Finding courses challenge Chattanooga area cross-country programs

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

The Chattanooga Cross Country League has seen a lot of turnover in the past few seasons.

And not just talking about the runners.

For a number of reasons, the CCCL has struggled to consistently be able to keep venues to run their six-course league schedule. Sites such as Greenway Farm, the Riverpark, Woodland Park Baptist Church and Fletcher Park have been abandoned over the past few years, due to increasing prices to rent the venues or changes around the site.

It's caused problems in trying to secure places to run the events. During the 2014 season, the league will run at Baylor four times -- a jamboree meet, two league races and the Front Runner City Championships. Camp Jordan will be used twice, while Heritage High School in Ringgold and Chickamauga Dam are the other places being used.

A lot of coaches try to run at a number of different places -- some flat course, some with more hills, for instance -- to prepare their teams for what lies ahead in the postseason. State courses at Percy Warner Park in Nashville and at Carrollton High School in Georgia provide different tests than what some runners see throughout the season. Some take their teams to out-of-town meets in Knoxville, Nashville, Rome, Ga., or Oakville, Ala., to provide a different experience, while other coaches are left running the races provided by the league.

Jasen Parks, one of the league directors, said that there are a lot of factors that go into finding a site to run.

"Cross country is not a money-generating sports, and we don't have the money to spend on facilities," he said. "With the number of kids we have run week in and week out, it's tough because you have to have room to accommodate the runners at the beginning of the race, during the race and at the finish line."

The league charges schools $1 per runner per race for fees, with around 15-25 runners (girls and boys combined) running for a school. The money paid goes to expenses such as paint used on the course; flags; the PA system; and to be used to maintain things used during the race, as well as for awards that are given out at the end of the regular season.

According to Parks, there are 37 teams and 566 runners registered to run in today's race at Baylor, which became an ideal site because there was a middle school meet hosted there earlier this week, making setup a lot easier.

"We're fortunate that the physical layout of Baylor supports cross country," Baylor girls coach Heather Ott said. "The physical beauty of Baylor, with the woods and river make for an ideal venue. It's spectator-friendly to where fans can enjoy it."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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