Favorite XC Course in NYS?

[ocdcy]

What is everyone's favorite course?

Personally, I like Chenango Valley (States Course in 2004), I also like Mendon Ponds East (The counties course in Section V/Monroe County).

I'm interested to see what other people like!

[breakthebarrier]

Defitnitely Bowdoin

[rysheridan]

Sunken Meadow, by far the most challenging course in NY and everyone knows that tough=fun. Bowdoin is a close second, but it's only one big incline and one big decline.

[AnchorMan]

Warwick's Sanfordville course......2006 State Meet Site.....nothing but rolling grass hills

[gitarrunner]

the two big section one courses are great- westchester community college and bowdoin. i ran like **** at states in chenango, but i like hilly courses.

cardiac hill is pretty sick

[GBaby842]

VCP easily

[4x2mile]

Sunken Meadow, by far the most challenging course in NY and everyone knows that tough=fun. Bowdoin is a close second, but it's only one big incline and one big decline.

nah, definately not the hardest, try the old old WCC course...Hakon only ran a 16:52 there or some where there abouts(and that was the course record.) Its still a tough course, even now. My favorite course is either our home course, or yeah sunken meadow is great.

EDIT: I was thinking of the Sunken meadow 2.5, not the 5k...ive never run the 5k

[AMBULOPHOBIA]

tough=fun

wrong...u psycho...and bowdoin sucks too

VCP

[ccviking]

Bowdoin and VCP would have to be my favorits

The Sunken Meadow 5k is definatly the hardest course in NY, even harder than the old WCC, but its not that interesting to run.

[jwager]

Yeah, I'm a fan of Bowdoin. Maybe it's just the Feds atmosphere though.

[New York XC]

Bowdoin...or Tymor is good too...

[The X-Factor]

i like hill-less bethpage for the section 8ers, though its very spoiling and makes SM seem a lot worse than it is. Anyone got any info on how the Queensbury HS course is?(site of the xc state meet this year)

[rysheridan]

wrong...u psycho...and bowdoin sucks too

VCP
sacrilege! VCP is fun, if not for the course itself just the atmosphere around the park. Was the course at Chenago valley ever used before? It seemed like people just set up a bunch of flags.

[king zora]

Mine would have to be Bear Mt. So many memories.... Also , who can forget Bowdoin and those rainy federation meets.

[rysheridan]

Oh man I forgot about Beat Mountain, thats another place with a great atmosphere. One meet my team went to last year had Octoberfest going on during the race. The downhills is nuts and that one uphill is pretty torn up, do they have plans to fix it up?

[outwork->outrun]

i like hill-less bethpage for the section 8ers, though its very spoiling and makes SM seem a lot worse than it is. Anyone got any info on how the Queensbury HS course is?(site of the xc state meet this year)

how could you possibly like bethpage more than SM?? it's the most boring course ever and an xc course without hills just isn't cool...SM is by far my favorite, but Chenango Valley was kinda cool (just a little confusing)

[MonWoodrunner]

Either Bear Mt. (my home course) or... VCP (for the awsome race atmosphere)....but based solely on the terrain Sunken Meadow has it all... woods, fields, sand, a bridge, and a huge hill.

[WangChung]

Definitely Bear Mountain.

[GoFast]

I respect SM but its taken down so many good runners, our team trys to avoid it during the season cause we know we got to run it twice at the end of the year, if you run it all season it tends to beat up on your body, maybe too tuff? I like Bear MT the best, for running and watching!! Love to go back there but, Bowdin Park, love that Feds atmosphere.

[AMBULOPHOBIA]

i hate xc

[The X-Factor]

how could you possibly like bethpage more than SM?? it's the most boring course ever and an xc course without hills just isn't cool...SM is by far my favorite, but Chenango Valley was kinda cool (just a little confusing)

true SM is more xc-like with the hills and moat and everything, but when you have the worst BP to SM time increase on the team you tend to develop a disliking for the course.

[GoFast]

Way back when, WAAAYYYYYY back when. I used to run the Bethpage course on a regular basis. It was 2.5 miles then and the course used to snake its way through the red golf course. It was fun to run it then, couple a little hills but it was kinda slow for 2.5 miles so everyone said that it was really longer than 2.5. It was a long time ago so I barely remember. I loved xc.

[gitarrunner]

have any of you seen the back section for the 8k at bowdoin. we jogged it warming up for sections...now that is some sick nature

[ccviking]

I think that was part of the old XC course like 12 years ago but the path was too narrow and steep.

[IrishBH]

Chenango State park was sweet. Not only was the atmosphere (it being states) and just the surroundings sweet but there was the perfect combo of hills.

[Jew]

What is everyone's favorite course?

Personally, I like Chenango Valley (States Course in 2004), I also like Mendon Ponds East (The counties course in Section V/Monroe County).

I'm interested to see what other people like!


mendon ponds east is pretty sweet. VCP is good too because of its history.

[TTTTTRRRAAAXXXOOORRRR]

my favorites are rockafeller park (sleep hollow home course), bowdoin, and bear mountain in that order. i dont think many people have run at rockafeller on the course, but it is awesome.

[AMBULOPHOBIA]

true SM is more xc-like with the hills and moat and everything, but when you have the worst BP to SM time increase on the team you tend to develop a disliking for the course.

whowhat?

[Cemetery Trail]

I hate bowdoin!

I like Bear mountain and WCC.

[SEAURCHIN]

The 2.5 mile course at CW Post College and the 3 mile course at Eisenhower
Park were also fun x-c courses to run, albeit easy ones, back in the 70's. Also, the 3-mile course at NY Tech was a tough and challenging course to run.

[Cam Hei LUJ]

where do you run for the rockefeller course?

[lharpnad]

I know that the chenago valley course was not "historic" but i liked it a lot and it had a good difficulty and two hills. I think how you like a course depends mostly on how you race there. I had a good breakthrough race a chanago. I didn't really like bowodin too much. I got pushed over twice, too narrow. If there wasn't so many people maybe. But it was challenging which is good. I would like to run all the famous Nys courses like sunken meadow and vcp someday. To bad there 7 hours + away.

[TTTTTRRRAAAXXXOOORRRR]

where do you run for the rockefeller course?the course is close to a hospital and has a long steep uphill that you go up right at the end for like the last 800 meters.

[minde15]

when did they change the wcc? that course was brutal, i think at the pre-state meet that year every guy on our team got hurt (one even on the warm down!) i didnt run it though cuz i was injured so i couldnt comment on the old or new course

my four in no particular order are vcp, sm, bowdoin, and spac

its too bad the state meet isnt there next year, sure its not a full 5k but the scenery is great, its a fast course but still challenging in a couple spots, and the finish is awesome.

[meneldor]

Bear Mountain is so much pavement it hardly qualifies as a XC course, it's more like a road race.

[ccviking]

when did they change the wcc? that course was brutal, i think at the pre-state meet that year every guy on our team got hurt (one even on the warm down!) i didnt run it though cuz i was injured so i couldnt comment on the old or new course


Its still brutal in that way, if noone fixes it up befor a meet then it is a disaster area. This year befor counties it was in such krappy shape that my coach spent an hour raking the leaves off and another two hours marking rocks.

[Kalaby]

I think that was part of the old XC course like 12 years ago but the path was too narrow and steep.

Was this in response to the Bowdoin back hills post from immediately above yours? Can anybody confirm that the Bowdoin layout has changed over time? I was under the impression that it's been run over the same layout since its inception in 1989.

[ccviking]

maybe it was more like 17 years ago. I just knew it was from a while ago.

[king zora]

Bear Mountain is so much pavement it hardly qualifies as a XC course, it's more like a road race.




Bear mt yes, has pavement , but , not entirely... the pavement is not a road, its a path, therefor its not a road race. Bear has been run on for 30 years as an xc course, i say its an xc course.... :D

[meneldor]

There was a small change made in Bowdoin after a couple of years on the course. The trail up the hill to 1.5 miles is a different trail. The old trail went more around the back of the hill and came back to todays course before it crossed the road back to the nature trail.

[Kalaby]

There was a small change made in Bowdoin after a couple of years on the course. The trail up the hill to 1.5 miles is a different trail. The old trail went more around the back of the hill and came back to todays course before it crossed the road back to the nature trail.

Thanks. By the sound of it, that doesn't seem like a material change that would invalidate time comparisons from the "old course" to the "new course". Am I correct with that assumption or do you see it differently?

[ccviking]

I'v seen where the old hill is, it is much steeper and even narrower than the current hill.

[meneldor]

Coach Doherty from Pearl River, who keeps the top times lists on the course,uses a 23 second conversion from the old to the new course. His list on the Section 1 website does not say which way the conversion goes. I assume the new course is faster. From my personal experience I ran both courses in club XC championship races while in my early 40s and ran 17:30 on the old course and 17:31 on the new one. My recollection is that I was not in as good shape when I ran the 17:31 so the 23 second conversion would make sense.

[toetheline]

it goes the other way - the new course is slower (slightly longer). He uses that 23 seconds for girls, I'd say it's less for boys....

[Kalaby]

When exactly did this take place, before or after they started running Feds at Bowdoin? For example, Bowdoin was first used as the Feds course in 1989. Is the course that Hogan ran his 15:51 on (1989 Feds), the very same course used today, or did this course change happen more recently than 1989?

[asleep@theline]

have any of you seen the back section for the 8k at bowdoin. we jogged it warming up for sections...now that is some sick nature

That is a great portion of trail.

My favorite courses are bowdoin and sunken meadow

[The Architect]

Gotta love Sunken Meadow. And when I say love, I mean "be afraid of". It's a tough course, but isn't that what cross country is about? When someone asked this question before, someone said that "you can't fake it at Sunken Meadow" (or something like that), and I think that's true. The kids who try to fake it are the kids who you laugh at as you run by them on Cardiac. Or maybe it's just my Section XI pride...

[candersonxc]

Bear and SM gotta be my favorites

does anyone know if they plan to switch the bear mountain course back to the way it used to be going down the steep hill instead of the doubleback
looking back the old one seemed to be much faster

[MonWoodrunner]

Yeah i really hope they fix up the insanely steep downhill at Bear Mt so it can be back to normal...but either way just saying Bear MT. gives me that fuzzy X-C feeling

[ontherun2534]

I've only run there a few times but Van Cortlandt is definitely the best XC course. It’s the most popular course in the USA, probably the world, and there have been races there for at least 100 years, Chenango just didn’t have that feel. The flat parade grounds and back hills make for a good combination. As far as difficulty it’s about average (compared to where I’ve run anyway), sunken meadow being the hardest and Bethpage the easiest.

[meneldor]

Hogan's run in 1989 was on the current Bowdoin course

[Burned_in_Style]

isnt the Guilderland Course 2.7 miles??

[New York XC]

Sunken Meadow, by far the most challenging course in NY and everyone knows that tough=fun. Bowdoin is a close second, but it's only one big incline and one big decline.

yeah, cause there isn't only one big incline and decline on SM either....... :rolleyes:

for the record, there are two good sized hills at Bowdoin: from about 700m to 900m and then from about 1 mile to 1.5 miles.

[PeterQuince]

yeah, cause there isn't only one big incline and decline on SM either....... :rolleyes:

Let's be fair--Snake Hill is long and irritating until it becomes sharply steep and irritating. So SM has two inclines and declines...

Bethpage the easiest.

I'd reserve that honor for Eisenhower State Park. As I recall Billy Vasilyadis ran 15:3x there and then ran 15:59 twelve months later at Bethpage. Although one could argue it's not really a cross-country course but a track-like speedway, a number of meets were held there in the mid 1980s.

My coach had us train a lot at New York Tech my freshman summer/fall. I wish we could have raced there, too.

[Kalaby]

Hogan's run in 1989 was on the current Bowdoin course

I thought that was the case; thanks for confirming.

[xorunner287ox]

Bethpage is only good for times, but I like the whole atmosphere of Van Cortlandt. You would never think that you're in the middle on the Bronx when you run there.

[baronsxc]

What is everyone's favorite course?

Personally, I like Chenango Valley (States Course in 2004), I also like Mendon Ponds East (The counties course in Section V/Monroe County).

I'm interested to see what other people like!


deff. a fan of mendon east, also mendon west and senica, mcquaid too and baldwinsville-that's a fast one

[Speedlimit]

Bowdin for sure. VCP gets a runner-up for me. I've heard some section 2 people swear by Saratoga State Park's course, but Bowdin is my favorite by far. I've ran my fastest and slowest times there. When it's wet, it's a brutal course but it's still awesome. 1.5 miles uphill, 1.6 downhill basically. Least favorite course: bear mt.

Someone should just make a poll so we can get an actual vote on this.

[eatmyshorts]

sunken meadow is the best bar far. you need balls to run it, and it has an amazing spectator place in the picnic area. you can see 4 parts of the race just by standing in one area. the moat is a sick finish too, you know you got 800 to go when you get to the moat.

[Homer Simpson]

yeah sunken meadow 5k...is by far the best, too bad my legs are done when i hit the moat, so i have practically no kick with 800 left, oh well

[ocdcy]

yeah, that is an excellent course, I'd have to agree one of the hardest.

[4x2mile]

Everybody knows about the famous ones... how about some tough ones that don't get run very often?

Here're 4 I've suffered through...

Bethlehem Town Park (5K): All grass, rolling, lousy footing, lots of turns. Brutal in the rain.
Berlin (5K): Mountainous trails. Tougher hills than Bear Mtn.
Crandall Park (Glens Falls) 5K: On the International XC ski course. Rolling hills on twisting, sandy, uneven trails. Very slow.
Tawasentha Park (Guilderland) 2.5M: All up-and-down, fields and trails, lousy footing, lots of turns. First mile of this course may be the best mile of XC in the state.

hardest "cross country" course ive suffered through...mudders and grunters at FDR...5 miles of prickers and mud and hills and death. havnt ever really raced it though, just run it.

our old home course...it was at least a minute slow...2 big hills that noone is ever prepared for

[WilliamsQBY]

Everybody knows about the famous ones... how about some tough ones that don't get run very often?

Here're 4 I've suffered through...

Bethlehem Town Park (5K): All grass, rolling, lousy footing, lots of turns. Brutal in the rain.
Berlin (5K): Mountainous trails. Tougher hills than Bear Mtn.
Crandall Park (Glens Falls) 5K: On the International XC ski course. Rolling hills on twisting, sandy, uneven trails. Very slow.
Tawasentha Park (Guilderland) 2.5M: All up-and-down, fields and trails, lousy footing, lots of turns. First mile of this course may be the best mile of XC in the state.

The Crandall Park Ski course is nasty on skis, but i like it for running and skiing.
My favorite course has got to be Van Cortland Park, I like the Hills and trails, as well as the 500 People you race with. I like Bowdoin, but mostly because it was Feds. Queensbury course is pretty sweet and you all should enjoy it next year at states.

[crazyrunner]

I used to hate VCP in high school but i've grown to like it in college... mainly because of Cemetary hill!... However, Sunken Meadow will forever be my favorite course to run on. The 8k/10k at Sunken Meadow is a lot harder then a VCP one as well so i know i would like it even more. Sunken meadow is by far the best place to get in shape (for me) for any type of race.

[TCtheJUMPER/RUNNER]

Does anyone ever go upstate ??!?!? Like above Albany ? The adirondacks hosts many MANY beautiful courses..........people tend to forget that there is like 100 miles between Albany and Canada ( thats where i live)!-TC

[conabud]

Not sure if someone already posted on this because i didn't feel like looking at them all......but does anyone remember the old NEWARK (near Rochester) course? it didn't get any harder than that course. section 5 runners used to run sectionals there back in the 80's and into the mid-90's. the NY state meet was there back in 1993 and the fastest time was 16:18. the fastest time i know about on that course was 1991 sectionals when Matt Wilkins went 16:11. that course had 3 gigantic hills on it. very fun to watch.

[PeterQuince]

Does anyone ever go upstate ??!?!? Like above Albany ? The adirondacks hosts many MANY beautiful courses..........people tend to forget that there is like 100 miles between Albany and Canada ( thats where i live)!-TC

New York north of Albany is gorgeous. But honestly, given the choice, if you are a competetive northeast regional runner, are you going to go to Lake Placid or Van Cortlandt the weekend of the Manhattan Invitational.

By running where the competition is, naturally the most well-known and well-run courses are, for the most part, in the Hudson Valley, Albany area, NYC area, and then near Syracuse and Rochester. Promote a big-meet invitational with good competition and more runners will appear, but, unfortunately, you have population demographics working against you.

[bluedragon73]

Toughest course on LI was the old Roslyn HS home course at the National Guard base. Two loops with a hill that went straight up. The second loop going up that hill was a killer. Much tougher than Sunken Meadow,which is definitely a tough course. My favorite was always VCP.

[Albatross]

Not sure if someone already posted on this because i didn't feel like looking at them all......but does anyone remember the old NEWARK (near Rochester) course? it didn't get any harder than that course. section 5 runners used to run sectionals there back in the 80's and into the mid-90's. the NY state meet was there back in 1993 and the fastest time was 16:18. the fastest time i know about on that course was 1991 sectionals when Matt Wilkins went 16:11. that course had 3 gigantic hills on it. very fun to watch.
I ran the Newark course as my first race at the beginning of 2003 cross country season. We didn't do the third hill, and a tree had fallen over part of the second one (or something like that), so we had to alter it a little. I think I was the only person near me (I was slow then) that didn't walk on or after that hill. Really tough course, even without the last hill.

I was wondering, does anyone know anything about the course that the state meet is going to be run on?

[WilliamsQBY]

At Queensbury Highschool in section 2. It's a brand new course, it's really nice too. It's entirely wooded trails, with an open field start and finish. some fun hills. It's my home course, so i know alot about it (i would hope so at least).

[atouchofgrey22]

1- Sanfordville --warwicks home course. its beautiful. and a pleasure to run.
2-Bear Mountain--...it tests you like no other course.
3-VCP--its legandary.

[baronsxc]

By running where the competition is, naturally the most well-known and well-run courses are, for the most part, in the Hudson Valley, Albany area, NYC area, and then near Syracuse and Rochester. Promote a big-meet invitational with good competition and more runners will appear, but, unfortunately, you have population demographics working against you.

yah, rochester has done a pretty soild job with the mcquaid invite, we get schools from all over which is cool. VCP get's everyone though.

[brightonjew]

which vcp race are we talking about? The manhatten invite or foot locker NE? Becuase those are two different courses. I hate ambigious posts.

[candersonxc]

1- Sanfordville --warwicks home course. its beautiful. and a pleasure to run.
2-Bear Mountain--...it tests you like no other course.



Bear is amazing and the best course i think.

the warwick course doesnt have enough hills and doesnt test you at all which contradicts your reason to liking Bear