Cross country running

littlemsfickle · 19-09-2011 10:17PM #1

Hey there, I'm thinking of trying out a bit of cross country running this year and was just wondering what kind of kit do you need? Are special trainers needed or would my regular runners do?

Timmaay · 19-09-2011 10:22PM

Pair of spikes, with 6-9mm spikes in them will most likely be needed here in the irish weather (lotsa muck!). Thats about it in terms of special equipment, apart from lots and lots of guts and determination, Cross is tough going ha!

ocnoc · 19-09-2011 10:36PM

I find 12mm to be awesome on the wetter courses :P

robinph · 19-09-2011 11:13PM

You can get round many courses without spikes, just a pair of runners that you don't mind getting dirty.

If you're in Dublin give the BHAA ones a try. If they are doing the same ones as before then the "Teachers" one in Castleknock is a relatively tame one to get a taster of it as it's just around the playing fields a few times. You might struggle getting up the little hills without spike if it's been wet the week before though.

If you fancy giving it more of a go then a pair of spikes can be picked up pretty cheaply.

Edit: How could I forget the cakes, do a BHAA race and you'll get your fill of goodies afterwards which will make the running through a couple of muddy puddles worthwhile.

anymore · 20-09-2011 12:12AM

Just windering if you need to wear runners with strong support due to over/under pronation, how would spikes work out, i.e can you get spike with good support ?

robinph · 20-09-2011 08:29AM

anymore wrote: »

Just windering if you need to wear runners with strong support due to over/under pronation, how would spikes work out, i.e can you get spike with good support ?

Spikes have little to no support, and any cushioning would only be needed if you were doing distance track races. For cross country your feet are going to be moving around more due to the uneven ground than anything else so any support would be useless, also the ground is soft so the cushioning in the shoe is also irrelevant.

shels4ever · 20-09-2011 08:50AM

anymore wrote: »

Just windering if you need to wear runners with strong support due to over/under pronation, how would spikes work out, i.e can you get spike with good support ?

Just make sure you get distance spikes and not sprinting, there is more support with the distance spike.

ecoli · 20-09-2011 09:06AM

shels4ever wrote: »

Just make sure you get distance spikes and not sprinting, there is more support with the distance spike.

Can get even more support with some of the XC spikes

These are the ones I use myself. They are light yet give some ankle support which i find great on some of the tougher XC courses

http://www.firsttothefinish.com/ItemMatrix.asp?Cc=fw_foot_CC&GroupCode=180572%2D03&MatrixType=1

shels4ever · 20-09-2011 09:16AM

ecoli wrote: »

Can get even more support with some of the XC spikes

These are the ones I use myself. They are light yet give some ankle support which i find great on some of the tougher XC courses

http://www.firsttothefinish.com/ItemMatrix.asp?Cc=fw_foot_CC&GroupCode=180572%2D03&MatrixType=1

Yep your right there,
Just thinking and the pair I found had most support were the saucony kilkenny(bit of a funny name). Have only had them on a few times.

http://www.trizone.ie/index.php/running/running-spikes/saucony-kilkenny-xc3.html

DriverMad · 20-09-2011 10:52AM

Sorry for hijacking the thread but is cross country running much different to normal running?

Where are the most cross country races held? Are the details usually on the runireland website.

Thanks.

Timmaay · 20-09-2011 11:43AM

Hmm to be honest there is no central list of cross country races (the athletics ireland website would be the idea place, if they could be bothered). Cross country is very much so still made up of all club runners, so all the runners usually hear about the locations of the races through their clubs! But anyways, there will be information about any national XC on the athleticsireland.ie, then the local province website (like athleticslenister.ie) will give you information on any of the province races. For the county XC races, you're best bet is to ask your local club.

Other then that there are afew XC races by the likes of BHAA etc which are open to everyone.

Seres · 20-09-2011 11:51AM

DriverMad wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking the thread but is cross country running much different to normal running?

Where are the most cross country races held? Are the details usually on the runireland website.

Thanks.

Most are run by the AAI and you need to be affiliated with a club to take part , they take place all round the country , details in fixtures section of AAI website. As said above BHAA set races also in dublin , dates and locations in there website .
XCountry racing obviously isnt half as fast as road running and IMHO you have to draw way more off your overall strenght during the race than when running on the road , for example you arms and your core gotta work way harder to pull your legs forward . Its a more rugged type of running than on road
You should give them a go , you will know after the first one or two if its for you . I love them , cant wait for the season to start .

Krusty_Clown · 20-09-2011 12:47PM

Anyone suggest a decent place (Dublin) to try on and buy xc spikes? I'd go to Amphibian King, however they only list one type on their site.
Should you go for a typical fit, or leave some wriggle space ?

Patrick_K · 20-09-2011 12:51PM

I haven't run a XC race since I was about 12 I'd say but I bought these last week - http://www.sweatshop.co.uk/details.cfm?ProdID=4842 - and am looking forward to giving them a few outings this winter.

KC no idea about fit etc on them. I'd normally head to Amphibian King too but I'm not planning to wear these too much so the deciding factor for me was that they cost £29 :-)

shels4ever · 20-09-2011 12:56PM

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Anyone suggest a decent place (Dublin) to try on and buy xc spikes? I'd go to Amphibian King, however they only list one type on their site.
Should you go for a typical fit, or leave some wriggle space ?

Runworx had a few types when I was down there last, not to far from where you work either so a lunch trip(run) would be possible.

notsofast · 20-09-2011 01:01PM

Seres wrote: »

Most are run by the AAI and you need to be affiliated with a club to take part , they take place all round the country , details in fixtures section of AAI website. As said above BHAA set races also in dublin , dates and locations in there website .
XCountry racing obviously isnt half as fast as road running and IMHO you have to draw way more off your overall strenght during the race than when running on the road , for example you arms and your core gotta work way harder to pull your legs forward . Its a more rugged type of running than on road
You should give them a go , you will know after the first one or two if its for you . I love them , cant wait for the season to start .

Not forgetting the annual Star of the Sea Open Cross Country taking place next Sunday near Stamullen which includes races for all juvenile ages, juniors and seniors.

Seres · 20-09-2011 01:09PM

notsofast wrote: »

Not forgetting the annual Star of the Sea Open Cross Country taking place next Sunday near Stamullen which includes races for all juvenile ages, juniors and seniors.

wouldnt be too bad if i had cover with kids for the sunday cause in dub saturday , anyone want to watch two kids for an hr sunday ?! sunday rates of double time apply !!!!;)

robinph · 20-09-2011 01:39PM

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Anyone suggest a decent place (Dublin) to try on and buy xc spikes? I'd go to Amphibian King, however they only list one type on their site.
Should you go for a typical fit, or leave some wriggle space ?

I think it might have been Mick Dowling Sports World that I got mine from. Was really just a quick wander up and down the shop floor though as you can't run in them properly without mud or a track. I think mine were fairly tight initially, but you don't want them coming off in a muddy field.

hardCopy · 20-09-2011 01:57PM

Would a pair of trail runners be suitable?

Am hoping to do a few of the IMRA races next season, a few XC races would be nice as well but want to limit the amount of gear I'm buying lately.

dna_leri · 20-09-2011 01:59PM

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Anyone suggest a decent place (Dublin) to try on and buy xc spikes? I'd go to Amphibian King, however they only list one type on their site.
Should you go for a typical fit, or leave some wriggle space ?

KC - I would say no wriggle space recommended. Any wriggles will lead to unwanted movement and with wet feet possibly blisters. I would say the fit is more like trail shoes which in fact are a good substitute if you already have them.

robinph · 20-09-2011 02:21PM

dna_leri wrote: »

KC - I would say no wriggle space recommended. Any wriggles will lead to unwanted movement and with wet feet possibly blisters. I would say the fit is more like trail shoes which in fact are a good substitute if you already have them.

Yep, with moisture being one of the things that blisters like and you can't avoid moisture doing XC you are best trying to avoid any possible friction. So snug as you can get is probably what you want.

You'll always struggle to get them back off again after running through a river.

plodder · 20-09-2011 02:23PM

hardCopy wrote: »

Would a pair of trail runners be suitable?

Am hoping to do a few of the IMRA races next season, a few XC races would be nice as well but want to limit the amount of gear I'm buying lately.

Some people use trail runners for XC. They'd be fine in most situations except maybe when the ground is really churned up. So, if you're getting them anyway, I'd try them out for your first few XCs as well.

pconn062 · 20-09-2011 02:27PM

DriverMad wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking the thread but is cross country running much different to normal running?

Where are the most cross country races held? Are the details usually on the runireland website.

Thanks.

Cross country running (I think personally) is normally more difficult than the equivalent length races held on the road. The courses are usually quite hilly and the conditions underfoot can sometimes be unstable depending on the weather. Its a great way of improving your road running as it toughens you up and a few X-country races during the winter will benefit your spring training. It is also a lot of fun to roll around in the mud for a while and there is usually tea and goodies and good banter after the races. The races are normally 6k for men and 4k and the field would mainly be made up of club runners so they can be competitive. Would totally recommend doing one or two just to try them out.

doughef · 20-09-2011 02:29PM

Hi all

yip.. XC running rocks...

The thing I love about it is its normally when the weather is cold so the sense of achievement is fantastic.
Something about running in muck which I find great

.
Also, pb's etc are out the window. A 4 mile xc is a lot tougher than a road race and even if you have ran the course before you cant really predict a time as the conditions can be much different.
I'd deffo recommend the BHAA races and I would have to say spikes are the way to go.

Enjoy

Woddle · 20-09-2011 02:38PM

I've always hated xc but this year I'm looking forward to it. One of the reasons being that it's not measurable, so I won't really know how badly I'm doing unless of course I'm last

MauriceGreen · 20-09-2011 04:00PM

Or if you drop out like you and your mate did in 2009, time to man up and finish the course and less of the BS.

Krusty_Clown · 20-09-2011 04:07PM

dna_leri wrote: »

KC - I would say no wriggle space recommended. Any wriggles will lead to unwanted movement and with wet feet possibly blisters. I would say the fit is more like trail shoes which in fact are a good substitute if you already have them.

Cheers dna_leri. My one and only xc experience was a sloppy mud-riddled soak-fest for Boards AC a couple of years ago, wearing trail shoes. The problem was that the trail shoes (inov-8 mud-claws) just weren't up to the conditions. They would've been fine on muddy trails/terrain, but on wet/slippy/sloppy grass, I kept losing ground to the other runners going around corners, or on uphill/downhills. It's just seems like a great shame to have to expend greater levels of effort than other runners, because they have more suitable footware.

shels4ever · 20-09-2011 04:10PM

MauriceGreen wrote: »

Or if you drop out like you and your mate did in 2009, time to man up and finish the course and less of the BS.

Ah the good old Novice XC from 2009?

gerard65 · 20-09-2011 04:15PM

MauriceGreen wrote: »

Or if you drop out like you and your mate did in 2009, time to man up and finish the course and less of the BS.

LOL. A bit below the belt for a first time post:D
But true

MauriceGreen · 20-09-2011 04:15PM

Yes, time to make up for it now.

shels4ever · 20-09-2011 04:24PM

MauriceGreen wrote: »

Yes, time to make up for it now.

Think that was more then made up for since then.

Cross country running

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