Mike Brohard /Loveland Reporter-Herald)
FORT COLLINS — After 24 hours of rain, the course was just about perfect, exactly what a cross country layout should be.
The design of the 5K for the 5A Northern Regional at Spring Canyon Park would take the participants across an expanse of grass with standing water, down muddy paths, through tight, slippery turns and through a dry creek that was no longer such. Instead, there was a puddle at the bottom and a muddy incline to greet runners, one that only became more chewed up as each and every shoe that passed dug in for traction.