Cross country and off-road Racing

Cross Country Racing : Tactics and Techniques    

There are no standardised records or course lengths, as terrain and conditions vary from course to course, 

but Senior distances usually vary from 3k @ relays upwards to approx 12k for Men’s Championships, where as women’s races go up to approx 8k, although some  Southern Champs  still go  up  to 9 miles.

Non-championship races are usually 8k to 10k for men and 5k to 8k for women.

Under 20 Juniors race the same as Seniors in leagues, but Championships and cross-country  relays tend to be a little shorter than Seniors.

Junior Men 2-3k relays and 8-10k Championships and Ladies 2-3k Relays and 5-6k Championships.

Veteran or Masters only Championship races are also usually  shorter than Seniors .        

Racing Tactics

Cross-country racing has tactical considerations that differ from other forms of racing.

Most cross-country courses require a mass start for all competitors, which often lead directly into a narrow trail where passing runners is difficult for a while.

To counter these circumstances, many of the most successful cross-country competitors are front runners, which are athletes who can get to an early lead and hold their advantage for the entire race.

But whether you are a leading pack, mid pack or lower pack runner, it is essential to get a good start, then settle into a comfortable rhythm for you, before the danger of oxygen debt can have an effect, then you set  about racing competitors of similar standard to you.

But  make no mistake, at some point the nature and demands of cross-country racing will ask you to move in and out  of your comfort zone, one or more times. As Pace is never usually even for long.

For me that’s the beauty and love of cross-country training and racing.

Small Races

More often than not, most races you’ll find yourself in, if you are a new cross country runner,  will be on the smaller side,  leagues  and County Champs — under 400 runners with varying levels of ability.   

These smaller races are great places to hone your skills.

One of the main things you’ll want to be careful of during smaller races is to avoid the situation known as “no man’s land.” This is when a large gap separates you from the nearest runner both in front of and behind you. It is typically much easier psychologically (and is generally more fun) to race in a group than by yourself.

So in the early stages of the race, allow yourself to slow down or speed up slightly if it means you’ll stay close to other runners.

Large Races

When you  are in a large race,  remembering two things will help you quite a bit:

One : Stay out of danger.  Two : Stay relaxed, but focused.

Staying out of Danger, in a large cross country race, is present during two main situations:

• • One is at the beginning of the race where the course narrows and the field must funnel into a drastically narrower space 

  • and two is during the sharp turns.

However, each potential danger is easily avoided.

Getting out quickly will usually help you stay out of the mad rush when the course narrows. If you don’t get out fast enough, be patient.          Don’t worry about letting a handful of main competitors get in front of you.  Just focus on staying on your feet. When the pack settles down, you can calmly begin moving up through the field.

Run the Tangents

Cross country courses are usually winding. When a race is very crowded, negotiating a turn can be a challenge. 

When it isn’t crowded, you should focus on running the tangents. Running the tangents means running a series of turns in a way that covers the least distance possible.

On a track you simply try to stay in lane one, but on a cross country course,  you aren’t given those markers. Not only are there no lanes to remind you to hug the bends, but a left turn is quite often followed by a right turn (or vice versa).

In such cases, you’ll be best served by hugging both turns and bee-lining the shortest path between them.

A strategy would be to end the first turn as soon as possible, and then cut directly to the apex of the second turn.  On a course with a lot of turns, running the tangents can save you tens or even hundreds of metres.

The real trick, though, is remembering to do it each and every turn.

It’s easy to let your mind drift

Sharp Turns

Sharp turns are the exception to the rule.

When running a very sharp turn, running the tangent is no longer the best approach. It’s better to swing slightly wide on the turn than to slow down to save distance. You’ll waste more time and energy accelerating back up to speed than you would by running the extra steps.

When approaching a sharp turn, it may be that the best place to be is near the outside. Runners on the inside often get pushed, spiked, or pinched off the course by the outside runners who don’t want to swing too wide on the turn.

On the outside, if it is not too far out, you’ll be less likely to come into contact with other runners and you should be able to keep your momentum through the turn.

Staying Relaxed

Staying relaxed is especially important in a large race, but it’s also a crucial element in the small races,  especially so in cross country where performance is largely guided by how you feel during the race.

If you are too nervous when the gun goes off, you’ll most likely underperform.  You need to know how to relax to perform at your optimal level.

Various strategies for relaxing before a race include, listening to music, meditation, talking with friends, going through a familiar warm up and drills routine or doing something completely non-race-related.

So stay relaxed and focused, but not too laid back, otherwise the race will run away from you, making it extra hard to make up any lost ground and you end up playing catch up.

In the last few kilometres you can focus on progressing a winding up, to have a strong run in to the finish, whether chasing some in front of you or hanging on, in a strong group or other runner with you.    

Have fun, and race well.

Coping with uneven paced running

By nature, our bodies are pre-programmed to stop doing things that hurt. The same principle applies in racing – stress the heart, lungs, and legs enough and your mind is going to try and prevent you from continuing to push hard.

Therefore, it is critical that you have specific strategies in place to help you continue to push when the brain is urging you to stop.

Cross country is a pretty simple sport, it is not rocket science, but there are a few skill sets involved.

It can be summed up by one easy directive:  

Run the course faster than your main competitors or everyone else.

As with any simple sport, however, wins and losses can be decided by subtleties.

Chances a good portion of your time spent training,  boils down to strength and conditioning, training on off-road trails and parks, grass and mud, working hardon hills, aggressive when possible,  cruising downhill, twists and turns, skipping over sticky bits.

You want to be in the best shape possible to run faster than your competition. But if you’re new to the sport, you’ll soon realize that once race day comes, there will be other challenges to navigate through.

Some key training sessions are at event specific, but also variable around your race pace, and as above, helps to gauge your pace without watches,  clocks or mile markers, and on uneven undulating ground. 

You can read body signals and learn instinctively how to move in and out of comfort zones without too much detrimental consequences.

3 x 8 - 12 minutes, 3 - 4 x 6 - 9 minutes, 4 - 6 x 5 minutes. 6-7 x 4minutes, 8 - 10 x 3minutes. 24 - 40 minutes of fartlek .

These are examples of beneficial sessions on grass or road, and recovery times can vary for the individual and position or phase in a training block.

Style and techniques needed.

Because of variable weather, underfoot conditions, severity of hills etc, the training for cross-country running events is quite specialised at times.

To effectively deal with the combination of terrain and elements, cross-country runners tend to develop a shorter stride than they might have in a road or track event,  and the lead foot strike is closer to the body,  and more mid-foot so that you sacrifice stride length for greater stability and balance.

The physics of the cross-country running surface, and the corresponding effect on stride, also differ from those of the road and the track.

A harder running surface will produce greater elasticity in the return of energy from the ground into the runner's legs; the softer, off-road trails where cross-country running takes place are less elastic, requiring the athlete to use more energy to cover the same distances.

In addition to being more inefficient, in terms of the relationship between the energy expended by the runner and the distance traveled, cross-country running requires greater thigh muscle action and a resulting greater overall effort from the abdominal muscles and the lumbar (lower back) to support the leg action.

Unlike the stride cadence into which a road or track runner will quickly settle to assist in the delivery of an efficient and uniform stride, the cross-country runner must continually adjust the stride length to the terrain and weather conditions.

The precise planting of the foot of the cross-country runner is often variable throughout the race. 

For these reasons, cross-country running is the most difficult of the running sports, but Cross-country runners tend to be more versatile and adaptive athletes as a result.

How to cope with adverse weather and underfoot conditions