It’s not the primary focus of a high school cross-country meet, but sometimes, observing runners toward the tail end of a race can be even more interesting and exciting than watching the front of the pack.
Lead runners receive the main attention and cheering, but spectators — if they are still paying attention by that time of a race — often cheer for those tail-ending harriers as much as the winners, and maybe more.
With a couple of months of regular-season action in the books, the postseason has begun for metro-area high school and college cross-country teams.
Upcoming high school meets are held locally at different venues, with most college postseason competitions taking place out of the area.
Cross-country runners who graduated from high schools throughout Northern Virginia are included on rosters of many Division I women’s college teams across the commonwealth.
Some are among top collegiate performers, while others are striving to reach that status.
For decades each fall, two similar, small and unique high school cross-country championship meets annually are held in two nearby Northern Virginia jurisdictions, generating significant anticipation and excitement from participants and spectators.
Those two girls and boys varsity competitions are the Arlington County and Alexandria City championship meets, typically held in late September or early October. This year both were held the same afternoon — Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Jay Jacob Wind, a well-known, well-liked and longtime stalwart on the running scene in the metro area, is retiring as a race director.
He will direct his final race, the Potomac River Run Marathon and Half, on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Ever-changing autumn weather conditions make each college and high-school cross-country season unique.
Foul weather can often cause postponements of other outdoor fall high-school sports, but cross-country are expected to proceed. That’s the nature of the sport.
Even as a startup race way back in 1976, the Marine Corps Marathon was an instant hit — and has only continued to grow and expand in popularity a half-century later.
In that initial year the race attracted a bit more than 1,100 runners, an impressive number for an upstart event. Today the participation total has swelled to between 35,000 to 40,000 each year, making it the third largest marathon in the U.S., and the largest race in the world that does not offer prize money.