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Kids Running in the Woods
New Prairie is the World's
Best High School Cross Country Meet
by Hal Higdon
Arriving at the New Prairie Invitational on a Saturday morning, I skipped past the first two parking lot entrances and headed to the final one. The paved lot and surrounding grassy areas at the Northwestern Indiana high school were crammed with cars, signaling a large attendance at what arguably is the world's best high school cross-country meet.
Locating a space near a corn field, I remarked to a volunteer: "Is this parking for the Notre Dame football game?"
"Might as well be," he replied. "Biggest crowd I've ever seen."
Race director Doug Snyder later estimated that 3,000 spectators paid $2 admission. Add to that, 2,670 runners from 107 high schools plus coaches and volunteers. Not quite Notre Dame football numbers, but not bad for a sport that gets little media attention other than from local newspapers.
Parachutists and pigeons 
I arrived late, thus missed several early races and an opening ceremony featuring a release of birds and a parachutist carrying a massive American flag. "What other meet is cool enough to have parachutists and pigeons," one runner boasted later on IndianaRunner.com. "I thought I was at the Olympics," commented another.
Other high school cross-country meets may be larger. Portage High School in Michigan has 3,500 runners in its invitational, but includes junior high teams. Niles West High School in suburban Chicago has promoted its meet as being the largest held on high school grounds with 69 girls teams and 73 boys teams, 2,400 total, but New Prairie now beats that. Largest according to Marc Bloom, editor of The Harrier, is Mount SAC in California: 12,000 runners, but colleges included and lasting two days. Manhattan High School in New York hosts 11,000 runners on a single day at Van Cortlandt Park. Not on high school grounds, if you're looking for qualified bragging rights.
Apart from numbers, how do you define Best in State, Best in USA, Best in World? If New Prairie deserves those titles, it would be because its course works both for runners and spectators, something not easy to achieve.
Group 1: Runners. New Prairie offers a wide starting area at the far end of a long field. That doesn't eliminate bumping, but minimizes it. More to the point, the course ducks into the woods: three times for boys running 5,000 meters, twice for girls running 4,000. There's a zigzag down to a dry creek bed, then a steep hill named The Agony. If you're looking for elements that typify the cross-country experience, New Prairie has them all.
Group 2: Spectators. When not off in the woods, runners return to a central area within view of spectators, mostly friends and relatives. Smartest among them climb to the top row of the football stadium for a panoramic view. Without moving, you can watch runners pass four separate times. Add to that the beauty of New Prairie's rural setting, corn fields included.
Group 3: Runner/Spectators. Don't want to stand in one location waiting for runners to return? Chase them! Many runner/spectators hustle back and forth to see the athletes two or three more times. Teammates position themselves throughout the woods. Even when you can't see the race, you can tell where the runners are by the distant cheers.
Like New Prairie, most high school cross-country events are organized by dedicated coaches, many of them runners themselves, who love the sport and want to pass on their love to others. New Prairie features nine separate races, the final two for Reserves, allowing everybody a chance to run. Particularly for those who run only marathons, if you never have been to a high school cross-country meet, treat yourself to such an experience some day.
Football fans can have their Super Bowls. I love to watch kids running in the woods.
Hal Higdon, a Contributing Editor for Runner's World, regrets he never ran cross-country in high school.
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