Turf Over LandIn the world of high school running, there are two types of runners: cross country runners and track runners. I'm both, as I've been doing cross country since seventh grade and track since first grade. I know what it's like to train and compete in both areas, and I've come to the conclusion that track and field is much better than cross country. In cross country, the season is much longer than in track. For non-participants, the season lasts approximately 3 months. However, in the eyes of a runner, summer training extends it by at least 2 months! Summer workouts typically take place Monday through Saturday for approximately 5 hours. I don't think people want to wake up at 7:30 in the morning to go for a long run and do strength training afterwards. The track season is much shorter with shorter practices. For long-distance runners, the pace is much faster than in cross-country, but the distance is shorter. For sprinters and hurdlers, like me, training is much shorter and only Monday to Friday. Regarding the length of competitions, track competitions are longer than cross country competitions, track competitions have many more events than cross country competitions. In my opinion, track ranking is easier than cross country ranking, because in track competitions there are only 9 runners per heat, and usually there are 2-4 heats. On the other hand, cross country has between 200 and up to 700 people running at the same time! Imagine that, running with 700 people, crowded and getting pushed around during the race. It's not the best feeling in the world. Sometimes you get “stung”, other runners tend to kick you or step on you with their spikes. Usually, racers use plastic spikes, but some racers use metal spikes, and sometimes they use them to help them cheat, by "pointing"....... middle of paper......t accustomed to running long distances. It will take even longer for a person to get used to long-distance running. Long distance running/jogging and long distance running are two completely different things. Cross country also requires more energy than track. On the track, you get recovery time between your runs, but in cross country, you run the 3.1 miles without a break. In conclusion, cross country is far inferior to track and field. There are several reasons for this, provided you have the same opinion as mine. Truth be told, if I didn't think of cross country as preseason training for track, I'd probably care less or be less committed to it. “Track vs Cross Country (yes, there is a BIG difference!). » October 24, 2012. http://runfreeforever.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/track-vs-cross-country-yes-there-is-a-big-difference/