Girls to 5K

[cc coach]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/high-school/2015/01/07/iowa-high-school-cross-country-girls-race-distance-change/21415081/

 

[oguard_run]

Since the driving force behind this change was that girls and boys should be running the same distance, does that mean there is going to be a change in track so the boys and girls both run either the 1500 or the 1600, same with the 3000/3200? Or is the state going to risk a lawsuit there like there was in Wisconsin?

 

[SSG T]

Originally posted by oguard_run:
Since the driving force behind this change was that girls and boys should be running the same distance, does that mean there is going to be a change in track so the boys and girls both run either the 1500 or the 1600, same with the 3000/3200? Or is the state going to risk a lawsuit there like there was in Wisconsin?

I've wondered why the boys run 1600/3200, but more because of the college distances than the girls. (I realize the girls run what is run in college, just meant from a reasoning standpoint).


I asked my daughter last night, who will run XC as a FR next fall, her response was "well, I run 5Ks for fun on my own anyway, so what's the big deal?"

 

[cancer stick]

I love the move, glad it came. I realize some girls may chose to not run because they think its too much but that type of kid wasnt successful at 2.5 anyway. Hopefully every meet can get correct distances now for their courses as they only need to measure out one distance.

 

[cc_gru]

I agree with Stick on the courses - they hopefully will be accurate now!
Meet times now will need to adjust - looking at the slower group of ladies, it could add 7-9 minutes on the JV girls race and around 5-8 minutes on the V girls side.

I do think some ladies will choose not to run using the distance as an excuse, they have started, but now are looking for an out, but the ones that are invested no matter how fast or slow will continue to run.

 

[cancer stick]

Good point on the meets being longer and it will definitely be that amount of time as well. Hopefully more girls from this state start to get recognized nationally because we do seem to churn out a handful of studs yearly but some dont get a shot to run D1. I'll be interested to see how numbers fluctuate because of the change, its all for the best but I imagine it will take a hit initially and then climb back to regular numbers in a few years.

 

[cc coach]

I agree that there may be some girls who use it as an excuse not to go out.... but, they would have found a different excuse if this was not available. Numbers increased with the increased distance from 2-2.5. No reason to think numbers would go down for an extra half mile. It will be nice to only have to lay out a JH course and one HS course instead of two. It will make the meets a bit longer, but that is not a huge deal.

I do disagree with the notion that this makes it so girls are now doing the "same" as boys. When it comes to racing, it is about time, not distance. How long are you running at your maximum effort. Girls will be doing "more" than boys, because they will be racing longer. I am fine with the change..... it was going to happen sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner. But, 18-23 minutes is a long race. Wasn't that long ago that the race was 11-13 minutes. Almost twice as long now. Different training involved in those different race durations.

I really don't think there will be any girls getting recognized that were not getting recognized before. If there is a college coach out there that cannot figure out an equivalency between 4k and 5k they should be fired. It is not very hard at all to realize that a girl who can run a 14:10 4k can also run a great 5k. On top of that, no runner is given a "cross country" scholarship. It is for CC and TRACK.... and those times are truly equivalent for everyone.