CROSS COUNTRY is a long-distance running sport. Around 21 Lancers are on the Granger High School cross-country team this year. Students outside of cross country often think of them as people who just run a lot. A big question many students have is what keeps them going, why they run so long, and what they know about running that others don’t. Here is the truth.
Consistent runners may have experienced the dark side of running. The dark side of running can include many unique or strange experiences. Many Granger cross-country runners have stories to share about their experiences on the dark side of running.
“There was this girl at a meet, and she was running, but then she stopped and started throwing up, but that didn’t stop her from running. So she kept running and then throwing up every step of the way,” Bridger Sorensen (11) said.
“I refuse to jaywalk while running. Every time I jaywalk, a dog chases me. One time I was running near a busy two-lane road and there’s a dog that saw me and started chasing me. I darted into traffic, and the dog still chased me through it, and a car almost hit the dog and not me,” Wesley Johnson (12) said.
“Another time is when I was running on 3200 West, I jaywalked, and a German Shepherd decided to jump the fence, and it almost bit me. Then I yelled at it and dusted it,” the same source said.
“A story I have is this time I was running alone at 9 p.m., and it was pitch black, and there was this lady screaming and cussing me out. Then she started chasing me, and while I was running away from her, I almost got hit by a car,” Wesley Johnson (12) said.
“This happened a second time also at night around 10:30 p.m. There was this guy sprinting towards me on this downhill, and it took me a second to see if he was running towards or away from me. Until I realized he was running at me, I quickly dusted him and got away,” Johnson said.
“I was running in a parking lot, and I was next to the crosswalk, and when I was about to cross, I tripped next to a passing car. When I stood up, they were passing in front of me, and I saw them laughing while they were driving away,” Trineris White Martinez (11) said.
Even with these experiences, they still keep running. What they all have in common is that the first cross-country practice was not easy, but they kept going to push themselves.
“For me, the long runs are like therapy. Everything I worry about becomes calmer when I run. There’s a beauty to the pain from going out there and making yourself run,” Johnson said.
“For long runs, I like to find a good spot, get a good snack, and do it in the early morning. I realized I was good and it was fun, and not that hard,” White Martinez said.
Bridger Sorensen (11) says he kept going to cross-country practice to do it more and make it easier, and he also kept going because of his friends.
When cross-country members do long runs, they often say it is painful and that they suffer.
“In races, everyone is part of a team, because they all go through the pain and suffering together,” Coach Rice said.
