Brooks TCA Titan Thunder Start Lists and Preview

It's always a sea of humanity when the TCA Titan Thunder winds back behind the start line at 500 meters. Colorado Track XC file photo.

We are shaping up for what gives every indication of becoming another exciting Saturday morning of racing at the Brooks TCA Titan Thunder.

Since weather is the universal ice-breaker topic of conversation, we'll start there.

And, we might have to do a little ice-breaking Saturday morning. Well, sort of...

There's a faint chance of a light coating of frost on the ground when the sun comes up Saturday morning. Fountain Creek Park sits in a low lying area where cold bodies of air will tend to accumulate during the night. If the off chance of afternoon thunderstorms on Friday materializes, and the clouds clear out quickly overnight, the possibility of frost on the grass in the morning is not as far-fetched as it might seem.

In any case, race-time temperatures for the girls varsity at 9:30 AM could very easily still be in the 40s. With barometric pressures looking to be a little on the side of high (though not the high end of high), we could be setting up--once again--for some sweet racing conditions. Winds figure to be almost calm for the girls varsity race and picking up gradually as the morning wears on. Winds, however, typically aren't too much of a factor here, as the wooded sections of the course tend to buffer the trails nicely from most breezes.

But, nobody's coming here for the weather. As a matter of fact, spectators will almost certainly want to take along a jacket--at least until the racing heats up.

And the racing will heat up...

A virtual meet of the girls for this event (not quite all of whom are registered for this race) numbers 31 who have already run below 20-flat this season, and 11 who have run below 19-flat this season. But you do have to toss out the Pine Creek numbers from that total, because the sisters Kroeker and Sered are on their collective way to Rim Rock Farm for the weekend.

A virtual meet of the boys for this event portends a similar kind of story. Up to 27 guys who have broken 17 minutes already this season will toe the line. Of those, up to three will come to the start with season-best times under 16 minutes. Once again, however, set aside the Pine Creek names on that list. That would trim the list of sub-16 guys to two.

If you plan on attending, please come understanding in advance that parking is extremely limited at Fountain Creek Regional Park. If it weren't, this would be a 30-team kind of meet. You are encouraged to carpool with others from your school, arrive early, and make your peace with the fact you probably won't be able to park within 100 meters of the start line. Bring a pair of comfortable walking shoes.

For your efforts, you'll see several of the top cross country teams and individuals in the state pitted a course that tends to run fast. The course embodies 250 meters of sidewalk, perhaps as many as 1000 meters of grass (though probably just short of that), and the rest is crushed rock trail. It's more of a runners' course than a spectators' course, but the first 800 meters are in full view of the start/finish area, and it's relatively easy to see the runners at least twice out on the trails before they come back onto the grass for the finish.

Course maps (none will be available on-site) and driving directions are available on the meet page.

Below is a listing of all athletes entered for the meet (competitor numbers shown below do not correspond with bib numbers that will be worn at the meet):