For week three of the 2011 cross country season, we have a range of meets across the state, covering the challenging hills of Montreat College, the rolling grass of Guilford College, and the firm, flat rock dust of McAlpine. Not even Charlotte's famously fast course can match the raw speed of South View High School's, though. Controversial to those who haven't been there, loved by those who have, the Jungle Run is our Featured Meet of the Week.
The Meet: Jungle Run
South View's signature meet is unique in North Carolina, because it begins in the early evening and features its biggest races after dark. Using the lights from all the athletic fields on the South View campus, plus several portable diesel-powered lights normally used for night-time road construction, a completely different atmosphere is created for the runners. Add to that the finish in the football stadium, and it gives cross country the kind of feel that athletes in many other sports take for granted. Over its ten years of existence, the Jungle Run has gained the same position in the East as the WNC Carnival has in the West: a critical and prestigious early test for perennially strong teams and runners, as well as a venue for upstarts and newcomers to declare their presence. As with the WNC Carnival and many other meets, teams can enter up to three divisions: first seven in the Championship, second seven in the Invitational, and everyone else in the Developmental.
In the words of meet director and longtime South View head coach Jesse Autry:
"The Jungle Run started out an "outside-the-box" conversation that I had with former assistants Todd Leggroan and Rick Newton back in the 2001 (I think) season. We were traveling back from Wilmington after the Seahawk Invite and discussing how we would like to host the Regional meet the next year. So, the obvious questions were, do we have the man-power and experience to make it happen? I knew we had a dedicated parent/alumni group. Well, I said, "I know a way we can find out, let's host an invitational."
We had done the conference championships many times. We had even expanded that into both championship and developmental divisions. So, running meets we knew we could do. Creating an event that made people want to come to Hope Mills was a horse of another color. How would we make people want to come to Hope Mills? There are no amusement parks, mountains or beaches, no lakes or monuments. We needed a gimmick. So, I said, "Let's just run it at night. That will be different. It's still hot early in the season and people will think the night-time thing is cooler and just plain cool." Since we were coming back from Wilmington we discussed how we could use our wide open practice fields like UNCW does. All the stadium lights combined with rental lights would give us the geography needed to get close to 5K. A day time race on the same course would be boring, hot and monotonous. But at night, it could be awesome. Then there was the whole concept of the kids running down the hill into a crowd-filled stadium and cranking out about 350-400 meters with specators cheering. All this, we thought, would create an incredibly exciting environment.
That first year we had about 16 full teams. But since then, the rest has been history."
(includes recent meet history)
Meet Records
The Course: South View High School
There have been many questions over the years about the times produced by this meet. Is the course short? According to Coach Autry, "There has always been a lot of talk about how fast it is here. Well, it is. Our geography is flat. The kids are right in front of roaring crowds almost the entire race. The course is always about 20 to 35 meters short because we just run out of room. And that last quarter mile on the track is really something special. All that creates an adrenaline rush that lasts about 5000 meters." Coach Autry continues:
The Jungle Run was never designed to be anything more than what it is: a fun event designed to create early season excitement for every runner, parent, coach and fan. We have never really cared what people say about how fast it is... we're having fun. Cross country courses are all different anyway. I just say look at the teams who have done well here in the past and how they ended up in their conference, regional and state meets. Our boys won it last year and ended up as the State Runner-Up. Pinecrest has won it and won the state meet. Terry Sanford, West Johnston and Pinecrest's girls have fared well in the years they raced well here. And 
there are plenty of smaller schools who went on to great seasons. Look at the individuals who won last year: Samantha George and Blake Williams. I always stress to my kids that cross country is about how you fare againt the opposition no matter what the geography and/or conditions. Eveyone runs the same thing. I invite everyone to come out and enjoy what we have always called "A cross country event in an friday night football atmosphere."
In the end, the course runs about 30 seconds faster than Tanglewood (the standard against which our database compares courses in this state); for comparison, McAlpine runs about 15 seconds faster. That's just enough to mess with the rankings a bit, but not enough to rule the course out, either. South View High School has been the host for three 4A East Regional competitions, as well as several conference meets.
Course Records
