I generally find Hutchings to be insufferable. But he's absolutely right here. Even if it's Australian summer, they could have found a swampy or floodplain area where this event could be staged. I'd rather risk pissing off the African countries and have more European inclusion. But WA isn't interested in getting this right, Coe would rather try appeal to the IOC to get XC into the Olympics. Just another predictable issue with letting this sport be run entirely by out-of-touch, greedy f*cks.
He proceeds to whine that the World XC will not be "real British XC" because there will not be enough mud and it will be too hot.
Here is the exact quote:
Why can we not test people's ability to handle HEAT? Or brutal sun? Or dry terrain? Why are any of these less worthy just because they do not occur this time of year in the UK?
British people have this same issue with NCAA XC ran on manicured golf courses. By their logic, none of the XC champs done in Kenya or Ethiopia are "real XC". AthleticsWeekly and Tim Hutchings should be less concerned by the conditions of the course and more concerned with why the UK is sending just a SINGLE SENIOR MAN.
I generally find Hutchings to be insufferable. But he's absolutely right here. Even if it's Australian summer, they could have found a swampy or floodplain area where this event could be staged. I'd rather risk pissing off the African countries and have more European inclusion. But WA isn't interested in getting this right, Coe would rather try appeal to the IOC to get XC into the Olympics. Just another predictable issue with letting this sport be run entirely by out-of-touch, greedy f*cks.
They didn't move it to a manicured course for the sake of the African runners. Those guys will turn up to any course and smash it. The famous 2019 World XC course had a mud pit and a sand pit as well as the museum hill. The Africans seemed happy enough on that. Bekele and Kipchoge used to boss it at Edinburgh Cross which was usually muddy. I'm not sure why Bathurst is set up to be a track on grass but I don't think it's at the request of many of the runners.
I generally find Hutchings to be insufferable. But he's absolutely right here. Even if it's Australian summer, they could have found a swampy or floodplain area where this event could be staged. I'd rather risk pissing off the African countries and have more European inclusion. But WA isn't interested in getting this right, Coe would rather try appeal to the IOC to get XC into the Olympics. Just another predictable issue with letting this sport be run entirely by out-of-touch, greedy f*cks.
They didn't move it to a manicured course for the sake of the African runners. Those guys will turn up to any course and smash it. The famous 2019 World XC course had a mud pit and a sand pit as well as the museum hill. The Africans seemed happy enough on that. Bekele and Kipchoge used to boss it at Edinburgh Cross which was usually muddy. I'm not sure why Bathurst is set up to be a track on grass but I don't think it's at the request of many of the runners.
Fair, it's more likely their agents' and NGB officials' preference.
And they are absolutely correct. If you're not fighting the elements in some form during a XC race then you're just running a road race. What, are you afraid of getting your feet wet? Are you that insecure about your times that a little mud is a no no for you? Maybe you're just not made for this sport. It's ok, stick to the comfort of the track, we both know you need that bounce anyway.
How is fighting extremely hot weather not "fighting the elements"? It is just not elements the Brits are used to this time of year, so they are against it.
And they are absolutely correct. If you're not fighting the elements in some form during a XC race then you're just running a road race. What, are you afraid of getting your feet wet? Are you that insecure about your times that a little mud is a no no for you? Maybe you're just not made for this sport. It's ok, stick to the comfort of the track, we both know you need that bounce anyway.
How is fighting extremely hot weather not "fighting the elements"? It is just not elements the Brits are used to this time of year, so they are against it.
The point of XC is the change in the surface, which is what should make it unique. Extremely hot weather is already fairly common at summer championships on the track
You sound like another AC spoiled track baby. My condolences, but I assure you, not a single runner attending this event is worried about the temperatures.
For those complaining about cross country courses that are too manicured, etc, let's try to remember why that happened in America - standardization.
Most XC running in America falls under the umbrella of schools, and they largely decided that they wanted to have ways of comparing performances, so they wrote rules that standardized the distance for most XC races (like 5k in most states for HS). Then everyone wanted to start to compare times (as disingenuous as that may be, given how different courses and conditions can be), and to make themselves look good, coaches and meet directors would want to construct "fast" courses, because who doesn't want a fast time! This phenomenon has progressed to the point where people will try to use XC times from the fall to project track times in the spring.
Courses should be made by this sort of process - start here, finish there, run around/through/over this for the course. Maybe multiple loops. Now how far is it? Make the course first, then measure it to discover how long it is.
You sound like another AC spoiled track baby. My condolences, but I assure you, not a single runner attending this event is worried about the temperatures.
No idea what AC is but you sound like someone who would have frozen tears down your cheeks over a bit of precipitation and temperatures below 20C. I assure you that you've never been to this event and never will.
You sound like another AC spoiled track baby. My condolences, but I assure you, not a single runner attending this event is worried about the temperatures.
No idea what AC is but you sound like someone who would have frozen tears down your cheeks over a bit of precipitation and temperatures below 20C. I assure you that you've never been to this event and never will.
Temperature in my country varies from -27C in the winter to +33C in the summer so you'd be wrong there. And when did I say anything about being in that event? Are you arguing with voices in your head? Running endless laps on the track must have scrambled your brain a little. Come join the boys on the grass once in a while, just don't roll an ankle, ok?
After reading Gault's course review, I'm not sure what Hutchins is complaining about. The course in Bathurst sounds like it's rutted under foot, it has a mid pit, a sand trap, uneven ground, a big hill, the run through the vines, and the chicane. It sounds like a very different challenge to the track. I think there'll be a few big stars from Europe and US who will watch this and regret passing on the opportunity to compete
You sound like another AC spoiled track baby. My condolences, but I assure you, not a single runner attending this event is worried about the temperatures.
Not even Joshua Cheptegai, who famously melted down due to high temperatures 10 years ago at World XC? I can guarantee every single runner attending is monitoring the temperature.
Not to mention, most of the people in the thread missed the entire point. The World XC course is not a track on grass. It has challenges - they are just not the challenges that British XC runners want.
If we just do a simple compare of "run across a largely flat golf course" type charicature US XC race vs "run through this swamp" type charicature of a UK XC race, I think if XC is going to offer something different to track or road races, then the UK version is more "XC". But that doesn't mean every XC race has to be a swamp.
Ever race over every terrain is "hard". It's as hard as you make it. A track 10000m is no more or less hard than a golf course XC or a swamp XC.
What XC is good at is generating changes in rhythm, stride length, maximal effort output n short bursts etc. So long as the course brings some of that different discipline to the party so that it accentuates some athletes strengths compared to how they perform on different surfaces, I'm happy with any course.