I distracted myself from the pain in my lungs, my knees, my feet, and my hips by focusing on my surroundings. I noticed the airy blanket of fog that bundled the victorian houses and lush trees; I listened to the soothing clash of small waves from the ocean; and I smelled the sweet aroma that radiated from the pink roses lining the rustic stone walls. The beauty of the scenery lifted my spirits and though with each step I took my knees ached a little more and my breathing became heavier, I knew that I was inching closer to my goal.
On June 5th, 2016, I completed my first half marathon. At 5:00am that day, I woke up to prepare myself and make the commute to Gloucester, Massachusetts to run a 13.1-mile race alongside my best friend. At 8:30 am, we set off from the start and 2 hours later, we returned to the finish.
As someone who walked almost the entirety of the timed 1-mile in middle and elementary school, I never thought I would run 3 miles nevertheless an entire 13.1 miles. To get in shape, I decided to join cross country freshman year. While I did get in shape, cross country rewarded me with so much more. Because of cross country, I discovered a passion for
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running, and that I am actually good at it. During the course of my high school experience, I have participated in every running season and each season, I find new reasons to love the sport. During the winter season of my junior year, my best friend and I were inspired by our 8-mile run at practice to pursue longer distance running. We decided to challenge ourselves and expand the scope of our running by signing up for a half marathon. Excited and determined to conquer this milestone in our running careers, we diligently trained for months and anxiously awaited the date. Though painful, our hard-work paid off and not only did we run the entire 13.1 miles, but we also tied for 3rd place in our age group of female runners. As I approach my last few running seasons, I reflect that cross country and track have taught me so much more than just how to run fast and far.
Cross country and track have taught me more about the essence of dedication, perseverance, and support than any other high school activity. Being a runner has shaped me into an independent individual who pushes through hardships and stops at nothing to achieve ambitions. Having been a part of a close knit distance running team all of high school, I have learned how to cheer on my teammates and how important support is to myself and others while on the pursuit of success. With all the knowledge and positive qualities that running has equipped me with, I feel more than ready to keep pushing myself to my limits and to face new milestones that I have yet to
conquer.
I have always loved sports and the competitiveness that comes along with them. In so doing, I have decided to eventually become either a high school or college coach at some point in my life. Subsequently, I decided to interview the Vilonia High School Cross Country Coach, Coach Sisson. As I walked into her office, I instantly noticed all of the trophies and team photos from all of the past years of coaching. She is also the school nurse so her office has first aid equipment intermingled into the trophies and team pictures. While I set up my notes and questions for the interview on one of the desks in her office, she was finishing up a diagnosis of one of the high school students who felt sick. After her patient left, I quickly started the interview in order to waste no time. She began with how she got involved in coaching. The Vilonia School District expressed their interest to her as being the next cross country coach several years ago. She was widely known for her passion for running and she gratefully accepted the position and has been a coach for numerous years now.
I am now officially in my Senior year of Cross Country , and am close to the end of my season. My first race of this year though was a big accomplishment for me, because I hadn`t been able to run. When I ran that race though it made me just so happy I was able to finish it, I was`nt happy with the time, but there is always time for improvement. I was glad to be racing again and being apart of the team again. I believe that my injuries were a barrier in my way, but they did not stop my sports career.
I am a runner. I was selected to be a cross country captain for my senior year and I had set myself a realistic goal of being one of the top five finishers at the state meet in the fall. I never had the thought that I could not do it; I knew I was going to be up there with the best. When the state meet came and I traveled with the team as captain, that race became one of the most memorable of my cross country career but not for the reasons I expected.
I did start at 9:00 and did finish at 9:18:30. I run fast as much as I could to run for the measured distance of 1.5 miles but at the last 2-3 minutes I could not run and I walked. After I ended the 1.5 miles I started to do some cool down for a few minutes by walking and lightly jogging.
I have never done cross country before, and I had never finished the 5K running the whole thing before. At the Arcadia Valley meet this year, I did just what I had wanted to do. I not only finished the race without stopping to walk, but I passed a grand total of 8 people, pushed the last 400 meters as hard as I could, and I lost four minutes from my original time! R To say the LEAST, I am extremely proud of
The Book “The Perfect Mile” by Neal Bascomb, is about a dedicated runner named Roger Bannister. Roger was a young English medical student who had a dream. He believed that nothing was impossible if you followed three simple steps; worked hard, never gave up and gave it you all each day. He lived by these three rules and made each day count. Everyone told Neal that running a mile in under four minutes was physically impossible and he could never do it. He used that as motivation to keep training. However, Roger was not the only man who wanted to run a mile in under four minutes. He was up against 2 world class olympic runners. One being John Landy. The privileged son of a genteel worker and part of an Australian family. He also trained relentlessly “in an almost spiritual attempt to shape his mind and body to this singular task”(Bascomb 18). Then there was Wes Santee,a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete who believed he was just plain better than everybody else. The day finally came for Roger to show that the impossible was possible. On May 9, 1954 Roger ran a mile on the oxford tract in three minutes and fifty nine point four seconds. Proving the world wrong.
Cross country had a tremendous impact on my life. Through the sport, I made countless friends and formed lasting bonds between my teammates. In addition, cross country taught me valuable life lessons, such as hard work and dedication. By being a part of the team, I contributed more than just my places and times--I contributed my personality. At every practice I made the effort to be a positive, encouraging role model to the
Looking back on how much my life has changed throughout the years, I couldn't begin to imagine my life without running. I remember when I first started running in 7th grade and Coach McLeese was the head coach. Coach McLeese was the one who trained me to become a better runner, and helped define who I am today. Without Coach McLeese’s help in the beginning of my running career, I don’t think I would have made the choice to pursue running.
My first day running cross country with the Smoky Hill buffaloes was both a thrilling and terrifying experience. Here I was, a freshman still trying to adjust to the non-stop, chaotic pace of highschool, among these elite athletes. I was very nervous to be on this team, I wasn't the best at being social and being part of a competitive competitive running team was a different experience that I was not used to.
Running may be one of the oldest and most developed sports out there. According to legend, the first marathon was run unintentionally in 490 B.C. by a Greek Soldier(James). The soldier ran twenty-five miles to Athens to announce battleground victory over the persians then dropped dead(James). In 1896 the marathon was included in the Olympic games, in Greece, for the first time(James). It was there that the first gold was won by a Greek runner with a time of two hours fifty-eight minutes and fifty seconds(James). The current world record for the fastest finish is two hours three minutes and fifty-nine seconds(James). Marathoning has turned into a world wide activity and every person who participates must endure intense training.
“Last race. Last chance.” I thought as me and my friend Caleb sat on the bus. We were riding to the golf course for the last cross country meet of the year. We were so excited, I felt really jittery and were already having fun playing on my phone.
I remember a cold friday night. A new movie arrived in theaters; Mcfarland USA. A movie based on a true story, that would talk about a school that contained fast and talented students, however they didn’t own a Cross Country team. A physical education teacher from that same school would begin to convince the principal to include a team. It took some time until he succeeded and the story goes from there. My family agreed in spending time in the movies. We all liked the idea and so we proceeded to get ready for a family night. As I watched the movie, I entered to a realm of joy, the movie fascinated me. Watching a team being built up; having to fix their problems; and being encouraged by each other made me think
It was a foggy early morning. As I jogged around the high school track, I was thinking of how hard it would be playing on a high school soccer team. It was my first year in high school, and I had been confident of making the Varsity team.
The day was overcast, which made the coaches and runners nervous. This was our final race of the season, and although there was regionals for the older, faster members of our team, this was the last time we would be competing. People were breaking off of the group at intervals, going to the races they had been signed up for. There were periods when there were only a few sitting in our section and others when there were many sitting with us. Although we were sitting there was a lot of energy, not only coming from us, but also from the other teams surrounding us. Everyone was screaming, cheering on the runners that were representing our school, and when they were anywhere near close to the first runner we were up on our feet, clapping and cheering them on.
I was born to run. Running makes me feel happy both on the inside and on the outside. Last year, I decided to join the high school cross-country team. I was excited, but also really scared. What if I was not good enough? I was so nervous, I started to doubt my running abilities.