The nationals have been boosting their revenue for years by doing this. At one time, when I heard "at the nationals," I equated it to qualifying. In many age groups, not so, not any more. I know a guy who goes every year, and I think it's so he can say "at the nationals." No knock on you, just saying it. Explanation below.

I ran the 10K national championships once, and was quite surprised to see it was an open, shotgun-start race, plus the seeded runners. (I was not seeded). Parts of it were single-file through a park, of all things. That was my first view into the world of event directing, from the director standpoint. In the end, I liked the idea of "all comers," and still do. No elite experience, everyone runs the same course at the same time and deals with the same things.

(oh, yeah, 4th, but made the front page of the paper, because a 1965 Chevy truck found it's way past the police and I road-raged it and nailed it on the hood. That was the photo, the "man punches truck" idea. My sponsor, though happy with the results, was not amused.)