ABOUT US

History:

The Pitt Club Cross Country team is an officially sponsored and sanctioned club sport at the University of Pittsburgh. The team was originally founded by Peter Kelmartin and Phil Wadle during the 2011-2012 school year. After undergoing the process of becoming an official university club sport and a member of NIRCA (National Intercollegiate Running Club Association) , the team began its first season of competition in the 2012-2013 academic year. During the first cross country season, the team competed in 4 races throughout the semester. 2 of the races were a combination of club teams and Division III teams while also racing at 2 NIRCA sanctioned club team races only. The team continues to race in and remain competitive in both club and DII/DIII races.

Practices:

The team will practice during the week Monday through Friday at 5:30 pm. Weekend runs are less formal and typically vary depending on interest and participation. Each practice will begin by meeting at the white tent in Schenley Plaza which is across Forbes Avenue from the Cathedral of Learning. These practices are NOT MANDATORY so feel free to attend as your schedule allows for. For the first week or two of the school year, practice will consist of distance runs to build an aerobic base and to familiarize new members with typical running routes through the park, Oakland, and the adjacent neighborhoods. Closer to meet time, we will begin to run workouts, most likely on Mondays and Thursdays to allow for sufficient recovery in-between difficult practices. We will also be including an ab workout to build core strength for races.

Philosophy:

The goal of this team is to provide an opportunity for students, both undergraduate and graduate, to train and race competitively without the commitment of a varsity team. There is no attendance requirement for joining the team, but practices are very important when training to compete in races. Those not looking to attend races are more than welcome to join the team for daily runs through the community as well as team social functions.

Social Activities:

Outside of practices and races, the team likes to have other activities that allows members to be together in a different setting. Other potential activities consist of playing different sports such as soccer, basketball and ultimate, team dinners at Market Central after practices, pasta parties the night before races, movie nights, and charity events such as Pitt Relay for Life.