Those who regularly venture out to the ISU cross country course have grown accustomed to seeing Cyclone athletes training for their next meet.

If those same people had dropped by Thursday, however, the faces on the course would have been a little different.

Each fall, Ames High School hosts the Ames Invitational, a meet that welcomes schools from across central Iowa to a course that is challenging, not only to high school athletes, but to college athletes who use it on a regular basis.

“This is one of the harder courses in the nation,” Cyclone sophomore runner Dan Taylor said. Taylor knew the course well when he joined the ISU squad as a freshman last season — he ran it several times during his standout prep career at Fort Dodge.

“High schoolers aren’t used to this tough of a course,” Taylor said.

“This course is always tough, and the kids shouldn’t expect fast times,” he said.

Most high school events are run on local golf courses, where the terrain is relatively flat with gentle turns. The ISU course is nothing like that, offering hills and a twisting route for runners.

“[Running on a course like] this is good for the kids, because it shows them what cross country is really like,” Taylor said. “Whenever you come to a real course like the Iowa State one, you’re in for a real treat.”

The challenge is something that is appreciated by coaches and runners alike.

“This is an excellent place to run cross country,” Ames High School girls’ coach Kirk Schmaltz said.

“It’s an NCAA Division I, national championship course. Where else in high school sports do you get to come out and run where the NCAA national championship was decided?”

Iowa State hosted the national meet in fall 2000.

Schmaltz put it another way.

“Just imagine if you were playing your high school football game where the national championship was decided. This is an excellent opportunity to promote our sport,” he said.

Fans are treated right when meets are in Ames, as the ISU course was set up to allow for the best spectator viewing possible. The women’s course measures four kilometers, with three of the four kilometers in sight at any one time.

Don’t let the views fool you, though. Most who have run the course say that no matter how pretty the scenery, the course is always ready to bite.

“There aren’t too many secrets about this course. If you want to [have a fast time] you have to run the first part conservatively, then kick it in at the last,” Taylor said. “If you don’t run conservatively in the beginning, you’ll be walking across the finish line.”