Every 30 seconds a wave of 10 or less runners launched off the starting line.
Pockets of parents and spectators cheered every wave off, while the next wave made their way up to the red mat that stretched across the muddy terrain. Some wore masks all the way up to the line before pulling them down toward the neck.
It was surreal in a way.
National High School Trail Championships race director and Salida High coach Kenny Wilcox gave us a glimpse as to what we may see more of this fall - Wilcox seeded the race based on submitted 5k times, and placed runners in waves of 10 or less.
Staggered Starts - or Waves - whatever you want to call them, could possibly be a new format for fall cross country. And while it looked odd, and lacked the chaos of a mass start and intense finish, it was clear that those who participated - and those who watched - had accepted this new reality, and were simply excited just to have the opportunity to race again.
With COVID-19 still raging across the country, it's clear that if sports are to continue we'll likely have to find new ways to insure the safety of competitors and spectators. Staggered waves are perhaps one option for increasing distance between athletes.
While the excitement for an event was unanimous, the reviews were somewhat mixed for the staggered waves, which provided a new element to racing.
In the past, one start means one finish - the race you see unfolding is The Race. Whoever crossed the finish line first, won.
But with the staggered waves this is obviously not the case - as we saw in the boy's race where Battle Mountain's Sullivan Middaugh won the race out of the third wave.
Let's take a deeper look into how this was made possible.
Middaugh started a full minute behind the first wave. In order to make a victory possible, all that was needed was to climb within 59 seconds of whoever was leading the first wave.
You don't have to catch the pack, the runner just needs to keep them within view, and it's possible to gauge the distance from start and throughout the race to figure out who exactly is winning.
Another example is Colby Schultz.
In the photo above, Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos is leading the first wave, but Schultz (in pink, chasing), who started 30 seconds back in the second wave, is essentially winning the race.
Had the race finished at the moment of the photo, he likely would've won it (depending on how far back Middaugh was at in this moment.)
For the girls Ella Johnson nearly stole the race out of the second wave. Johnson wasn't the third runner to cross the finish line, but she dropped the third-fastest time - just five seconds behind Joslin Blair's winning time of 37:29.
The point is, the staggered wave changes the strategy of how each race is likely to be run.
In one perspective, it's likely to prompt more to race in the way Cole Sprout did - hammering from the gun. Sprout didn't just try to win races, he raced the clock - and himself.
A wave start would clearly dissuade runners from waiting to kick - because if someone in another wave is hammering the entire time, the late kick is meaningless.
The staggered wave takes the focus off runner-to-runner competition, and shifts it to the clock.
It forces runners to essentially pick one of two strategies, depending on which wave they're in. On one hand, if you're in the first wave the strategy is simple - race hard from the gun. If you're in the second or third or fourth wave, the strategy is perhaps just as simple: close the gap.
This brings to the table another question: how much time should separate the waves?
30 seconds gave each wave a clear visual as to the gap they'd need to make up. If anything, it could've been viewed as an advantage not to be in the first wave - because you could see where you stood compared to leading the first wave, where you had no idea if anyone from other waves had closed the gap.
The reviews here were mixed.
Some runners from Saturday's competition didn't mind the 30 second gap between waves - it provided a group to chase. It should be noted, however, that the ones who liked the gap were not in the first wave.
Runners in the first wave had two anxieties to battle - getting to the finish line first, and hoping they ran hard enough to beat anyone in a chasing wave. As was the case with Sean Korsmo, and Tuohy-Gaydos.
But, this question can be answered with a simple tweak here or there.
If 30 seconds provides too much of an advantage for the chasing waves, then the time between waves can be increased.
Some athletes even opined that a minute or two could change the race drastically, because then the gap would been big enough to give the feel that each wave was its own race.
This would obviously make almost every runner turn to one simple strategy: run hard.
While I'm sure there are plenty of kinks to work out, this new potential format of racing could be exciting, as it changes the competition from focusing on external, to internal - a runner racing the clock is racing themselves. This could inevitably lead runners to more personal bests, and thus, faster races.
As proof of this - the girls and boys meet records were demolished this past Saturday.
Joslin Blair (with Madeleine Burns pushing the pace) took nearly a minute-and-a-half off the previous course record (owned by Blair.)
Likewise, Middaugh's 31:52 chopped nearly a full minute off the previous course record. And some credit should be given to Tuohy-Gaydos and Korsmo for setting the hot pace up front for all to give chase.
If staggered waves are the only way to safely get back on the course, I'd imagine most athletes and spectators will adjust. After a track-less spring, it'd be great for everyone to have the opportunity to race once again, however that's possible.
Every 30 seconds a wave of 10 or less runners launched off the starting line.
Pockets of parents and spectators cheered every wave off, while the next wave made their way up to the red mat that stretched across the muddy terrain. Some wore masks all the way up to the line before pulling them down toward the neck.