{"comments":{"78536":{"pb_id":"9558","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"78536","comment_id":"78536","member_id":"9558","comment":"Pasadena Star-News Online<br <br \/>\r\n      <br \/>\r\n       By Richard Gonzalez<br \/>\r\n      Staff Writer<br \/>\r\n      October, 2000: Glendale Hoover High's Anita Siraki stuns the national prep <br \/>\r\n      cross country community when she breaks the Mt. San Antonio College course <<br \/>\r\n      record by a stunning 17 seconds. <br \/>\r\n      November, 2000: Big Bear High's Ryan Hall runs the Mt. SAC course in <br \/>\r\n      14:28, slicing four seconds off Jeff Nelson's 22-year-old boys course <br \/>\r\n      record. <br \/>\r\n      November, 2000: Don Lugo High's Erick Maldonado smashes the sophomore boys <br \/>\r\n      course record as five of the six fastest 10th-grade course times in <br \/>\r\n      history are achieved. All told, a whopping 39 revisions are made to the <br \/>\r\n      all-time grade lists. <br \/>\r\n      Oddly enough, these standout runners have enjoyed ample success before and <br \/>\r\n      since, but not quite to the degree achieved recently along the revered <br \/>\r\n      2.95-mile Mt. SAC course. <br \/>\r\n      Well, maybe it's because the course had been shortened to 2.91 miles. <br \/>\r\n      Mt. SAC cross country women's coach Doug Todd has confirmed in three <br \/>\r\n      separate interviews since last November that the course has indeed been <br \/>\r\n      shortened, an end result of safety concerns, course upgrades and <br \/>\r\n      environmental effects. <br \/>\r\n      \"We struggled not to make the changes, because the Mt. SAC course and the <br \/>\r\n      meet are so steeped in history,\" said Todd, who oversees this weekend's <br \/>\r\n      conclusion of the 54th annual Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational, the <br \/>\r\n      nation's largest. <br \/>\r\n      \"Some changes were unavoidable, but it doesn't make accepting the changes <br \/>\r\n      any easier.\" <br \/>\r\n      The most notable change was reconfiguring a portion of the \"Valley Loop\" <br \/>\r\n      as a safety matter. With the number of entrants swelling to match the <br \/>\r\n      meet's growth in popularity, maneuvering along the original course's <br \/>\r\n      sharp, jutting turn less than a minute into the race created logistical <br \/>\r\n      problems. <br \/>\r\n      Mt. SAC staff changed it to a sweeping and easier to navigate path, which <br \/>\r\n      Todd estimates cut about five seconds off each loop or 10 seconds per <br \/>\r\n      runner off the double loop. If his estimate is accurate, that translates <br \/>\r\n      to roughly a 50-second team-time (five runners) improvement over <br \/>\r\n      \"pre-renovation\" years. <br \/>\r\n      Additionally, heavy rains a few years ago caused erosion along some <br \/>\r\n      patches of the course. Throw in the beautification steps imposed in recent <br \/>\r\n      years a wider running path, planting of shade-producing trees along the <br \/>\r\n      route, and considerable landscaping to improve footing and the <br \/>\r\n      once-imposing course becomes a more inviting one. <br \/>\r\n      \"We try to respect history and tradition, yet safety becomes a factor too <br \/>\r\n      ... a much more important factor,\" said Mt. SAC men's coach Mike Goff, who <br \/>\r\n      is the one entrusted with the upkeep of the course. <br \/>\r\n      \"If course historians have a problem with it, I understand,\" Goff added. <br \/>\r\n      \"At the same time, if we can improve the course to maximum conditions for <br \/>\r\n      runners, that's great, too. Bottom line, the best teams and runners will <br \/>\r\n      still win.\" <br \/>\r\n      The only drawback now is that the ever-popular time comparisons by <br \/>\r\n      generations of runners might lack integrity, since the course has changed. <br \/>\r\n<br \/>\r\n      It used to be when one California runner would meet another, the first <br \/>\r\n      question was: \"What's your best time at Mt. SAC?\" <br \/>\r\n      Regardless, the course still offers a tough test to challengers. <br \/>\r\n      \"Well, Mt. SAC's been too hot, too dusty, too slow, too crowded, too <br \/>\r\n      hard,\" said Goff, echoing some critics over the years. \"And now... they <br \/>\r\n      say it's too fast. That's a new one.\"","date_added":"Sep 2nd 2010, 12:41am","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":6537,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"i\/no_avatar.png","pb_title":"Alice","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=9558","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/Alice.runnerspace.com\/","pb_wally_id":"10465"}},"last_id":"78536","url":"comments.php?item_type=news&item_id=6537&item_url=gprofile.php?mgroup_id=2539"}