Well, the day finally arrived for the big race and in the end the minor problems were overshadowed by the amazing performance of the N City Runners. Today was only the 19th day that the team has been in existence. No runner had been able to run the 2.1 loop non-stop yet. And the total mileage for any practice had not surpassed 3 miles yet. And yet today the runners were asked to run a race of 3.1 miles, 1 mile longer than they had ever run before.
We arrived at the park about ten minutes before 4. The AD and the principal were already there. We found the coach and AD of the hosting school and told them of our arrival and gave them the info they needed. One thing I immediately found out was that since we are not a member of the NJSIAA, and since most races are monitored by the NJSIAA, we would be running as unofficial entries. That means that the times would not be included with the official results nor would our team of five girls be included in the team scoring. But regardless, it would prove to be a huge exposure to the sport of Cross Country for our young team.
The final roster for our team was five girls and three boys. About a dozen students and faculty were also present as well as other team runners who were injured or just starting to work out with the team. The amount of support of the spectators for the team was amazing. And the support of the runners towards each other during the race and afterwards was also truly noteworthy.
We were informed that our race, with about 4 other schools would be following a dual race by about 10 or 15 minutes. Also they would be running the boys and girls race at the same time and sort out the genders at the end of the race to determine the winners. So we waited off to the side, about 400 feet from the starting line. I figured we had enough time to have our pre-race huddle (a X-C tradition) before the race was to begin. Suddenly, the coaches of the other teams were yelling and calling for us to get up to the starting line. Apparently, they decided to switch the order of the races and we were going first. So he walked quickly to the start without being able to have the huddle. They lined up, all 8 of them. I knew they were nervous as you wouldn't believe, and about a minute later, the gun fired and they were off.
The course is basically a three loop so they passed the spectators two times before coming in the last time for the finish. We cheered them on each time they passed. I couldn't believe the perseverance and drive that these young runners had. True, they did some walking, but I knew they were keeping that to a minimum. As they passed each time you could see in their faces that they were hurting but they wouldn't quit. And keep in mind that these are sophomores and freshmen, and this was a varsity race, against teams of juniors and seniors.
Needless to say, they finished far back in the race but for the amount of time that they have been running, it was truly an outstanding performance. They all finished strong--there were performances by some runners that surprised me. But in the end they were all winners in my book (sound like N Dale again).
Some Gatorade, a cool down walk, and the day was over. They all walked off to their homes, and as I saw them get smaller in the distance, I knew that on this day, in this race, they had graduated from weekday practice runner to Cross Country Warrior.
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