It’s 100 degrees out, humid and sunny, yet despite the torrid, unrelenting sun pounding down, the Cross Country team puts on their running shoes on and hits the pavement.

There’s a lot of misconceptions about the sport cross country, and most of them are about the whole ‘running’ thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely hard work running four to five miles a day, but when you’re a part of a team and in shape, it makes the harder workouts worth it. I started cross country in 6th grade. I’m not exactly sure why, as most of my early life had been dedicated to being an utter failure at soccer. I remember pretending to fall during the lap so that the coach wouldn’t make me finish it. So it’s not abundantly clear why I decided a sport entirely dedicated to running would be the right fit for me. Yet, somehow, I ended up loving it. Cross- country is completely different from any other sport I’ve ever tried. My teammates are my family, and I mean that in the most literal sense, I could trust any of them with anything.

Cross country is a sport where the premises are basically misery and pain (distance running hurts, like, A LOT) yet the coaches and the team always seem to try their hardest to make it fun. We go on Dairy Queen runs. We have team parties before meets. We have themed practices like “Olympic Day” or “Halloween Scavenger Hunt Day”, and to top all that off, we go to California  together for an invitational and to party it up at Six Flags. With all those games and fun trips, it’s sometimes hard to see the real reason I stayed in this sport was because of the people. The cross country runners are some of the most genuine, nicest people I’ve ever met. They’re the types of people who would give you the shirts off their backs (even though they don’t wear those very often) and I love them for that. It’s like a huge extended family (we put the FUN in dysFUNctional) and I wouldn’t trade the extra free time, or my sleeping schedule, for the experiences and memories I’ve gained from being on this slightly insane team. 

If you are interested in joining, please see Mr. Christian in room 333.