It’s interesting to read the tee shirts. Long distance runners are a unique breed and it shows in what they emblazon on their shirts. One of my favorites says that Cross Country is a mental sport – you have to be mental to do it. Which reminds me of what my son Thomas said early this season after running over the nearly vertical hills at the Columbus Scotus course, a course that loops around so the runners have to do the hills twice. Once he had recovered enough to speak he said “Why in the world do I do this?”
But about five minutes after a race, when his oxygen level is back up to about 50%, he isn’t so negative. Ask him anytime except right after a race if he likes Cross Country he’ll say he likes “everything but the running.”
And I can understand. I enjoy Cross Country (XC) meets, and not just because I don’t have to run (though sometimes I do in order to see the runners at various places on the course). I love the setting – except for the Scotus course hidden as it is in the foothills of the Himalayas — most races are held on golf courses which are understandably well-kept. And the meets take place during a nice time of year.
But what I like most is the atmosphere. Just because the spectators are there to support their runner and their team doesn’t mean they’re against anyone else. Many times they’ll cheer runners they don’t know just for trying hard. This collegiality is shared by the runners who routinely congratulate opponents who finish ahead of them.
They’re remarkably polite, too. When my wife Lori and I help at the tables where the runners get water and bananas after a race, many of them sincerely thank us for providing these refreshments.
The worst part of Cross Country is how nervous I get waiting before the races and wondering how things will turn out. Everyone wants their child to do well but doing well in Cross Country is relative – there’s only going to be one runner who wins. What’s important is that your child does his or her best and improves over the course of the season (and not get hurt, of course, by pulling a ligament or something).
For the second year in a row, the Boone Central/Newman Grove girls Cross Country team has won State in Class C (Thomas, the only BC/NG boy to run, finished 40th). Winning twice is an amazing accomplishment and both the girls and Coach Dickey are to be congratulated. It certainly makes running more rewarding when you win.
Yet I suspect that to both the girls and the boys winning is just icing on the cake. Cross Country is a mental sport, a sport where you really run against yourself, against every ache and pain that screams at you to stop. For some, just finishing the race is a victory, and for everyone who runs it isn’t just about whether you win or lose – it’s about how you “play the game” – how you run your race and do your best.
I would like to extend my best to all the runners and everyone else who make up the Boone Central/Newman Grove Cross Country family. Cross Country is a unique sport, and though every sport has much to recommend it, there’s something about Cross Country that sets it apart, and I’m sorry to see the season end.