This year's MIAA All State X-C Meet on Nov. 17 will be held at Northfield Mountain, a 5K course that some may argue is one of the toughest in the state. The course features a steady incline for the first mile. As you approach the final straightaway, runners must endure another steep incline before reaching the finish line. So how difficult is the course? The proof is in the times that have been run there over the years. We took a scan of the top times at Northfield since 2006 at high-level meets such as the All State Finals, the Western Division Championships and in 2009, the Bay State Invitational. Former Peabody great Catarina Rocha holds the No. 1 spot with her winning time of 18:06.12 from the 2012 All State Finals. In all, eight have broken 19 minutes on the challenging 3.1-mile terrain.
