byLarry EderIn the 1970s, I would look in Track & Field News and see that South Eugene High School had five guys who could average in the low nine minutes. Or that Rudy Chapa, Carey Pinkowski and Tim Keogh, three runners from the same school in Gary, Indiana, had all run under 9 minutes for two miles.
The Postal for 2 Miles is being revived by HOKA ONE ONE. Using the web to keep track of performances (thanks to runnerspace.com) , and with three Postal competitions being held in the US (SoCal, SFO and New Jersey).
Reviving the postals is a fantastic idea! The two mile distance is a great distance to race at for high school cross country runners to sharpen their speed and test their endurance before the final big races of the season!
HOKA ONE ONE® Revives Tradition of 2-Mile Postal with Countrywide Competitions in 2014
Richmond, CA (June 2, 2014) – HOKA ONE ONE®, a division of Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NYSE : DECK), is pleased to announce the revival of the High School 2-mile Postal competition this Fall. In order to further support the growth of American distance running, HOKA ONE ONE will introduce competitions for high school cross country teams across the nation. Both regional and national champions will be crowned.
Originally founded in the 1950s and run through the 1980s, the “Postal” concept was a nationwide series of races run on tracks during the cross country season. The results would determine an unofficial national high school cross country team champion by simply totaling up the times from the top five runners from each participating team. The two-mile distance run on a track ensured the accuracy of the nationwide competition and coaches from around the country would mail their team times to a central reporting body and a champion would be announced soon afterwards.
“There are many great high school cross country programs throughout the country – and most do not get a chance to measure themselves outside of their own state. The beauty of the Postal competition is that any high school can compete at any time during the season and see how they stack up against other schools throughout the country. We see it as a great way to support coaches building their programs,” said Jim Van Dine, President of Hoka One One. “We will have a national champion, but we will also have regional winners and awards for those teams who meet certain time standards. For example, having a boys’ team averaging under 10 minutes or a girls’ team averaging under 11 minutes is worthy of recognition.”
Two-time USA National Cross Country coach Peanut Harms added, “A lot of coaches already have their kids run some type of track race – mile or 2 mile – at the start of the season to gauge the runners’ fitness. The Hoka One One-2 Mile Postal competition will allow schools to participate in a more official manner. We will encourage schools to participate in more than one Postal competition to measure improvement throughout the season.”
There will be three HOKA ONE ONE two-mile Postal Invitational competitions produced by Soul Focus Sports, a sports event management group. These will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, and New Jersey.
Coinciding with the national flagship events, regional HOKA ONE ONE Postal competitions will take place across the country with dozens of schools hosting local Postal meets any time from August 15 through December 15. Cross Country coaches will be able to enter their results and compare themselves immediately across the country at a customized interactive database at Runnerspace.com. Teams can start entering their marks the day of the website launch on Aug. 15th at http://www.hokaoneone.com/
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About HOKA ONE ONE
HOKA ONE ONE was founded in 2009 by Jean-Luc Diard and Nicolas Mermoud and was created to design shoes that offer improved performance primarily for ultrarunners. Deckers Outdoor Corp. acquired the brand in late 2012 and is investing to broaden the product line to service all runners. Due to HOKA ONE ONE’s unique ability to provide cushioning while still offering stability, runners of all types may greatly benefit from its products. For more information, please visit www.hokaoneone.com
About Deckers Outdoor Corporation
Deckers Outdoor Corporation is a global leader in designing, marketing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel and accessories developed for both everyday casual lifestyle use and high performance activities. The Company’s portfolio of brands includes UGG® Australia, Teva®, Sanuk®, TSUBO®, Ahnu®, MOZO®, and HOKA ONE ONE®. Deckers Outdoor products are sold in more than 50 countries and territories through select department and specialty stores, 120 Company-owned and operated retail stores, and select online stores, including Company-owned websites. Deckers Outdoor has a 40-year history of building niche footwear brands into lifestyle market leaders attracting millions of loyal consumers globally. For more information, please visit www.deckers.com.
