As cross country courses go, the Kiwanis Park course in Tempe, Arizona, is relatively fast, but not gonzo fast.
That's not to say the course is devoid of gonzo elements. Read on....
Before proceeding further, however, you should have a course map handy. I suggest opening another browser tab or window. Here is a link with a diagramatic course map: Kiwanis Park XC Course. You can find a semi-decent aerial view photo of the course at: Kiwanis Park XC Course photo. Unfortunately, the map at this latter link says you can enlarge the photo by clicking on the map, but the click does not appear to be enabled. The course as marked on the aerial view is somewhat more accurate than the course as marked in the diagramatic view. On the diagramatic view, north is right. Go figure.
The course begins in the northwest corner of the park, more or less between a parking lot and the Western Canal and backing up to a small shopping area across the street behind you. The start area is not especially spacious and a small tree (but easily big enough to take out a runner) sits more or less in the middle of the course at about 150 meters. Word to the wise: be in position to miss the tree before you get there.
After about 200 meters, the course empties out onto the broad dirt bank of the Western Canal. While there is plenty of room along the canal bank for the next two-thirds of a mile, dust can be a factor. 150 runners will definitely create a cloud of dust unless this part of the course has been recently wet down. The entire canal bank is flat as flat can be.
After two-thirds of a mile of ditch bank highlighted by expansive views of a massive, unpainted industrial building on your right, the course takes a sharp left turn across a grassy area and the next quarter mile is on sidewalk. This is the longest stretch of the shinbusting material on the entire course.
After a quarter-mile of sidewalk (fairly, though not entirely, level), the first gonzo element of the course enters in. You must drop down a short, steep grassy hill onto a concrete pathway that goes under the street (All-American Way) that you've been running alongside. Apparently, they water the grass at night in this park and that fact makes the bottom of the hill an adventure. At least two of my runners ended up on their patoots on the concrete pathway at the bottom of the hill last year. Earlier races are a greater hazard here than later as the Arizona sun does tend to dry things out by mid-morning.
So, under the road and up a short, but not as steep, hill you go. Just before topping the hill, you hit the one mile mark of the course. The photo accompanying this article was shot at the one-mile point.
The next half mile is level and lonely around the volleyball courts, softball fields,and basketball courts, and out to the southern extremity of the course. Any people you meet out here will not be fans of cross country. Upon seeing people running, they may be inclined to yell, "Run, Forrest, run!" thinking that a clever thing to say to someone in flats and singlets. You are forgiven if the remark doesn't strike you as especially clever. Remind yourself, it won't be long until you're back in the company of cross country fans. If the park watered the grass recently, there will be an occasional mud hole to bypass right or left, but the course here is otherwise singularly uninteresting.
After your loop around the great southern expanse of Kiwanis Park, you dip down the side of a hill to a concrete path that takes you back under All-American Way.
After passing under All-American Way, you have about two seconds to prepare yourself for gonzo element number two: a steep, grassy hill of about 30 or 40 meters. This hill is known to the locals as All-American Hill. It is steep enough to get your attention. If the grass is wet, that, too, will get your attention. The top of the hill brings you to a long, level grassy bench that continues along the entire east side of Kiwanis Lake.
Toward the south end of the lake, you pass the two mile mark, take a hard left, and dip down to a broad sidewalk littered with greasy goose and coot poop. This sidewalk will take you around the south end of the lake. Honestly, there may be a casual park-goer or two to dodge on this part of the course. Exchange pleasantries with the paddleboat concessionaire as you go by.
Once past the sidewalk, you have about a quarter mile of slightly up-and-down terrain along the west side of the lake. Occasionally, you're running on the side of a hill, but the footing is mostly level. At the end of this stretch you make a significant, steep hill climb--this time more like 60 or 70 meters (at least it seems that way, forgive me if I've exaggerated the distance). With only about three-quarters of a mile to go, this hill holds potential to separate the pretenders from the contenders. A long-ago acquaintace of mine from West Virginia would have referred to this as a "right smart hill." The hill itself is shaded well into the day, meaning that moisture from the overnight grass watering will hang around through all of the races. The hill was greasy in spots last year and figures to be again this year. Gonzo element number three.
At the top of the hill, the course constricts dramatically and runs alongside some cinder-block restrooms and a small picnic area. Pray nobody is walking their dog through this section at the moment you crest the hill. Once past these artifacts of civilization, the course dips steeply down as if it were going to go under All-American Way one more time. Only, this time, you just go straight across the dip back to a reprise of All-American Hill. Gonzo element number four.
Back to the top of the grassy bench, it's pretty much clear sailing for the remaining half mile (maybe not quite that much) of the course. You proceed more or less straight north-northwest past the 2 mile point and onto a sidewalk that will take you a couple of hundred meters closer to the finish. You make a sharp left turn down and off the sidewalk onto the level, grassy finish stretch of at least 200 meters. The entire remainder of the race and the clock are dead ahead of you once you negotiate the drop off the sidewalk. Power on in. Pass somebody on your way; look back at your own peril.
Although the course is probably 75% grass, it is much faster grass than most runners from Colorado are accustomed to. We are not talking Kentucky blue grass here. Not knowing my grasses very well, I can only tell you it is a short, thin grass suited to the kind of heat for which the greater Phoenix area is famous. Except in the spots where the grass has been excessively watered, it returns a good bit of energy to you rather than absorbing energy as deep blue grass does.
The concrete at Kiwanis Park is remarkably similar to concrete anywhere else. Fast and unforgiving. The palm trees sprinkled throughout the park are very unlike any palm trees growing in Colorado.
The heat? On an average November 22nd day in an average year in Tempe, the high temperature should be in the low to mid 70s. Last year, it was about 85 degrees for the championship races. Arizonans are fond of saying, "It's a dry heat, you won't notice it." The first half of that statement probably has more truth value than the second. They won't notice it; you may notice it. After noticing it, you can also set your mind and will against it.
The elevation in Tempe weighs in at about 1200 feet. This makes running up a hill considerably less oppressive than running up the same hill in Colorado would feel. Enjoy it.
See you there!