The 17th edition of the Forest Park Cross Country Festival, as usual, provided great competition from teams near and far from St. Louis. And, as usual, it brought together many of the best runners from Missouri and beyond. The 2022 version of the meet was the second held at the Langenberg-Cricket-Lindell Fields course. An open race kicked things off at 7:30 a.m Saturday, September 10 before ten, 5,000-meter races, two freshman 3,000-meter races, and a final middle school 3,000-meter race.
While overcast skies made for good conditions for the open race and Varsity Girls White Division 5k races, the clouds moved out during the second high school race of the day, the Varsity Girls Gold, and the sun quickly poured down and sent temperatures skyrocketing. Cloud cover returned along with a cool breeze in the early afternoon, providing relief for about an hour during the JV and freshman races. Weather conditions and some tall grass kept final times from being fast, although that didn't stop some from still posting solid, if not excellent times.