The South View Course is Legit

 

This race has generated more than its share of super-fast times, leading to allegations in the past that the course is short.  I personally measured it at 4940 meters two years ago, which is long enough to qualify as 5K by MileSplit's standards.  This year, the course was independenly measured at 5005 meters; given the fact that measuring wheels tend to be short if you're not careful, the course could actually be very slightly long!  Then factor in all the loose, sandy soil like you see in the above photo (especially in the third mile), and it's actually a pretty challenging course.  The other results from South View - which include conference and regional meets - have been supporting this idea for a few years now: it's not that the course is short, it's that the atmosphere of the meet amplifies the performances.  The night-time starts with cooler temperatures, the alternating light and dark patches, the cheering crowds lining the majority of the course; all of those things lead to stronger performances.  If you look at the meet records below, you can see that there is a distinct slowing over the last 3 seasons, during which time meet director Jesse Autry has made a concerted effort to ensure that the length of the course is right.

Consider this interesting thought: even will all of the extra boost that the Jungle Run gives in terms of the electric environment, Philip Hall only ran 9 seconds faster than he did at McAlpine the previous weekend (and he had a bit of a slow start there).  It's possible, as expressed by one experienced coach who has seen both course, that South View's course is slower than McAlpine in its current configuration.  In any case, you don't have to take the times from the 2014 Jungle Run with a grain of salt - they are the result of a perfect storm of conditions and competition, and they are for real.

Jungle Run Meet Records:  Boys  |  Girls