Youth Runners and Cross County Running

 

Trackmom.com’s favorite Middle Distance and Long Distance 

Guest Contributor Alisa Harvey.

 She’s wriiten a great article on the basics of cross country competiton and your youth athlete. 

 Youth Runners and Cross Country Running  

Once a young runner has devoted a few solid weeks of training on the grass, dirt, and/or trails and their bodies have endured workout sessions of hill repeats, and interval training it is time to race competitively.  A competitive youth cross country runner should follow a regular race-day plan that will make them better prepared to race well.

KNOWING THE COURSE:  No two cross country courses are the same.  It is critical that a youth runner get to the race site early enough to walk over the course carefully.  Ideally, a runner can go over the course the day before the race. Care should be taken to point out any potentially confusing portions of the course.  The idea is to avoid any chance of a wrong turn being taken by a runner who is not familiar with the course.  Sometimes a runner can find themselves alone during a race with no one to follow.  Most cross country courses are well marked, but when the gun goes off even a well marked course can become unfamiliar.

THE PRE-RACE WARM-UP:  A warm-up for a cross country race should occur shortly after the course tour.  Using the course tour as a warm up is also an option when time is an issue.  Very young runners do not need to do a formal warm up for their race.  At the ages of 6 to 9 performance aren’t going to benefit much from warming up.  It may be best to have a very young runner just do a minute or two of jogging and stretching.  A well trained older child may enjoy a 5 to 10 minute slow jog warm-up before the race.  The more developed aerobic system of the older youth runner will most likely perform better with some pre-race jogging, stretching, and strides.

RACE STRATEGY:  Getting off the starting line quickly is often very beneficial to a successful cross country performance.  Since cross country races start with teams spread out over a 100 meters of starting line the funnel of runners heading to the course can be daunting.  A faster paced runner should get out fast in order to assure a good spot on the race course.  A young runner can lose precious seconds trying to maneuver through slower competitors.  Once in position a runner should find the shortest tangents throughout the course if possible.  Keying off another runner can be helpful in a distance race.  Care should be made to settle into a comfortable racing pace during the race.  Once the finish is in sight a runner should attempt to increase their pace and come into the finish as fast as they ran at the start.

Hope you are having a nice fall!

All the best,
Alisa

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2. The 800/1500 Is This The Race For Your Youth Athlete
3. The Middle Distance Runner And Recovery
4. Getting Your Youth Cross Country Runner Faster… Is It Possible?
5. The Magic Of Cross