Great map - what about parking on the 9th? How much time should we allow to get from parking to the start finish line?
If you are meaning for the teams the drop off will be in the gravel parking lot by the softball fields and team tents will be set up in the outfield of the 2 softball fields. For spectators your parking will be in the large grassy field on the other side of shields road. It should only take a 5min walk for spectators. For State spectators need to plan for time as we need to collect admission for each person. Hope this helps,
Coach Youtz
Looks like a good, spectator-friendly course. I just hope there are some challenging elevation changes. Obviously it's hard to tell from a satellite overhead image, but I fear that the course will be much flatter than the Tanglewood course. I hope I'm wrong and that the course will present an adequate challenge for the last run. I guess we will all know more after the 4 Runners Only Invite this weekend. Looking forward to the event.
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RunnerRunner
Jeff George says it's deceptively hilly and, having walked through the entire thing I agree. There's a fair amount of up and down, especially through the first mile (some of which repeats after mile 2). the finishing area is flat and the stretch along the road coming to the 2 mile is flat, but I think the course will challenge all the runners at some point or another. It isn't the size of any of the hills so much as it is the number of them. It will be intersting to see what kind of times are run on it - I don't think you'll see much of a true indication of times this Saturday - too many teams will be running it, not necessarily racing it.
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RunnerRunner
I ran the course earlier this week and it's not a tough course. There are no hills in this course so it should be comparable to tanglewood once runners get adapted to it.
It's great for spectators but I don't think it's great for runners
The entire course is uneven except for the parts on the gravel. Looks like you have to cross the road and I know its not that much but when you have traffic and runners using the same road, I believe this causes problems. The parts along the road is really uneven and if it rains, depending on the drainage, could be running in ankle deep water. It appears to me, though I don't know this, that this course was chosen in haste and without much thought, was slapped together. Tanglewood was so much better and was better equipped to handle such an event. Did anyone consider Bryan Park in Greensboro where they have held national cc meets in the past? I was really excited to see and run this course, but very disappointed.
My son ran the course this morning with his team on a training run and was not really impressed either, probably for some of the same reasons. He has run courses around the state from his AAU days in addition to high school, including Tanglewood, McAlpine and many others. He said this course did not compare at all with those courses. Not that he thought it was necessarily that tough a course, just that it was not as nice a quality course to run. Just another opinion. Everybody has to run the same course, so it is what it is.
i hope it doesnt rain like it did last year...i fell so many times but from the map it looks like a pretty fast course....i hope my team makes it to the state meet
To give you a heads up for the state meet. Allow plenty of time to get in, get parked & get set-up. The path from the team area(softball fields) to the start/finish line gets very crowded and hard to get through.
I would also watch out for the finish line, it's a sudden stop and easy for kids to get passed in the chute.
To give you a heads up for the state meet. Allow plenty of time to get in, get parked & get set-up. The path from the team area(softball fields) to the start/finish line gets very crowded and hard to get through.
I would also watch out for the finish line, it's a sudden stop and easy for kids to get passed in the chute.
Coach,
With all due respect you are truely giving false info. First of all the walk from the team tent areas in the softball fields is no further of a walk then it was at Tanglewood. You actually only have to cross the course twice versus 3 or 4 times at Tanglewood. Teams are dropped off close to the softball fields so that walk is very short so I'm not sure what you are meaning by get in, get parked, & set up takes awhile. If you would rather not be dropped off closer to the team tent area please let us know and you can just go straight to the team bus parking area (which is a lot further away).
Your second statement about the finish line is absolutly crazy. The finish line is set up exactly like it was at Tanglewood so was that finish line bad too in your opinion? Their is the finish line then a false finish line 10ft after the actual finish line. Then the chute is another 20ft after the false finish line so the runners actually have 30ft to slow down prior to the chute. So your statement about a sudden stop I am confused about. Also the chute (which we have 2 chutes) is 2 feet wide just like Tanglewood was so I'm again not sure how you mean 'its easy for runners to get passed'.
I really appreciate comments and suggestions towards the course but I do not appreciate comments that have no validity behind them or are completely false. If you don't like it fine, but don't make false statements about the course. I have to say that I have always had respect for Coach Olsen, but now I even have A LOT more as he has e-mailed me and communicated his suggestions to me (good and some to work on which we have). He and 99% of xc coaches would do that. Yes, I'm a little upset just by the nature that some people make false statements. I can live with true ones. The only reason I responded to this was that you were completely wrong and if you have proof overwise please come forward with it, but next time please make sure that you have your information correct.
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coachyoutz
I didn't mean to upset you. I was just giving my opinion from the experience from the 4 Runners Only meet. I found that the walkways between the softball fields were somewhat narrow with the amount of people trying to get through them. That's what took a while to get through and get set up. The drop off was definitely close and no, I do not perfer to walk from the bus parking lot. In comparison, at Tanglewood, there was more open space to walk through.
We had 4 runners that were passed in chute at the meet. As our runners crossed the finish line they were positioned by race officials out of sequence of the way they finished. We had some pictures being taken of the finish and the results had runners that were behind them finishing in front of them. I am aware that hearding that many runners through a chute is a difficult task. I am hoping that whatever bugs there may have been will be worked out for the state meet.
I realize too that hosting a state meet is a GREAT undertaking and would not want to be in charge, but do want to make sure that things go well and the runners will get their earned positions at the finish.
I can reassure you that race officials will be on top of their game as the track club from Winston that has done the finish line the last several years for state at Tanglewood will be doing the finish line on Nov. 6th. I just want to make sure things are done the best they can so many of the same players are still working the state meet this year that have done it in the past just a new location. Your clarification helped and I didn't want to be the bad guy, but I just want all of us to make appropriate statements. Their have been too many forums on milesplit on several topics that get way out of hand and I didn't want people to get the wrong idea on this topic.
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coachyoutz Not a coach, but a fan and photographer and would love to post some shots of runners fro different schools being passed in the chute as well as runners having to come to a complete stop in less that 10 meters. That's a very difficult task for a runner to achieve after a valiant sprint following a very hard 3 mile run.
Beeson Park is a wonderful spectator friendly course, but parking for the fans definitely needs some work. The staff who parked cars at the 4 Runners Only Meet did not have rows layed off for parking and it was an event in itself. People driving all over the place, parking wherever they chose, blocking other vehicles and not allowing for exit lanes between the so called rows. The walk from the parking to the course is not too bad, just have to be careful with teams arriving all day long the team bus traffic travels the same path you walk. Please hold small childrens hands.
The bottle neck of only 16 feet between the two softball fields gets vry crowded from competitors especially if teams are allowed to set up there rather than on the softball fields. The other traffic jam is when the teams enter and exit the tent area. At the 4 Runners Only Meet only one gate was opened and it was very congested again, because some teams had tents placed at the gate entrance and between the two fields. My suggestion, would be have someone police where teams set up tents. I'd leave the walkway between the softball fields clear of any advertisement, team tents and vendors to allow maximum room to and from the course. I would also suggest a 20' clearance from any teams, vendors and advertisement at the gateway leading from he fields to the walkway between the fields. I would also have more than one entrance to the fields if possible.
I realize you have a very burdensome task in hosting the most important meet of the year. I know things will go very well at the state meet. Just a thought, maybe widen the finish chute to 20' narrowing to 10' over a 15 meter span and then a single lane 2' chute with an exit. This would be similar to that of other professional courses like McAlpine Park. Remember the state was held there forever and the results from year to year were much more easy to compare.
I appreciate your comments. The parking was not organized well for that invite and I apologize. The Kernersville Police Dept. will be at state directing traffic and parking so it should be a lot better this time if not complain to the cops
Their is suppose to be a gate open in both softball fields so I will make sure it is this time at state. All team tents are suppose to be inside the fence as you mention and that will help out the walk up to the state/finish. Vendors will not be down there, but up above the white fence to help with the flow of traffic.
I'm not changing the finish chute as the track club does an excellent job with the finish line and I'm pretty sure they have done a good job at each state meet at Tanglewood.
Just curious did you have any issues with the chute/finish at Tanglewood? The only reason I am asking is that the track club set the chute/finish up at Tanglewood and they set it up at Beeson too so its the same.
I'll make sure the track club knows about the chute/passing in the chute, but they will do a great job as in the past. I always tell my kids once you are in the chute you don't let anyone pass you.
My goal is to have the state meet be an enjoyable event for spectators, runners, & coaches and I'm sure that will happen.
Thanks for the comments.
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coachyoutz I did not have a problem with the Tanglewood chute, but realize that the state meet at Tanglewood had competitive teams, but very few packs finished the finish line at the same time, whereas at the 4 Runners Only Meet, the competition was the best teams in the state regardless of school classification. Every school which competed was one of the best in the state, not to say that the state meet is not the same, but some of the qualifying teams at the state are not the best 16 teams in the state.
I think that is why the chute seemed to be so crowded and such a challenge for race officials. I believe the classification races for the state championships will bode different results. Some teams will make it in, but they will not even be the best 16 in the state. Some regions are very loaded and others are not so competitive, but the rules are the rules and only the top 4 teams from each region will qualify for the state meet.
As I commented earlier, I know you will be a wonderful host. I realize the challenge is great and with two weeks to prepare many details are still left to iron out and they will be. The 4 Runners Only Meet was a beast to have to tackle in itself with so many big teams from large programs.
I wish you the best and look forward to seeing a very competitive state meet in all classifications!
When will the park be open Friday so that teams that have not seen it may do a run through? Will there be a fee for this like in Winston Salem last year?
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fizzicks
Coach, though a lot of information is found here, there are some pdf files on the cross country section of the NCHSAA site that have some information about the state meet .... specifically to your question:
"The Town Manager of Kernersville, has granted permission for state qualifying teams and individuals to inspect the cross country course at Beeson Park on Friday, November 5th prior to the State Meet beginning at 10:00 A.M. However, Beeson Park will close at 6:00 P.M. that day; therefore, the grounds must be cleared of all people by 6:00 P.M."
