How do you make cross country fun?

Start off with easy runs and add music in the run. Like ride on the bike and play music.

Some good ideas here for helping to build endurance whilst having fun -

https://trackandfieldtoolbox.net/cross-country/cross-country-drills-games

I think Google might turn up a fair few more ideas if you do a few searches with different terms.

For track I don't think there's much you can do, you gotta do the workouts.

For easy days, one of the things we did that was fun was to bring along a tennis ball and throw it around as we ran. It would give the slower guys some incentive to keep up, the faster guys could run after the ball, and it would turn into a mini speed workout and pass the time more easily.

Sounds like you dont believe in what you are selling. Who said XC is "fun"? Winning/running well is gratifying/satisfying ...

I think the OP is taking about getting over those initial barriers & the initial resistance in a school that has been largely sprint-focused up to this point. A bit of "fun" in every other session wouldn't harm if they're trying to build a team from scratch.

Go, Laura! wrote:

Some good ideas here for helping to build endurance whilst having fun -

https://trackandfieldtoolbox.net/cross-country/cross-country-drills-games

I think Google might turn up a fair few more ideas if you do a few searches with different terms.

Some of these seem fun. One word of caution about the workout where you start the slow kids first and the faster kids later. It can be disheartening for the slower kids to be caught or passed by the faster kids.

You can incorporate things like soccer balls and frisbees into practice. I talked with a coach years ago who had the kids play ultimate. One of the things I would do is to make the game small sided so that lots of kids touch the disc otherwise you can have kids just standing around.

Making distance running fun can be a challenge. From my daughter's team something I hear from her is that when they go out on easy runs the kids laugh and talk. I would say to make sure no kid is running alone on those runs if it means slowing down a runner some. One thing my high school coach did for easy days was put a slower kid at the front and the rule was we could not pass him. He might have 2 groups of runners say Runners 1-8 in one group and 9-16 in another and each group would have the "governor" that no one could pass. We would set off on different runs and even different distances based on ability levels. One group might run north and the other group south just so the slower group was not intimidated or that they felt the need to run faster (remember these were the EASY days).

I think that making the warm ups and cool downs different is important. Have 2-3 "routines" that can all accomplish the goals and let the kids (maybe the captain) pick which one to do. (Make them dynamic warm ups not static stretching)!

Do team meals the night before meets. It is not part of practice, but it seems like something a lot of folks do. Maybe watch some movie together. It does not even have to be a running movie.

Let the kids have a lot of say in what goes on and in building the culture. The best recruiters for your team are going to be the kids on the team.

If you are looking to recruit, walk the halls and invite the skinny kid who does not look athletic to come out and give it a try. If they need to walk/run, then do not make a big deal about it.

Give the slower kids attention. If you only get to know the faster kids and only spend time with them, you will be failing as a coach IMHO.

Most people are not going to do something that is elective if it is not fun... now different people have different definitions of "fun" and at the high school level for a competitive runner "fun" might not be the right word. But they need to be getting something out of it. It will likely be intrinsic. The best runner likely will not going to get the glory and adoration that the back up QB will get so he needs to find what he likes about it. (Girls the same to some extent).

Ask the kids what they like about being on a team or about running. There might be lots of different answers, but do not assume.

Running is not fun, at least by any commonly accepted definition of the word. It is satisfying and rewarding in numerous ways. Successfully communicating that to young people is a difficult task.

If you do group training on a set course, do "chase" or 'rabbit" runs.

i.e. staggered start so slowest runners leave first, and faster runners leave in successive waves, with the fastest runner leaving last, appropriately delayed.

The idea is everyone finishes roughly the same time.

This involves them or you knowing relative ability (hopefully you do as a coach.) If that's not known, you can find out by having the first bout a mass-start and use the differences in finish times to handicapped the next bout (that day or another day).

Hire a cross country coach who knows how to coach cross country runners.

dunes runner wrote:

Hire a cross country coach who knows how to coach cross country runners.

Every coach started from zero. This guy is looking for help to become an XC coach. I'm sure he can learn, just like you could learn not to give inane advice.