Short course to be dropped?

[MJD]

Bob Ramsak is reporting in RRW that at the IAAF Council meeting last week-end, it was decided in principle to drop the short course races effective 2007. The event would only be one day.
Here is the IAAF.org article:

http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=512/newsId=24669.html

[malmo]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

They were talking as if were a done deed two months ago. The 4k was a dumb idea from the get-go.

[Jnathletics]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

I disagree. The short course was an exciting race and added a lot to the WXC meet. It added participants to the meet which were high quality. I'm sure alot of 1500 runners would never run the 12k race. Didn't EL G run it one year? It also allowed smaller countries to compete for the podium, Team. Would Qatar or Eritrea be able to make the podium with just one race requiring 6 to score by the old rules? I think not.

[Powell]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

> Didn't EL G run it one year?

He did not.

Actually, I believe he competed in the junior race a few years back, but never in the short course race.

[malmo]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

>I disagree. The short course was an exciting race and added a lot to the WXC
>meet. It added participants to the meet which were high quality. I'm sure alot
>of 1500 runners would never run the 12k race. Didn't EL G run it one year? It
>also allowed smaller countries to compete for the podium, Team. Would Qatar or
>Eritrea be able to make the podium with just one race requiring 6 to score by
>the old rules? I think not.

I diagree-erer. The 4k is a bastard event. It does not by any stretch add to the event. It certainly did not add participation. High school kids run further than that.

I'm not sure why anyone would feel that the objective of XC is to make it possible for smaller teams to be competitive. Perhaps you come from a small farm in Texas where 6 man football is popular?

[Conor Dary]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

I agree with Malmo on this. It is pretty obvious the only race that really counts is the 12k. None of the milers took the 4k seriously, which was the whole point in having it in the first place. The sooner they get rid of it the better. Out, out, out!

[HRE]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

I was disappointed when they added the 4k and will be glad to see it gone. It's distance running's answer to the designated hitter.

[malmo]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

>I was disappointed when they added the 4k and will be glad to see it gone. It's
>distance running's answer to the designated hitter.

I prefer to think the 4k was the IAAFs answer to the NFSHSA and their 1600/3200 idiocy.

[kuha]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

I've been on the road and out of the loop again, but agree completely that the short course race is useless. The 12k is the only one that matters.

[Dutra]

Re: Short course to be dropped?

The short course was such a waste of time that I barely looked at the results. I concentrated on the real race.