Cross Country teaches teamwork, camaraderie, discipline, dedication, motivation, planning, hard work, time management, confidence, following directions, goal setting, competition, taking risks, mental toughness, overcoming injuries, dealing with failure and success, etc., etc. etc. – Ron Wayne
One time, early 1970s, maybe Lake Mary Meadows, I was at a race,
small as all were back in those days,
so small you could look over the milling ‘crowd’ and basically determine your finishing position
before the gun even sounded.
Was thinking maybe low single digits myself – guy from NAU’s XC team, so we know who the winner will be –
when a long, many-windowed white van came to a sudden stop in a cloud of dust.
A coterie of lithe young kids leaped out. Oh, crap, it’s the Tuba City cross-county team.
Suddenly, I am thinking mid-teens, if I have a good day.
Well, I had a good day, a few guys got away and I am running alone,
just knowing any minute now a bunch of speedy Native-American children
are going to come scampering past, they have no mercy and frankly their talent is scary.
I can hear their footsteps and so I accelerate and when I hit a turn, I surge, trying to get away,
trying until I can’t really try any more
all I can do to hold this pace, which is too fast.
I can hear their footsteps, so finally I work up the courage to turn
around
and see how many of them there are.
And there is no one there.
