The Bull Run course has always been known as the most challenging course in the state. In fact, so much so, many feel the state cross country championship should be held elsewhere, as the course serves as either an advantage or disadvantage to certain schools depending on one’s viewpoint.
However, with recent changes to the course due to renovations at Hereford High School, itself, times have seen a drastic decrease. On the boy’s side, for example, not a single person broke 16 minutes on the course until 2009. That means that even an Olympic Gold medalist did not break 16 minutes on the course. This past year at the MPSSAA state championship, five athletes broke 16 minutes while several others were within a couple seconds.
On extending the course to a full 5k, course marshal John Roemer indicates, “We want to maintain the integrity of the course. There is great pride in the development and upkeep of this course, and we boast that this is the most challenging course in the state and quite possibly in the entire country. If everyone is breaking 16, then that takes away the integrity.”
The upcoming course extension only changes the finish line. “We have brought back the old finish to honor the history of the course and to pay homage to [retiring] Matt Centrowitz, as he certainly would have been the first to break 16 if he did not have an unfortunate fall coming around the final turn,” remarks Coach Roemer.
Of course, extending the course to 3.1 miles from 3.0 was discussed over the course of several years. Vice President of the MPSSAA Charles Kerantz says, “The primary goal of the MPSSAA is make an equal playing field for all athletes. How can we have no one break 16 for 40 years and now all of a sudden it happens all the time? College coaches are ecstatic to hear someone broke 16 minutes but then disappointed to hear it’s not same course.”
MPSSAA Associate Director Alan Schurtz reaffirms, “We know some people are going to be unhappy with the decision, but the fact is, we need to put our athletes on an equal playing field. If the courses are 3.1 miles in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and New York, then that puts some of our athletes at a disadvantage when colleges come recruiting our athletes.”
The updated course map will be released in early August following USATF course certification.