Those who think cross country is just a long, painful run are very mistaken. There is strategy and a plan to be executed in each race. Practices do not run for minutes on end, rather runners work on developing skills. UCLA cross country coach Eric Peterson has been around the sport for a long time and has gained plenty of knowledge regarding its nuances. The former All-American for Oregon is in his 16th year on the UCLA staff. The Daily Bruin’s Johnny Rath talked with coach Peterson about some of the intricacies of the sport of cross country.
Daily Bruin: What is the goal of cross country as a sport?
Coach Eric Peterson: It’s a really unique sport. We’re bringing together a group of runners that can really do a good job of executing team running. The goal is to get five athletes across the finish line as fast as you can, not just one. The focus in terms of news coverage and publicity is who is the one athlete that leads the team. What really matters is how close of a gap you have between your first and fifth runner and how that entire group competes against another team. That’s what’s really important, having guys that are able to run well over 8,000 or 10,000 meters.
DB: So it’s a team sport rather than an individual run?
EP: Yes. There are individual awards and those are great. We pride ourselves on that too. In our media guide we list who earned All-American honors. The top 25 at Nationals are awarded that. We don’t focus on the individual at UCLA. We try to put together a good team. Having a brilliant runner leading the way is great and some schools do that, but that’s not our philosophy.
DB: How do you put together a good team?
EP: The challenges that we face that are inherit is that the NCAA doesn’t sponsor any cross country scholarships. The whole sport is under the umbrella of track and field. Either schools invest in cross country or track. Some schools invest in long distance runners, not even middle distance. We don’t do that. We have a balanced program. The guys sign up with that in mind because that’s our philosophy. When we have a successful cross country team, that says a lot about our program. It says many positive things about our talent and commitment and depth of our team.
DB: How are meets scored?
EP: The top five runners for each meet score. The places they come in determine the points they receive. So a score of 15 is a perfect day (1+2+3+4+5=15). Athletes have no way of knowing what the score is or how the team is doing. What we do know is how well we are running within our own ranks. We want that gap between runners to be less, or we don’t want that fifth person to go backward in any way. Early in the season if there’s a large gap between your first and fifth runner, then you have a lot of work to do.
DB: What is the process of earning a trip to the NCAA Championships?
EP: There are nine regions nationally. We are in the Western Region. After all of conference meets concluded, nine regional races are conducted on the same day two weeks before nationals. The top two finishers automatically qualify. The rest of the 31-33 team field is determined by an at-large selection process. They pick the next best teams from nation. The scored meets that we are running now really matter for these selections.
DB: What is the difference between high school and collegiate cross country?
EP: High school runs a 5000m race. It’s double that for a college-aged man. Courses are 8k for competition and 10k for the NCAA championships. The women’s races are 6k with an 8k championship. You don’t know how long it will take for an athlete to grow into that. They have to make adjustment to being role player when they’re younger and grow into leader. They’re used to being in top spot in high school. You have to look for guys who won’t lead the team any particular day put the team ahead of individual goals.
DB: How are practices run and what is worked on?
EP: It’s just practice of running together and the repetition. There’s strength in a shared rhythm. You want to feel connected with your teammates, and the only way is to practice it. Athletes log 75-90 miles per week throughout summer preparation and course of season. One day this past week, they ran loops around perimeter for 30 minutes and every 10 minutes, increased the pace. The team is practicing running as a group and responding to pace change. They are free to talk and communicate. Getting them to run as closely together as possible is key. It’s mainly the repetition of running together. Whether 20 miles on Sunday or interval training.
DB: How much coaching is done during a race?
EP: Talking is just communication and tactical between the runners. Coaches don’t really say much since only see them a couple times throughout the race. They have to run with the front pack to be competitive. It’s tough to pass 100 athletes. They can’t go out conservatively and need to execute the race plan.
DB: Are races run in any weather condition?
EP: I’ve coached athletes at championships at 19 degrees below. It’s unbelievable. I can’t imagine a reasonable weather condition that the thing will be postponed or cancelled. Worldwide cross country is a mud sport done in the winter time. That’s part of what cross country is all about. It’s not designed to be on a pristine golf course in Southern California. We have to prepare them for that.
DB: What makes cross country such a great sport?
EP: One of the greatest scenes in sports is watching 250 athletes line up on the start line and within 800m they funnel into 12-15m lane and tear into each other.
The NCAA Championship is one of the best experiences for an athlete. You’re bringing together the best middle and long distance runners and having them compete over the same distance, on the same day, in the same conditions. You find out who can negotiate the course and manage all the challenges and come up with a great performance. A lot of that is how an athlete prepares mentally.