You probably know now that I enjoy taking a look at the upcoming week of the schedule to see what's ahead. And, I trust you'll forgive me if any sardonic humor shows up along the way.
The week takes us into Labor Day Weekend. That means there's a bit of a premium on getting your meet done before Saturday, though there are several teams headed for Saturday meets.
That said, I am, 40 years later, still grateful to my parents for setting aside possible Labor Day Weekend plans they might have wanted to make in order to watch me play football on Saturday (at least when the game was scheduled on Saturday) and ensure I could be at practice on Monday. And, if Mom and Dad ever chafed about doing that, not so much as a syllable of that ever made it to my ears.
There are other things my parents did that I'm still appreciative for, but that's another article for another day.
There are no meets, that I know of, until Thursday of this week. On Thursday, we have two meets.
Platte Canyon hosts a sufferfest at the Rosalie Property up the hill a little from the school. It's pretty much automatic that you add two or three minutes to your time when you race on this course. This is an honest-to-goodness grinder. It's probably half of the reason Bill Stahl took the coaching job at Platte Canyon.
The other Thursday meet is the Ponderosa Mustang Stampede. While not nearly as large as this past week's Stampede, it's still a decent-sized meet. And, it's about as flat at Platte Canyon is hilly. Flat, yes, but with a couple sharp little climbs and some uneven spots scattered throughout. And, one of the cool things about the meet is that they run in a FR/SO, JR/SR format. That's a nice little change-up for early in the season.
Going to Friday, we get a bundle of meets. That bundle includes the CSU/Frontier Academy meet in Fort Collins, the UCCS Rust Buster (which is a college/high school/middle school meet this year, find your parking spots early or plan for an expedition), the Delta Devil's Thumb Hill Climb, the Horizon Invitational (fondly known for its popsicles), the Wash Park Invitational, and, of course, the Arapahoe Warrior Invitational.
The Arapahoe Warrior Invitational is the granddaddy of all these meets. It's been going almost as long as I have. It was once the meet to be seen at on opening weekend. The Pre-State meet then, somehow, landed on Labor Day Weekend and started chipping away at the stranglehold Arapahoe had on the opening weekend (which was, until very recently, Labor Day Weekend) crowds. Then, CHSAA moved the start of the competitive season a week earlier. At that point, Arapahoe kept their date on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend.
The Arapahoe Warrior remains a very large and very competitive meet. And, it doesn't run in divisions. If Salida shows up, the Spartans get to run with the big dogs. No questions asked, no insinuations offered.
You probably noted above two combined college/high school meets this weekend. That's a positive trend in the state's cross country community. If the NCAA ever does away with the peculiar rule that teams have to have a meet by some date early in September, though, these opportunities are likely to be gone in a hurry. As it is, it's a nice chance for the high schoolers to get to watch some recently familiar faces racing at the next level.
The CSU/Frontier Academy meet runs a full 5K for high school. This will likely be the biggest event at Hughes Stadium this year. The UCCS course is set up as 2K loops, so the high schoolers will be running 4K at that meet. And, anyway, 4K isn't such a bad plan this early in the season.
The Devil's Thumb Hill Climb brings with it the aura of the most pernicious meet of the day. Depending on how hot it gets in Delta on Friday, it may take most-pernicious-meet-of-the-entire-weekend honors. Delta seems anxious to get this one to happen this year after rain washed out last year's debut attempt.
The Washington Park Invitational, hosted by across-the-street Denver South High School, is a thing now. It has its legs and is drawing more and more programs. JV runners get a shorter course than the full 5K. Expect the competition to be pretty salty at this one.
The Horizon Invitational takes the familiar Arapahoe County Fairgrounds course. It was formerly a 4K event; it's now a 5K event. The popsicles are probably a witches brew of high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors, but few people complain much after having just finished a 5K.
There are four full meets on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Two of them are among the state's most notorious grinders--the Battle Mountain Invitational and the Lake County Invitational.
If you're headed to Battle Mountain, you really should check out the photos from last year's meet. Then, go designate a team belayer for upper reaches of the course. And you could consider wearing gaiters to keep the little rocks from accumulating in your racing flats on the steeper descents.
If you're headed to Lake County, a team oxygen tank might be in order. I don't have any current pictures of this course to share with you, but most people can't attach any meaning to photos when afflicted by hypoxia, anyway. At a little better than 10,000 feet, this is easily the highest regularly-used cross country course in North America.
If your tastes in cross country tend a little less toward the extremes of vertical displacement, Saturday also offers the Rocky Ford Invitational and the Centaurus Invitational.
A word to the wise about the Centaurus Invitational: there's nearly a quarter mile of narrow sidewalk at about the half-mile point. It's a definite bonus if you get to the sidewalk in good position, because your position isn't likely to change until the sidewalk ends. Unless, that is, you cross check the person in front of you into the shrubbery. Cross checking, though, is frowned upon in cross country. The rest of the course is moderately to highly sweet, and fairly fast.
Rocky Ford offers a semi-scenic tour of the melon capitol of Colorado, starting and ending in Babcock Park, all under the watchful eye of the city water tower. Hopefully, someone has cleaned the restrooms since the last time I was at Babcock Park. If not, convenient brushy patches may be in high demand.
My fondest memory of a cross country race in Rocky Ford is the time a runner from a school that will go unmentioned (but which was not a threat to qualify for state at this particular meet) literally tackled his teammate into the irrigation canal along one stretch of the course. TCA cross country has never seen anything like that since.
Both of these last two races, though, are subject to extremes of heat. Parking is assuredly easier in Rocky Ford than in Lafayette. After-meet dining options are more varied in Lafayette but more authentically Hispanic in Rocky Ford.
Colorado Track XC coverage? At this point, I have someone dispatched to the UCCS Rust Buster, the Wash Park Invitational, and maybe-possibly conditions for Centaurus and Rocky Ford. See you around this weekend!