I saw this article on AthleticsWeekly by Tim Hutchings about the upcoming World XC in Bathhurst.
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:
Tim Hutchings wrote:
Cross country running should ask different questions of participants to the challenges of flat road and track summer racing, and while hills tend to be year-round physical features, cool temperatures, a muddy and unpredictable surface, combined with twists and turns and other surface variations, are more common in a real winter. For me, at least, these are ideally non-negotiables. Otherwise, what’s the point?
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.
