What's the Lure?

In most team sports, team members are valued for a certain skill that they possess and contribute to the team. For example, in basketball, the point guard may be the ball handler, the center may be the rebounder, and the guard may be the three point shooter. The success of the team depends on each individual’s execution of their unique role within the team.

Obviously, cross country is much simpler than most sports because running is the only required athletic skill and each runner shares the same role on the team. All runners know that raw running ability often takes a backseat to mental skills such as toughness and desire. Running requires mental skills and character traits, which can’t be tallied like points on a scoreboard, but they can be developed during practice. In practice, we don’t necessarily practice running. Rather we train our minds to endure pain and combat negative thoughts. Hard workouts improve fitness, but more importantly, they try to duplicate the pain you will experience during a race, but in a smaller dose. Gradually our running improves as we increase our fitness, callus our pain sensors, and acquire the skill of staying positive in the midst of adversity.

The success of a cross country team is dependent upon the degree to which each team member is willing to suffer through pain, which is a shared pain that each runner will inevitably encounter. As Coach Anderson likes to say, “You must out-suffer your competition.”

My question for current and past team members is: Why do/did you run cross country? What’s the lure? Most people avoid pain and suffering, but you seem to enjoy testing your will and raising your pain tolerance! Why do you do this crazy sport?