Forums >General Running>High school bans road running
I can't blame this school for ditching the roads. They're only getting worse thanks to all the distractions drivers have these days, especially gabbing on cell phones and texting too. The only good news for runners is more cars are becoming autonomous now and will automatically hit the brakes if they detect an object ahead of or behind the vehicle. Those cars are still a small minority though, which is why it just keeps getting rougher to run on the roads. What really annoys me is when I get stuck at an intersection and I see a car looking to make a right on red, while gabbing on a cell phone at the same time too. Many times before I make my move and cross the street I scream at them just to let them know I'm here. And don't expect motorists to come to full stops at stop signs too or use their turn signals for that matter too. The sad truth is I'm safer running near the side of the railroad tracks than putting up with the roads. But we all know what the problem with that is. I did use some abandoned tracks this weekend though. It's a pretty good trail, although sometimes lava rocks can become annoying.
+1 to whoever mentioned rough trails. I've been close to hurt wayyyy more times on trails than on roads due to the rough terrain!
Also, the only person my team ever had hurt in 4 years of HS track/xc was running INSIDE! He didn't open the door wide enough and slammed into the beam between the 2 doors (it was too icy outside so we were running inside).
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You'll ruin your knees!
I'm safer running near the side of the railroad tracks
But your sig line suggest that is killing you! Please be careful...
""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)
Cross Country helmets
Having run cross country and having experienced the kind of positive freedom it gives this makes me sad and disappointed. I bet this myopic view on life from the administration reaches to other areas too.
I bet this myopic view on life from the administration reaches to other areas too.
Probably but to put it in perspective there are school districts all over the south where they're attacking science curriculum in favor of creationism. This is one podunk town that made a dumb rule--it won't become a trend. Nothing like this has ever been discussed at any school committee meeting that I know about around here. Hell, most of the schools in the ML have partial road courses as their cross country home courses--not Melrose of course, they run in the Fells, and both boys and girls lost to Reading yesterday
Runners run
If all the runners just quit the teams en masse perhaps they would reconsider.
Menace to Sobriety
Unfortunately, our society has become risk-phobic. Anything that can be done to mitigate some risk to injury not only should be done, it MUST be done. There seems to be no way to resist these measures. Because eventually, that one in a billion chance of something happening _will_ happen, and whoever accepted the risk will be put in the legal electric chair. We need some fortitude in this country. Next thing you know parents will be held liable for negligence for letting their 16yo run down Main Street in violation of "scholastic recommendations" like this.
Unfortunately, our society has become risk-phobic. Anything that can be done to mitigate some risk to injury not only should be done, it MUST be done. There seems to be no way to resist these measures. Because eventually, that one in a billion chance of something happening _will_ happen, and whoever accepted the risk will be put in the legal electric chair.
We need some fortitude in this country.
Next thing you know parents will be held liable for negligence for letting their 16yo run down Main Street in violation of "scholastic recommendations" like this.
I don't think this is as much injury risk avoidance as it is liability risk avoidance. I don't necessarily agree with the town's ruling, but I can also see their point. Some kid gets run ov er by a car during XC practice and some of the same parents complaining about the rule will be hiring lawyers to sue the school for not providing a safe place for their kid to run. It's a no win situation for them.
Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.
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We can do this by being reasonable people who speak up. The risk assessments are often wrong and irrational. Schools are pretty responsive to parents who raise a bit of a ruckus.
Maybe if everyone on the football, baseball, and basketball teams quit in support of cross country that could be possible. If just the cross country runners quit they might just be glad of the $$$ savings.
Exactly.
I'm not defending their position, but it's easy to understand the school district's decision. If a kid gets run down during a school-sponsored activity on a non-closed road, they're sunk--regardless of whatever waivers are signed, as it would be easy to argue the school did not take reasonable precautions to protect the athletes. Conversely, if someone gets hurt on the trail, as long as the trail is in reasonable repair, the school can argue that they chose the lesser of two evils. (They'll probably use all the RA posts about hostile drivers as evidence )
The ultimate root of this type of decision is the notion that whenever something bad happens, someone MUST be responsible and that someone MUST pay! That results in the liability avoidance seen here.
If just the cross country runners quit they might just be glad of the $$$ savings.
I dunno, as a parent my user fees for cross country are $215 (same as football, soccer and every other sport) and what are we really paying for? A half dozen bus rides, one coaches salary (it isn't much, I know what he makes) an assistant coach's half salary, the use of a singlet for 3 months, and officials' pay for meets?
The athletic department probably makes money on cross country but lose money on every other sport.
Some local links and video:
http://va.milesplit.com/articles/110555-radford-school-board-bans-cross-country-runners-from-public-streets#.UjCcKtLuiVo
The process is the goal.
Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.
I dunno, as a parent my user fees for cross country are $215 (same as football, soccer and every other sport) and what are we really paying for? A half dozen bus rides, one coaches salary (it isn't much, I know what he makes) an assistant coach's half salary, the use of a singlet for 3 months, and officials' pay for meets? The athletic department probably makes money on cross country but lose money on every other sport.
True, and CC is one of the first to be a victim of budget cuts.
A Saucy Wench
Maybe it is someone else in the public pushing for it. I know when the CC team goes out here they will swamp one intersection because they are spread out juuuuuuuust far enough to not let any cars through, but far enough apart that it blocks traffic for a significant amount of time. And now they are into 2 a days so it is rush hour before AND after school. It might be annoying enough that some non- runner would complain.
as a side note...wow for a podunk town, our CC team is enormous.
MTA: your CC coaches get paid? Here it is a volunteer job.
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7