When I was in High School and College at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, I ran on the Cross-country teams. The Cross-Country Course came in all types of terrain and distances. The only time a race would be canceled is if there was lightning in the area. To most runners, the The elements of the weather didn’t matter. However, the course itself did.
The first thing, that a team or an individual does when they arrive for a meet, is to walk the course. If it is a big meet involving many schools, such as a State or National meet is to walk it the day before. As a runner, I wanted to know where the hills where located as well as the best places to pass an individual. Did the course hold any surprises for the runners? What type obstacles were in the way? Knowing the course would give each runner a plan for the race.
I have run on courses at golf courses, side roads, parking lots, city parks, or country fields and pastures. No two courses are alike. Even the mileage (distance) for each course varies. Mileage is determined by sex and age. Older more mature runners have longer distances than younger individuals.
A good course does need some important considerations though. First there has to be plenty of room at the start to handle all the teams and participants. A starting line usually has small areas anywhere from 5 to 10 feet wide. This area is called a starting box. If you have 10 teams involved, you have 10 boxes. Each team gets a box. this is where they start the race from.
There has to be plenty of room at the beginning of the race before the first turn. This can be anywhere from a fourth of a mile to a half mile in length. The faster runners get there first and it stretches out the participants so that there are no accidents. Problems come up when you have 20 or 30 people trying to negotiate a turn.
Some courses have paths on them. This is not necessary. as the course gets used over time, trails (paths) will develop.
A good course is well marked. Flags are used to give the runner directions on whether to turn right, left, or go forward. Many times a course is marked with a solid colored line from start to the finish. This is very easy for runners to follow.
Some courses have bridges to cross or creeks to run through. If you have this on your course, be sure that there is solid ground or bridge at the cross over point. Running through a shallow creek can cause problems. Moss on the bed rock can cause runners to slip. also, as runners leave the creek, they drag water with them. This can cause the exit area to become slippery and muddy.
The finish area needs to have a long funnel marked of with rope. As the runners cross the finish line, they are moved into single file as they go through the chute to the end. This gives the scorers and timers a chance to properly score the meet. It also helps prevent cheating by the runners. Many times the runners are too tired and don’t move so quickly. So it is good to have volunteers available to keep them moving. The chute is wide and narrows quickly.
Another consideration is to have a course set up so that it can be viewed by the judges. Many times this is hard to do. It is not a major consideration but, it does help is judges and spectators can view the entire race.
Cloverleafs on a golf course are usually set up so that the runners will travel a loop of the cloverleaf for a mile or half mile loop. This helps stretch out the runners on the course. It can also make for better control of the race as well as viewing.
The last thing to consider on a Cross-Country course is keeping spectators out of the way. They shouldn’t be crossing in the way of the runners at anytime. More problems are caused by spectators than the runners themselves.
