Sanders Ferry vs. The Weather
After twelve regional races last week, there's been some concern with the condition of the state course and how well it will hold up over eight more races this week so since I live within reasonable distance from the course and needed to exercise I decided to run the Sanders Ferry loop a few times and give you a visual update of the conditions.
I did some research on the last decade or so of the weather for state championship races and the weather leading up to it and this is what I found.
| Year | High Temp | Rain | Previous Rain |
| 2020 | 72 | No | 7 Days Prior |
| 2019 | 57 | No | 2 Days Prior |
| 2018 | 63 | No | 1 Day Prior |
| 2017 | 81 | No | 8 Days Prior |
| 2016 | 72 | No | 16 Days Prior |
| 2015 | 59 | No | 1 Day Prior |
| 2014 | 50 | No | 3 Days Prior |
| 2013 | 63 | No | 2 Days Prior |
| 2012 | 82 | No | 22 Days Prior |
| 2011 | 66 | No | 8 Days Prior |
| 2010 | 48 | No | 3 Days Prior |
| 2009 | 73 | No | 8 Days Prior |
On top of what is documented in the table, in no week prior leading up to state was rain recorded on back to back days. According to some coaches I shared this with in advance, 1994 may be the last time it rained during the state championship. Needless to say, mother nature, outside of a few colder days, has cooperated with the the first or second Saturday in November for quite some time.
In 2010, the high was 48 degrees. It was the lowest high of the last dozen years of competition.
With that said, It does not appear as if the weather this year will cooperate as much but we'll have to wait to see to what extent. Depending on your source, the high for Thursday is going to be between 48 and 52 Degrees with a chance of rain between 30% and 50%. Whatever precipitation falls on Thursday likely won't improve by Friday. If you were following any number of accounts in the MileSplit network this past weekend, course conditions were a common theme.
All that in consideration though, for a state meet, the course not being in pristine PR condition really shouldn't matter because the state meet is about beating people. We've had a great season and great weather all year to beat times.
"I can tell you who won the state title but I can't tell you their time."
- Coach Wietecha
Anyways, after last week's races and all the videos and images came out from them with the course looking like a flood plane I just wanted to give you a quick update. Will there be measures taken to assist with footing in muddy areas? Remains to be seen. Didn't seem to bother Abby Faith Cheeseman without any mitigation.