City Runners Hot to Trot in Cross-Country Meets

A steady stream of overflow water from a nearby drinking fountain cut about a two-foot-wide path across a stretch of dry dirt adjacent to the cross-country course at Pierce College on Tuesday during the first round of City Section league dual meets.

Several parched high school runners gathered at the watering hole--the only one in the vicinity--to quench their thirst and further soak their sweat-saturated uniforms.

Some made it to the fountain on their own. Others needed the help of teammates. Still others were still pounding the shadeless, dusty trails that wind through the rototilled brush behind the Pierce football stadium.

The unseasonably hot, mid-October afternoon had indeed taken its toll.

Originally scheduled for last Thursday, the meets were rescheduled because City officials feared that the heat--which soared into the low 100s last week--would be dangerous for the runners.

The postponement was the second such precautionary action taken by the City this fall: The Conference Classic meets Oct. 13 were canceled because of three-digit temperatures in the Los Angeles area.

Though the races were rescheduled, many teams still hold workouts in the mid-afternoon sun. Practice runs, however, can be stopped so that runners can drink water. A timeout in a cross-country race is unheard of.

“They can’t race in 105-degree weather,� Taft Coach Mel Hein said. “Our kids train in it, but when we train, we take out the water jugs and we have a lot of hoses we stop at in the neighborhood.�

Because dual-meet schedules have been pushed back, the only racing that City teams have done is in Saturday invitationals. Because of that, stronger and more experienced Southern Section teams often dominate City teams.

“The kids are nervous wrecks,� Birmingham Coach Scott King said. “It’s extremely frustrating because we started school Aug. 19, so that’s an extra month (of training) we usually don’t have. By late September the kids were chomping at the bit.�

Now that the league dual-meet season is under way, City coaches are encountering another dilemma. Having a high number of races in a short time span is forcing coaches to jam workouts between meets.

Along with Tuesday’s meets, City schools are scheduled to race a league dual meet Thursday and several teams are entered in the prestigious Mt. San Antonio College invitational Saturday.

“We’re using this as a workout,� King said of Birmingham’s meet with Van Nuys on Tuesday. “We’re going to go another three or four miles when we’re done here. If the kids take in enough water, (the heat) shouldn’t be a problem.�

As if the heat wasn’t enough, the only shade on the three-mile course at Pierce is a 30-yard stretch about 50 yards from the finish. That and the shadow cast from other runners in the race.