Thursday, April 16, 2020

Crystal Springs course closing?

A quick update. At this point, we have to wait for the announcement from college and district in regard to the future of the course. We will know more once that announcement is made. I am certain that there will be plenty of people that will step forward to potentially help with the maintenance of the course. In the meantime, we should all be very thankful for the countless hours that Bob Rush has put into that course with the help of administration and staff at CSM. If you wish to thank Bob for his efforts, feel free to drop him an email at rushruner@gmail.com.

I will continue to update as I hear more.

I will post more about this when I get a moment later. In the meantime, feel free to comment below on some of your memories of the course.

Here is an article in today's SM Daily Journal. There is hope and I think the running community will really rally to save the course. There are way too many people that have a stake in that course and I m hoping for the best.
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/sports/local/cross-country-takes-hit-with-crystal-springs-closure/article_8a83a130-8045-11ea-8f2d-2fb398e9465e.html

The following was shared with me which was a Facebook post and hopefully, this is not true or final. Has anybody heard anything about the following?

"Bob Rush announced that the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont will be closed permanently! ðŸ˜° Bob has managed the course since the seventies.
“It is with a very sad heart to announce that the College of San Mateo Athletic Dept. will be closing the CSM Crystal Springs Cross Country Course to all schools and all public runners and walkers. The entire area will be closed to all. it will not open even after the Corona virus has been controlled. Any questions should be directed to the CSM Athletic Dept.
I am no longer involved.”

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

There have been grumblings for years. With the realistic possibility of no cross country until at least 2021, it makes perfect sense for the powers pushing to close the course to make their move. Bob had security cameras on site, and had a knack to magically appear if you showed up on the course with more than 2 people. I’m going to speculate and say that this is likely a place people have not been able to resist visiting during the shelter in place. With Bob unable to patrol and the neighbors already being sensitive to added traffic during the season, things probably became a negative issue for CSM quickly. We are probably extremely lucky this hadn’t happened much sooner. Mr. Rush is a true Hall of Farmer, and worked extremely hard to preserve this iconic site for so many of us to race, spectate, and enjoy for so many years.

Anonymous said...

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/sports/local/cross-country-takes-hit-with-crystal-springs-closure/article_8a83a130-8045-11ea-8f2d-2fb398e9465e.html

Hank said...

Folks, we all knew that one day the management of Crystal Springs was going to change. It appears that day has arrived. We need to problem solve as to how Crystal can be managed differently than it has in the past. We are problem solvers so let's think outside the box to come up with a workable solution that covers everyone's needs. The article was informative, comments on Facebook should be taken as just that, comments. Let's let the process play out. Give CSM a chance for a formal notification of what their plans are and let's refrain from conjecture, please. I'm sure something will be out within the next week if not sooner. In the mean time, let's come up with some ideas - I know I'm currently writing up a proposal myself as I'm going thru old Crystal articles, lots of areas to address. One thing is for sure, this is no longer a one man show. Bob has done an incredible job over the last 50 years managing Crystal - let's figure out a way to get another 50 years.

hank lawson
"old fart"

Anonymous said...

I would like to challenge the “Torro Sucks”!crowd to step up and save Crystal. Otherwise we will see you there every year!!!

Anonymous said...

No Crystal, No Toro - Just add Cougar Hill at HMB one more time and you'll have your 3 mile course. Time to merge CCS, NCS, Oakland and SF into one section

Anonymous said...

@1:48 Why no Toro? Plenty of races still run there. CCS will just need to pay a fraction of what the do to rent football facilities and they’ll be fine. We likely won’t have XC next year. Plenty of time to figure it out.

Mark Smith said...

If there's a way that I can help with a website, let me know. I have set up a website for a charity where donations are taken. Or, I could set up a membership site, if you wanted to set up memberships for hikers/runners on an honors basis.

Albert Caruana said...

Hoping to have an update soon. Thanks Mark.

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