A Lap Around Balboa Park
What does it take to win a Foot Locker national cross country championship?
Talent, determination, years of training and, finally, two fast laps around the winding figure-8 course at Balboa Park in San Diego. Follow along as Milesplit takes a trip in pictures and words around the layout that will determine the champions Saturday in the 35th annual event.
Four starting boxes – decked out in the team colors of yellow, blue, red and black for each of the four regions – will be the launch pad for each race’s 40 competitors. The national finalists will have the room they need as they have their own front-row starting spot, with no one taking off from the second line.
A slight uphill is followed by a downhill grade as the field heads past the finish line and toward a wooded section featuring a soft, dirt path. This large loop will take the packs away from the majority of the spectators for an extended downhill and a subsequent uphill on the other side of the loop. The path presents the first opportunity for the competitors to settle into their place in the field.
With regard to elevation, the course bottoms out near the area that every other day is Balboa’s dog park. A gentle right-hand turn is followed by a harder right and the field heads up hill toward the start-finish area and the completion of the opening half-mile.
The red lines marking the course narrow considerably as the first left turn leads the competitors around the park pool and prepares them for the significant uphill and downhill segments that go a long way in determining the annual champions.
The course takes the runners past the starting line, across a street and into the other section of the figure 8. Ahead of the fields are numerous opportunities to gain an edge by racing the tangents on the park’s rolling grounds. This segment concludes will the end of the first mile and the assault on the course’s major hill.
The climb is difficult but on soft, trail-like ground. The terrain flattens out somewhat but doesn’t stop climbing until just before this 90-degree left marked by a pair of trees. The field then makes the turn and runs along Upas Street, gaining much of the time and momentum they lost during their climb by speeding down this steep and lengthy straightaway.
One of the event’s most celebrated champions – Bob Kennedy – took a spill down this hill en route to his nine-second victory over fellow Ohioan John Sence. The consequences of such a head-over-heels roll were less severe for Kennedy in 1987 because he had a commanding lead entering the downhill. Otherwise, a misstep here could prove very costly to those in the field.
After a few more twists and turns, the field makes another street crossing and is back beside the starting line for a second 1.5-mile lap around Balboa Park.
The two things they hope they are the first to see and reach after lap No. 2 – the finish line and the winner’s circle.