This is our final scheduled XC workout in the Cornell Arboretum for the year, since we’ll lose light next week after Daylight Saving Time steals the last of our evening workout sunshine. I don’t know if we’ll be able to start workouts in Barton on 11/4—apparently, the turf hasn’t been removed yet. Watch this space next week for details.
Since this is our last chance to do it, we’ll be running a Ridiculous Relay, which comes down to about 8x400m on pavement. For those who haven’t had the pleasure before, here’s how it works. After our warmup, everyone lines up in order of speed so I can match up the fastest and slowest runner, the next-fastest and next-slowest, and so on, and then assemble pairs of people into four-person teams.
Then, one set of people from each team will start. Here’s the twist. Within each set, the runners run in opposite directions around the roughly 400m loop at the top of the Arboretum until they meet, exchange a baton, and then turn around and run back the way they came to the start. That way, the faster runners run farther, and the slower runners run shorter, but everyone runs for about the same amount of time. The pace should be quick—roughly mile race pace but not all out. Pace yourself because it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and run too fast early on.
Once the first set of runners both make it back to the start, they hand off the baton to their team’s second set of runners, and the first set gets to rest and cheer for everyone else. While all this is happening, the other teams’ runners are doing the same thing. Laps are run! Leads change! Batons are dropped! Chaos ensues! The winning team will get all their runners back first after all sets of runners have completed 8 reps.
Meet on Tuesday night at 5:30 PM at the parking area in the bowl of the F. R. Newman Arboretum in the Cornell Botanic Gardens (Google Maps pin) and be ready to start the warmup at 5:45 PM among the sculptures. Invite your friends!
Any questions?
Resources
- Administration: You must be an FLRC member and sign the 2025 waiver!
- Location: All XC workouts take place at the F. R. Newman Arboretum in the Cornell Botanic Gardens east of the Cornell Vet School
- Parking: There’s plenty of parking in the Arboretum; latecomers have to park farther from the warmup area.
- Warmup: Jay Johnson’s Lunge Matrix and Leg Swings, then 10 minutes of jogging
- Cooldown: Jogging until everyone’s done, then Jay Johnson’s Strength and Mobility
- Pace Calculator: Jack Daniels’ VDOT Running Calculator