I write as an outsider, but, even as an outsider, it's difficult to miss the Deseret News 10K no matter how far you live from Salt Lake City.
A few things are obvious. Number one, the Deseret News 10K (and accompanying races) are the summer running events in Utah. Nothing else comes close, nor even remotely close. Pretty much the entire state shuts down for the holiday and the Deseret News complex of races gets the celebration started in the state's largest metropolitan area. The races start early in the day, before the summertime heat does its daily baking of the asphalt and all those who dare to tread out upon it.
For high school, however, the main focus is squarely on the 10K race, conveniently team scored for those participating by the race management. A few high schoolers trickle into the 5K races each year, and probably a very small number have run the marathon over the years, but the 10K is where it's at. That's especially true for those who plan to run cross country in the fall.
What's at stake? Mostly bragging rights and maybe the opportunity to elevate your team's intimidation factor, or so it seems from my distance.
It's not lost on many folks that last year's boys' team winner was Davis. I probably don't have to remind you what kind of season they had last fall. It's true that Austin Neuner, who had already graduated from high school, both won the race and was Davis's top scorer at the event, but Davis would have won handily last summer even with only ungraduated athletes. Team scoring is an abbreviated version of cross country team scoring that adds the places of the top three finishers on the team to arrive at a team score.
Last summer's race also gave us an early glimpse into the strength of the Bingham and Ogden squads, on the boys' side, and Bingham and Ogden on the girls' side. Ogden's girls would end up as arguably the better team during the cross country season, but Bingham did enjoy a very nice day at the Deseret News 10K.
If you're familiar with this kind of cross country pre-season event across the nation, you're likely aware that the boys' events are much better attended than girls'. The Deseret News 10K, however, ranks as a glaring exception to the rule, however. Participation levels are very nearly equal across genders.
Through the 2010 race, the event featured Utah versus US all-star teams as part of the high school team competition. The Utah all-stars won both 2010 titles going away, but that sort of contest seemed not to catch on in a large way and was not repeated in 2011. As big as the Deseret News 10K is, it's reach into other states (and especially states outside of Idaho) remains somewhat limited. Likely the biggest reason for that is that July 24 isn't an official state holiday outside of Utah, even though it is an unofficial holiday in many smaller communities outside of Utah. That little fact of scheduling tends to raise the ante on getting to the race for those living outside of the state's boundaries.
While the high school race is undeniably well-attended, there are many more schools that don't participate than those that do. Reasons for non-participation are likely as varied as the schools they represent. Probably ranking high on the list are: the fear of starting the competitive season too soon, the length of the race involved, local races on the same day that are closer and easier to get to, and feelings of an inability to compete well against the high-powered schools represented. When you're up against guys running the course in the 32s and 33s and girls running the course in the high 30s, it's easy to feel like maybe it's just a better time to keep your summer training going without stepping over the line into racing. This race is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Whether or not the top teams in the state send contingents to Salt Lake City to run in tomorrow's Deseret News 10K, the results of the race are always big news. Not a few folks will be checking out results as soon as they are posted to get an early glimpse of where the competition stands about one month out from the opening of the competitive season of cross country. And, at that moment, a whole lot of calculating begins.
Whether you're racing or watching from afar, enjoy the spectacle. And glean what you can from the results.