A Parent's Guide to Cross Country
What is Cross Country?
Long distance running: a team sport.
Not held on a fixed track like athletics, (athletics is AKA track and
field).
Athletes usually race across open terrain — e.g. golf courses, steeplechase courses - most often through a combination of woods, fields and always a hill or two, or three, etc.
What Distances are normally run?
Races will be 5,000 meters or "5K"s, which translates 3.10 miles.
Scoring
Cross country scoring is different from most sports, that is, the lowest score wins.
A cross country team usually consists of seven athletes. In some meets, varsity can be ten athletes or even more. However, the runners beyond your 7th finisher are removed from the scoring.
The places of the first five athletes for each team are added together to determine the team score. In the event of a tie, the sixth athlete's place is used to determine the winner. Scoring "places" only include the first seven runners from each team.
It is important for the team to run as close together as possible. For example, a finish of 1, 3, 4, 6 and 83, a score of 97, will lose to a team finishing 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, with a score of 96.
Training
If an athlete has not been training on a regular basis, he/she will probably experience muscle soreness and various aches and pains. Feel free to discuss these cases with the coaching staff. Their experience is invaluable in addressing these problems and your concerns.
Nutrition
There are two main things to remember: 1) WATER, lots of it, and 2) foods which are EASY to digest - primarily carbohydrates. Experienced athletes often speak of carbo loading prior to a race with foods such as pasta. The real key is a balanced diet that includes healthy carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. It is highly recommended that athletes strive to get 100% of the RDA of vitamins and minerals each day.
Shoes
Shoes are the most important component of the athlete's uniform. Training shoes can aid dramatically toward keeping an athlete injury free. The wrong shoes or worn shoes (count on no more than 300 miles per pair) WILL cause injury. Please consult with a professional salesperson to select footwear for your athlete. (Fleet Feet, Duluth provides superior
service and advice.)
Cross country "spikes" are recommended for racing.
Cross Country Meets
Cross country meets are normally scheduled after school and on Saturday mornings. Meets may last a few hours or all day, depending on the organization and number of entries. Please check the schedule which will be provided for specific meet locations and times.
Transportation to and from meets will be provided in most instances. Fulton County athletes are NOT allowed to drive themselves to or from a Fulton County athletic event!
Cross Country is not the typical spectator sport, because you cannot see the entire race from one location. Spend a few minutes prior to the start of the race to pick your spot, and remember, cheering for all Alpharetta athletes is required!
Pre-Race Preparations
Make sure your athlete rests prior to race day. The real key is the night before the night before the meet. Often the athlete will be nervous and not get well rested the night before. If they had a GREAT night sleep the prior night, a not so great night will not have a significant impact. This requires management of homework schedule, etc. (Top national athletes will average nine hours of sleep per night ALL SEASON!)
Make sure your athlete eats properly before a meet: light, easy to digest foods, in small portions (like a banana). Hydrate with water. Do NOT drink milk, carbonated or acidic (citrus juice) liquids.
Once at the meet, let your athlete go! It is an important time for him/her to prepare mentally and physically with the team.
Post-Race
The first time you see your athlete after a race may be frightening. They have rubber legs, some are panting and gasping for air, their faces may be red and their eyes glassy. They may be nauseated and appear as if they may faint. These symptoms usually pass quickly. Trained medical personnel are on site at most meets and are available for assistance.
Be prepared to assist runners through the finish line chutes. They have exerted a lot of energy and may be ready to collapse. Keep them walking! Make sure that they have their place card and that they hand it in.
Give the athlete space! They are not ready to talk yet. They have responsibilities to the team and the coaching staff. They must complete their cool down routines. When they are ready to talk, they will come to you.
Definitions
PR or PB, Personal Record or Best. A record set by each athlete on a timed course. The goal is to continually improve a PR.
Chute. Roped off area at the finish line, through which the athletes are directed in order to get their place cards. The purpose of the chute is to "funnel" finishers into a single file line and keep them in their
correct finish order. The order of the runners is then recorded by some means, usually some electronic means.
Place. Where the athlete finishes the race, relative to all of the other athletes. Position. Where the athlete finishes the race, relative to the other athletes on his/her team.
Scoring Position. Where the athlete finishes the race, relative to the other teams' scoring athletes. "Nonscoring" athletes include athletes on teams with fewer than five finishers (must have five to score the team) and the athletes finishing 8th or higher on a scored team (only first seven are scored).
LSD. (Don’t be alarmed!) Long, slow distance, part of the training program. Sometimes we will use the term CAR or Continuous Aerobic Running.
Invitational. A cross country meet where multiple teams participate.
XC. A cool way to say Cross Country!