In-depth Memphis Runners Winter XC 10K Course Guide

Coach Ben Knoernschild is currently sitting first overall in the Winter XC series after sweeping the first three races. He took the time to break down the key parts of this weekends 10K course and shares it with you below.

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I would like to start off this course preview by stressing the importance of a proper warm-up (we’ve embedded our short version at the bottom, or you can purchase the full warm-up we use with our athetes here) before a race, especially in cold or cooler weather.

I  tell people that not warming up properly is like trying to stretch a cold or brittle rubber band:

It might give a little but there is also a good chance for it to break.

You can likewise damage your muscles if they aren’t properly warmed up before strenuous activity.  Personally I recommend at least a mile of easy running followed by various dynamic stretches/activities to get the blood flowing well and actively firing each of the muscles that you will be using in the race.  Some of those activities include high knees, butt kicks, karaoke drills, and strides.  If you’re not sure what some these are or are interested in others as well please contact one of the BPC coaches or stop them when you see them at a race and they will be glad to show you!

Ok, so down to the whole reason you clicked on this link, the course preview! 

This year’s 10k course is new and mainly running on the Tour de Wolf trail.  The race will start on the paved road just north of the Visitor’s Center at the base of the hill.  This fact makes a good warm-up even that much more critical. The last thing you want is to sky rocket your heart rate going up the hill right out of the gates.  That being said, I would recommend easing into and through the hill as there is a nice flat and open straight for the next ~400m for you to jockey for position before the first turn.

Just before the stop sign at the 4 way stop, you will make a right and head down the hill. Watch your footing down the hill as there are (or at least were) piles of leaves that the rain water has collected that could contain fallen branches or other things to roll an ankle on. You will head to a narrow wooden bridge followed by a steep kicker of an incline.  Make sure to carry some good momentum down the hill and make sure not to get bottle-necked at the bridge so that you can carry that momentum up and through the kicker.  After the kicker you’ll have roughly 400m of slight uphill before a small drainage crossing, another place where you’ll want to be in good position because it will probably jam up here as well.

You will then run across a flat levee next to the lake before making a right and dropping into the trails.  This section can have some sketchy spots for footing and is mostly uphill so you will want to make sure you are looking ahead so that you can pick you line early and won’t have to scrub any momentum.  Through the subtle turns in this section and throughout the race, make sure to run the straightest line possible, this will save both time and energy.

Quickly after transversing this section of woods, you will make a hard left off of the usual trail and into an uphill clearing.  Through the clearing and you will join back up with the trail and a long downhill.  This will be your first chance to “take a breather” and it will be important to make sure you are good and relaxed.  Your form should still be pretty solid at this point as you will only be approaching the 1 mile mark.  On the downhill, focus on short quick strides and let gravity do the work, trying to keep your body over your feet as opposed to your feet being well out in front as is very easy to let slip on a downhill.

At the base of the downhill you will make a left onto the gravel road before quickly continuing left and back onto the trail and what is I think one of the toughest hills on the course.  With that being the case and the fact that it follows such a long downhill, make sure to start the hill off pretty conservative – utilizing that momentum that you gathered on the downhill as much as possible.  Focus again on a short quick stride and make sure not to let your upper body bend at the hips to lean into the hill but instead you want to lean from your ankles, maintaining a straight line from your ankle up to your head. Focus less on heel flicking and more on driving your foot down the hill on contact.

You will continue on the trail before making a left back onto the gravel road.  This is a good place to “regroup” from the hill and make sure that you are again relaxed and have your breathing under control.

Once entering the dog park area, you will make a left off of the gravel road and make a loop around the grassy field.  Your footing through most of this section should be pretty dependable.  There is a decent hill coming up and out of the field that you will want to again utilize proper hill running technique.

You will again make a right and get back onto the gravel road coming to mile 3.  This is a nice, long (~400m) flat straight section that is a good place to open things up and try to drop some time and pick off some competition as you will make a left back onto the trail and a fairly long downhill.  There is a bridge crossing at the bottom followed by a tough little hill, try to again carry some of that momentum from the down back into the up.  After proceeding a little further into the dog park area, you will make a right off of the main trail onto a small connector trail connecting you back to the main trail.  This section is tight so make sure that any people that you were looking to pass by this point, you’ve passed.

You will then continue onto what I feel is the most scenic sections of the trail, with long sweeping bends and rolling terrain through the long grass fields.  It is easy to ease up too much during this section, so  make sure not to “fall asleep” and let your pace slip too much.  You will roll through the 4 mile mark before popping back onto the gravel road.  Here again use your momentum off the small downhill to roll into and through the following uphill.

You will have another fairly long downhill before turning right and back onto the trail.  You will now be going up the long grinder of a hill that you previously came down and you will want to really focus on your form and stride as fatigue will definitely be starting to set in.  At the top of the hill you will follow the bend around to the left and have a good downhill for you to catch your breath and regroup before making a sharp right and back into the woods.

This is by far the most technical section of trail and contains a number roots, sharp turns, and ups and downs that make focus and looking ahead super critical.  Remember to pay attention to what is coming a pick your line well ahead.  You will pop out of the woods briefly and go through a clearing as well as the 5 mile mark before reentering the woods and back tracking the way you came at the start.  1.2 left, you’re almost to the Old Venice pizza….I mean the finish line!  After running back across the levee and drainage crossing, you will make a left back into the woods for the final section of somewhat technical trail.  Remember to watch your footing for roots and take the straightest line possible!

You will pop out of the woods and make a hard left, following the tree line around the field before heading down toward Patriot Lake.  This is when you can smell the “hay in the barn” as my coach used to say, or wait, maybe that’s just the Old Venice pizza again…

Before you get down to Patriot Lake, you will make a right turn and head toward the Visitors Center and finish line.  Really push to carry your momentum off of the hill and through the turn using everything you have left to push through to the finish line! Cool down knowing that you not only raced hard, but you raced smart as well!

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Can’t get enough off road running???  Want to help support this awesome park that we all love and use??? Come out to Eurocross March 1st! Even if you can’t participate yourself, come on out and cheer folks on, it’s a super spectator friendly course!!

Here’s the link to RacesOnline and make sure you like it on Facebook so Ben can keep you up to date on all the latest!