The law of multiplication dictates that 34 teams with seven athletes each equals 238 participants. As the gun sounds, the herd speeds toward the footbridge only 300 meters into the course. The top guys fight to the front in order to avoid the bottle neck which is sure to occur as the main body is funneled between the bridge rails.

Most of the first mile of the UW-Platteville course consists of a loop through the tall prairie. Spectators watch the tops of heads bobbing up and down above the grasses. As the guys recross the wooden bridge, everything is changed. The former glob of runners...