'cause parents want to get home at a decent time? =P

/snark
//been 'chicked'

This gives the boys an easy 'out' for why the girls are faster!

Well I fired off an email to the coach asking if there was any rationale. I am sure this comes from the state governing body. But it does annoy me.

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"It takes courage to do it, to be a runner. We all found that out a long time ago. Because it's about more than fatigue. It's about pain, and dealing with it for a long time. And its about resolve." - Quentin Cassidy

Then get on whatever governing body you need to and change the rule. You have more power than you think. Also, does it bother your daughter at all? I found that parents raise more stink than their kids about stuff like this, while the kids just want to compete, regardless of the distance.

Also, make sure your daughter understands the distance disparity has probably been in place since the dark ages, when women were thought to be weaker, and is in no way indicative of her or her teammates' skills. In several states the high school cross country distances are shorter for girls than for boys (Minnesota, for one, at least when I went to high school there). It just means she's going to have to work more on her speed than her endurance.

Or you could sign her up for soccer, where boys and girls play the same length of game on the same size of field. Or volleyball, which boys don't play at all in most places. Or swimming, where boys and girls do the same schedule of events. You get my drift.

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"The hero is someone in continual opposition to the status quo. The hero is always becoming himself." Jos� Ortega y Gasset.

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Once a seventh grade girl ran 1.25 miles, but then her uterus fell out... after that they limited distances to something more appropriate for the fairer sex.

This isn't rocket science. Men are generally faster than women and the disparity in speed will come close to making the time running similar. Last time I checked, men and women were different. Why do people keep insisting they be the same?
I'm a father of two girls and two boys and my boys happen to be taller, faster and stronger than my girls. I don't insist that they try and be the same.
I raced the USATF nationals four times and each time the men's long course was 12K and the women's long course was 8K. If you don't like it, then you ought to pick a new sport or get over it and just let her race.
Chad

In High school, boys run 5k and girls run 4k- and take about the same amount of time.
I forget what college is, but its something like 6k and 8k... its just always been different.
In college the times actually work out to be pretty damn close- Big East championships- the winning girls team ran their race at an avg of 21:16, winning mens avg was 25:11... even though its a difference of 2k or so.

With some exceptions, females are generally smaller and physically weaker than males. That's not a sexist viewpoint, it's a genetic fact.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Crazy...

When I was in High School, boys and girls ran the same 5k course starting at the same time - even at the state championship!
I thought all college cross country was 10k - but that was just D-I mens...

My daughter ran middle school cross country. Not only did the boys and girls run the same distance (2 miles if memory serves), at most dual meets the boys and girls ran together in one heat. This was in a Catholic school league no less.

Sex equality is one thing but its just plain easier to have one course. It does seem that someone along the way would have gotten tired of setting up multiple courses.

Thanks for the response and the information. Since this is my first swing through the cross country world, I had no idea that this is a normal situation.

I am more curious than annoyed. Just to set the record straight, I don't believe boys and girls are equal in their abilities. I don't think they should be competing against each other. But it does seem to me that by having different distances, it is kind of giving girls the message that they can't do the same things that boys can do. In some areas, I think its obvious that this is the case. In others, like running, I think its misguided.

I mean the women's marathon wasn't even run in the olympics until 1984. Now it seems pretty dumb women were excluded for that long. I guess it just takes time to change these type of backward standards.

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"It takes courage to do it, to be a runner. We all found that out a long time ago. Because it's about more than fatigue. It's about pain, and dealing with it for a long time. And its about resolve." - Quentin Cassidy

But it does seem to me that by having different distances, it is kind of giving girls the message that they can't do the same things that boys can do.

I have 3 daughters each of whom have been involved in sports since age 6 or 7. They and their female friends who are athletes do not give a shit what the boys do. Post feminist girls have moved on from the "we are equal in all respects" BS to the much more heathly concept that girls are not defined by what boys do but rather they define themselves.

Our HS was the same way, except for different starting times. D-1 mens is 10k, NAIA is 5 miles. I don't know D-II or D-III off the top of my head.

Maybe the difference for the distances in the OP is because they are in middle school and still maturing? Although you would think that it might be reversed, since girls tend to get their growth spurts, etc. before boys do.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

At least in the region our schools compete, middle school XC is 1.8 miles for both girls and boys (in theory). I think High School statewide runs 5k for both sexes as well.

Here, girls and boys run the same distance in middle school, I think it's 1 mile. They all start together.

In HS the boys run 5K and the girls run 4K. I think our top girls could do well over 5K but I see a lot more girls struggling on the hills in the later stages of the race as compared to boys. I don't know the reason for this whether it is because boys are stronger on the average or if it is because girls don't have as many choices for fall sports and therefore have some girls whose male counterparts are in other sports. My thinking is that the shorter distance just works better in putting a girls team together.

We didn't have XC until high School...but when we did, girls and boys ran different distances-- 2 miles versus 3 miles.

We also had differences in track as well--girls ran the 3000 and 1500; boys ran the mile and the 3200. That's just the way it was.

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LOL get over yourself.

This is a very simple question. As a high school student just finishing his last season of Cross Country, I can give you the scoop on how this high school and middle school things differ.
In West Virginia, the girls would run a 1.5 to 1.75 mile race in Middle School, while the boys ran a 1.75 to 2.1 mile race. In Virginia (where I live), the boys and girls of my county both run the same course (no matter the distance). The length of the ran solely depends on the given amount that the school board deems acceptable.

In high school, things are a bit different. Boys and girls both run a 5K run. Though the distance of the race can be 4.5k to 5.5k, boy and girls run the same. That is because of VHSL (Virginia High School League) rules requiring that all athletes are equal no matter of gender, therefore they can run the same distance. Though the girls typically do run slower than the boys, they still have to compete in a ~5K race. In the national level for High school, the length of the race is the same for Boys and Girls. Seeing how Nike FootLocker South Region Nationals are coming up, my girlfriend and I researched a bit before we paid our fees.

My guess with distances changing because of gender, it would depend on the school board. For high school, it usually depends on the state's high school athletic league.

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I hate looking like I'm 12 and being in the 20 year old age group...

it varies by state. I ran x-country in HS in California, both girls and boys ran 3 miles.

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JP

my twitter feed

Thanks to everybody for the info. Like I said, I had no experience with it so I had no base of knowledge. Now I do.

I still think its somewhat backward, but at least its just not our state. Seems like its happens alot of places.

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"It takes courage to do it, to be a runner. We all found that out a long time ago. Because it's about more than fatigue. It's about pain, and dealing with it for a long time. And its about resolve." - Quentin Cassidy

One thing that bugs me about the difference is that the the girls tend to hit physical maturity earlier than the boys do, so it would seem like we should be giving the boys the shorter distance because they're further away from finishing puberty when they're 12-13.

Kind of like how high school girls throw the same weight shot and disc that college women and up do, while high school boys throw lighter than Olympic standard implements.