What we Do!

 Below are some of the most frequently asked questions.  If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to email Coach Brooke (Brooke@b3rsports.com).

BASIC RULES:

Team makeup – A Cross Country team is made of seven runners. The top five runners are the “scoring” members and the remaining two have the important job of displacing the scorers on opposing teams. Only the high school varsity level is limited to seven competitors in a race, the other levels have unlimited entries.

Scoring – Races are scored by assigning a point value for the place a runner finishes in. If a runner finishes first, he/she will earn 1 point. Finishing 55th would earn 55 points. Cross Country is similar to golf in that the lowest score wins. A perfect score is 15 points, with the top five runners occupying the first five finishing positions. Runners who do not have a full team are removed from the results for team scoring. This happens quite often at larger races. Big invitationals and championship races are often won with point totals close to 100.

Race length- High school runs 5K (3.1 miles), middle school runs between 3K (200m short of a 2 mile) or 3200m, elementary school runs between 1600m (1 mile) & 2K (1/4 mile further than a mile). 

“My child has never run before — can he/she be on the team?”
Yes!  Many of our runners join us with absolutely no experience.  You won’t believe how much they improve!

“When is the cross country season?”
The official cross country season begins when school opens in August, and concludes on October 19th .  This year we will have a brief summer training program before the season starts, which begins the beginning of July.  

“What is the training like?”
The first goal of our program is for the kids to have fun and develop a life-long love of the sport.  With that in mind, all training is geared towards each individual runner: beginning runners may start at one or two easy miles under the watchful eyes of the coaches, while the more advanced runners can typically handle group runs of four to eight miles.  But we always start together, and finish together with drills and stretches. We will typically have two to three group run opportunities each week.  Not every runner can make every practice, but we strongly recommend that the kids run in some fashion (whether at practice, at home, at school, at soccer practice, etc.) at least four times each week — it is this consistency that will make their running easier and more enjoyable.

“Where are practices?”
Practices will be held at Coach Brooke's house most of the time. From time to time we will have a group run at another location but to get started we will be at Coach Brooke's house. 

“Where are the meets?”
There is an icon that says XC Schedule. This will show you what meets we will be attending and have additional information for the parents to look over. 

“What is the AAU Individual Membership?”

The AAU memberships is a requirement to be on the B3R Bandits RC. This provides the athletes insurance should they become injured during a practice or event. The AAU membership is good for one year and will allow your athletes to be covered should they decide to do track in the spring. 

RUNNING TERMINOLOGY

XC -- Abbreviated form of Cross Country

Runner -- Someone who runs faster than a jog. We do not jog.

Harrier -- The original name for a cross country runner. We use it to describe true cross country folk.

Invitational -- A large race hosted by one or more schools. They provide better competition and larger fields of competitors.

PR -- Personal Record (time)

PB -- Personal Best (time). Used more commonly in Europe.

Aerobic -- Running at a comfortable pace that keeps you in a heart-rate zone of 60-80% of your max.

Anaerobic -- Short, intense running that does not rely on the body's ability to process oxygen.

VO2 Max -- Short work bouts lasting from 3-5 minutes. Usually part of an interval workout.

Threshold -- Refers to aerobic threshold training. Usually running for 15 to 30 minutes at a pace that is one minute slower per mile than your current mile PR.

Intervals -- Segmented running one at varying intensities. Intervals can be any distance, but are most commonly between 200m and 2 miles.

Recovery -- Runs that allow athletes to rest after a hard effort. Theses runs are done by feel and do not have a prescribed pace.

Surge -- A short burst of speed during a race. Used to change rhythm or break the competition.

Splits -- Times associated with standard checkpoints in a race or workout. Ex: mile splits.

Kick -- The sprint at the end of a race. Runners all have different abilities to kick.

Strides -- Moderately fast runs lasting between 50-200m. The focus is on form during these runs.