet and the State Meet where we are limited to our 7 varsity runners, ALL team members run in ALL meets. Everyone participates. No one sits on the bench; we have no benches.
QUESTION #8: IF I GO TO A MEET AS A SPECTATOR, WHAT WILL I SEE?
A lot of what a spectator can see during a meet is based on what
kind of course it is. On some courses you can see virtually every
step of the race because of how the course is set up, while on other
courses you may be able to see only the start, the finish, and a few
segments of the race here and there. By the nature of the sport,
even the spectators are "active" during a cross country race. There
are no bleachers to sit in, and many spectators literally run (or at
least walk briskly!) from one part of the course to another to see
as much of the race as possible. It is a great spectator sport, one
where you can literally be only a few feet away from the action!
QUESTION #9: WHAT ABOUT INJURIES?
Though it is unlikely to have serious injuries in Cross Country (broken bones, etc.), it is not uncommon - particularly for runners new to the sport - to encounter some sort of injury problem. By far the most common injuries we experience are related to "stress" or "overuse." Sore muscles, shin problems, aching knees, and hip problems are some of the more common injuries we face. Most of these injuries come from the body trying to do more than it is actually ready for. If injuries do occur, we generally try to follow this procedure: consult with the coach and/or trainer, follow the procedures prescribed by the coach or trainer (icing and extra stretching, for example), and take time off if necessary for the injury to heal. As noted above, the more experience a runner has, the stronger that runner is, the more miles that runner has, then there is less chance of injury. A very high percentage of our injuries come from athletes new to the sport and who have only a minimal running background.
QUESTION #10: WHAT ABOUT DIET AND SLEEP?
These are two areas we as a team try to talk about throughout the course of the season. Regarding diet, we talk about and emphasize the importance of "healthy eating" when involved in an endurance sport like Cross Country. Rather than discussing healthy eating in general terms, we distribute lists of specific "good" and "bad" foods - those foods that can actually help one’s performance and those foods that are simply empty calories or that may interfere with one’s performance.
The same goes for getting enough rest. For the first month or so of
the season, this isn’t much of a problem: school is just starting,
everyone seems to be rested, there’s a lot of energy. Then as the
weeks go by - and the homework piles up and the miles pile up and
the former 8 hours a night turns into 6 hours a night - proper rest
becomes more of an issue. If an athlete’s performances begin to
falter in mid- or late October, it often is because she simply is
"too tired" to run up to her potential. And once that point is
reached, it seems very difficult to turn this situation around. It
seems that once a certain point is reached, it is nearly impossible
in the relatively brief amount of time we have to restore the rest
and energy levels that might have been there on September 1. A night
or two of "catching up" is not enough to recapture the 15 or 20 or
30 seconds that have "mysteriously" been added to a runner’s time.