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Heartland Region
Sioux Falls SD November 10, 2007

the course

How to run Yankton Trail Park, Sioux Falls SD, the brand-new NTN-styled course that is the host of the first Heartland Regional championships of the Nike Team Nationals cross country meet. Top two teams at the regional will qualify for the 4th Nike Team Nationals at Portland OR on December 1.


by SteveU
DyeStat News Editor


Not everyone who runs the NTN Heartland Region in Sioux Falls will make it to Portland for the NTN Championship. But thanks to the creative mind of Meet Director and Sioux Falls Roosevelt head coach Kristi Rieger and her NTN-christened athletes, they will get something pretty darn close to the Portland experience.

Oh, and the teams that DO make it to Portland? They’ll be ready, baby.

The 5k course at Yankton Trail Park will appear on the surface to be flat and fast (wind notwithstanding, which we’ll get to later), just like Portland Meadows. And, like Portland Meadows, it wouldn’t be too intriguing except for a few things. Yes, there will be Whoop-Dee-Dos. And yes, there will be hay bales – two sets of them. With these creative elements – combined with the wide range of weather possibilities and the energy behind a first-ever event here that the whole city seems to be supporting … well, let’s just say Sioux Falls will be the place to be in the Heartland on November 10th.

So what was the inspiration behind creating an NTN-styled course?

“The reason that my first vision was to make this like the NTN course is that my girls team has been to NTN twice, and it’s been such a great experience for our kids,” says Coach Rieger. “They come home and talk to the rest of the team about how cool it was to run these Whoop-De-Dos, and that they had go over these hay bales, that there was mud, and that they ran on this circuit where so many people could watch them.

“So it was really my vision more from listening to them talking about their experience on the course in Portland. Then it was thinking about the fact my boys team would come up to me and ask if they can do a hay bale workout with the girls because they think it would be cool to run over hay bales. The kids just want to try and have that experience. So I thought it would be a great idea to give teams that, maybe, won’t make it to Portland an experience like NTN – obviously not exactly the same – but similar, if we could do that.

“Nobody can outdo Portland, but this will be great experience for kids in the Heartland. And teams that do qualify will be that much more prepared for the national meet.”

Yankton Trail Park is one of Sioux Falls’ premiere recreational facilities, but there had never been a cross-country meet here. If one had a more typical course design in mind here, it would have to cover paved trails or cross parking lots. But “it was perfect for circuit-type XC course that we needed if we wanted to be like NTN,” Coach Rieger explains. “We could create a 2000-meter circuit in one specific area without crossing a sidewalk or a parking lot, and it was an area we could build the hills in. Also, it was the only park in town that has enough parking spots so everyone can park on site. It was really the only place that would work for what we wanted.”

Indeed, the course is a big 2000-meter loop – around a big set of soccer fields which have been dismantled – that is covered twice. It concludes with a 1000-meter loop that includes the finishing straight.

The Start
A wide starting area with a path that narrows very gradually will allow runners to get good positioning in the first 400-600 meters. Running along a wide, deep bank of trees, they will be shielded from the wind, regardless of which way it’s blowing. This will be true along this stretch as they run it again at about 1.25 miles and about 2.5 miles.

Runners will then take a moderate left turn, and then shift to the right slightly, making a beeline for the Whoop-Dee-Doos (or moguls), at about the 650-meter mark.

“You want to get in good position before you hit the Whoop-Dee-Doos,” says Roosevelt senior Caitlyn Crowley, who has twice run NTN. “But you have a really wide start.”

That starting stretch (which, keep in mind, will be run 3 times), however, is where the grass is longest and thickest. “It’s not bad, but it’s not great footing, so you kind of got to be careful where you step,” says Roosevelt sr Bill Kogel.

The Whoop-Dee-Dos
The Whoop-Dee-Doos are four in number and about six feet in height – pretty much like at NTN. They are well-packed dirt hills, which have hardened during recent cold nights since they were constructed. They are not quite as steep as the moguls at NTN, Rieger explains, so the city can mow them eventually next spring when grass begins to grow on them. Indeed, they will be completely covered with grass next fall when they hope to host the region again.

The Flats and the Hay Bales
After the moguls, athletes will soon make a turn of more than 90 degrees and run along the north end of the course, with the freeway not far away on their right and, no doubt, lots of screaming fans on their left. Strategy could go any one of a number of ways on this part of the course.

First, there’s the footing. This is the part of the course where the grass is shorter and sparser, and the ground is firmer. On an ideal day, runners will be able to get moving pretty fast on this terrain.

But …

There’s also the turns. A big parking lot sits in the middle of this stretch, requiring a series of left turns to navigate around it.

And …

At about 1000 meters … oops, there’s the hay bales. Three sets of them, just as you turn to run along one side of the parking lot. Boom-boom-boom. Then, 500 meters later, the second set. Boom-boom-boom. Then you hit the mile mark, and get ready to turn left to for the west end of the course and back to the starting line.

But …

There’s another consideration. A big one. If you have the north wind blowing, as it most often does here, especially this time of year, then all bets are off. The possibilities of using speed on that hard-packed north end is diminished and, with the hay bales and turns in mind, it becomes even more of a strength game. And if it’s raining (or snowing), too? Well, that’s where the fun begins, isn’t it?

“The biggest factor is going to be where wind is coming from,” says Kogel. “It’s such an open course. That’s going to effect the way anyone’s going to run it. I mean, just for fun, let’s say if it’s a totally calm day, after you go over the Whoop-Dee-Dos, for the next 1200-1400 meters, it’s probably where ground is going to be the hardest and that’s where you can move the fastest. When you’re as far from the start, and after the 2nd set of bales, those are the best places to move, in my opinion.”

But, in reality, he has to scoff at the idea of a windless day. “I don’t think it’s very likely to snow or anything. More than likely, though, it’s going to be windy. It’s windy basically every day here. There’s been a couple days recently when it hasn’t been and it’s almost like we don’t even know what to do because it’s so crazy.”

Rieger points out all of the variables that could affect that part of the course. “It becomes strategic with the turns, around parking lot. The footing is fast, but turns come into play, especially 2nd time through. It’s a place you can make a move, if you feel comfortable going over hay bales fast.”

Then as we were saying, you get to the short west end of the course and you pass the starting line. You are at 2k. Rinse, lather and repeat. Everything – the Whoop-Dee-Doos, both sets of bales, etc.

The Finish
After you’ve completed the 2nd loop, it’s a third time along the first part of that starting stretch. But then runners are going to have to make a tight 180, then face the final 500-meter stretch to the finish. There’s a better than 50-50 chance you’ll be running into the wind for that final kick, so don’t start it too early unless you can carry it all the way in.


“I would say overall the course is pretty fast,” says Crowley. “The ground is like at Portland, you’re never really settled in, that will slow you down a little bit … but it’s still fast. It’s not quite golf course flat. There’s some little divots. But that’s only part (the moguls and hay bales notwithstanding) that would slow you down at all.”

The one area where Sioux Falls is unlikely to be like Portland is with the mud factor. “There’s not really any place where you’d have mud at all,” says Crowley. “Most of course would be very dry; there’s just one little dip that might hold some water.”

Of course, any rain would potentially soften up or make slick the moguls, but the dirt is both hard and porous enough that they should be able to be navigated with a minimum of difficulty. Extended forecasts now include Nov. 10 and it is expected to be dry with moderate temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

“I think it’s important to get out and get relatively close to where you want to be,” says Kogel. “I mean, it’s not like, say, Rim Rock where it’s so tight you’re not going to be able to do anything. But the course is fast enough that I don’t know how much people are going to die, so you’re gong to need to get where you want to be.”

But there’s that wind. “That’s absolutely the biggest factor,” says Rieger. “It’s going to be tough down the stretch. But if it’s a south wind, we have an enormous tree line that will help. If you have north wind, you won’t have any shelter.”

The runners, though, are unlikely to leave Sioux Falls remembering the wind. They’ll remember a course that – save for Portland Meadows – is unique in a way different from almost any other.


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