Don't like XC at all, although I've done a 52 mile ultra mostly off road and really enjoyed that.
I like ultras coz you don't have to run so fast, marathons coz they're a challenge, half marathons coz they are relatively easy now, and 10k's coz they're short and the pain is over with quite quickly.
give me a decent cross country any time. the more mud the better. i used to dislike anything less than 10 miles but age and injuries have made me appreciate shorter races.
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it's not how fast, it's how often
Haven't done much racing but I do like the half marathon distance (just entered two more in March). Did a 10k recently but found it a little short and kind of stressful.