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The Pac-12 Cross Country Championships course through a GoPro lens

Nov 1, 2013

LOUISVILLE, Colo. - After multiple hair clip and pony-tail adjustments, the Pac-12 Networks’ GoPro was ready to capture a runner’s perspective of the 2013 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships’ course.

The Colorado Buffaloes are hosting the meet at Coal Creek Golf Course, located just outside of Boulder, and you'd be hardpressed not to be reminded of that based on the amount of black, silver and gold.

While running the course, four observations stayed with me from start to finish: 

1. The course itself is stunning. Even with the devastation of the floods from mid-September, the course is in great shape given the circumstances. There are some patchy grass and dirt areas with filled-in potholes, but overall the event organizers and Colorado officials did an incredible job mapping out the course and repairing the damaged areas.

2. With the forecast calling for sun and temperates expected to hover around 55 - 60 degrees, this is perfect cross-country weather. Assuming the weathermen are correct, competitors should not have to worry about anything other than running their best race. 

3. There is a significant amount of rolling hills and sharp turns throughout the course, which may not seem difficult while running each hill individually, but after three loops of continuous terrain variation, runners will definitely be feeling the hurt coming into the last mile.

4. Most importantly, every runner out on the course today seemed fired up and ready to dominate!

The gun goes off on Saturday, Nov. 2, 10:40 a.m. MT for the men's race, and 11:40 a.m. MT for the women.

Check Pac-12.com throughout the day for live stats, recaps and highlights, and watch Pac-12 Networks' coverage of the meet Monday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. PT/7:30 MT.