I'm in full agreement. Cross country - one race, one champion. Beautiful simplicity.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> ABOLISH THE 4K CROSS COUNTRY!!!
>
> That is my request. The experiment has been a failure. I would guess that the IAAF's
>idea was to bring in the mile stars, such as Morceli and El Guerrouj, to the harrier
>season. It hasn't worked. I also suspect they were hoping it would break Kenya's
>strangelhold on the team competition. That too has not happened.
>
> All it has succeeded in doing is watering down the event. The great thing about
>cross country is (was) that everyone, from 800 runners to marathoners squares off in
>one race. 10K or 12K is too long for milers? Tell that to John Walker, Rod Dixon, and
>Wildfred Kirochi, all top-3 World Cross finishers and 1500 Olympic or World Champs
>medalists.
>
> Okay, Goucher, Drossin (U.S. Champs) and O’Sullivan (World Champs) have won
>impressive doubles, but they've only been contesting both distances for 3 years. 9
>consecutive U.S. or 5 straight World titles. Now those are achievements.
>
> 4K cross? I ran that as a 12-year old. 12K FOR EVERYBODY!!!
> I don't mean to denegrate this weekend's meet. I'll have a great time watching all
>the events. But as a cross country nut, I'd take two less races to see everyone duke
>it out over the longer distance.
>
> What do y'all think?
> sideshow
