I ran for East in 7th grade because at the time that's where I thought I was going to high school. In the public schools the middle schools only have a few athletic teams because a couple years ago middle school sports were cut. So if you want to be in a sport you play for the high school that you are going to go to. Running for East was fun but the social part of being on the team wasn't. From the first day of practice there were cliques on the team. If you didn't already have friends on the team most people weren't willing to become yours. Needless to say the season was a lonely one. Another reason the season wasn't very fun was because the coaches wouldn't let me try different events. In all the meets I had to run the 400. They were going to let me run the 100 but they forgot to tell me. So then I missed my event and they got mad at me even though was their fault. For some odd reason as an eighth grader I decided to run track for East again. But this time I ended up quitting not more than a couple weeks into the season. This was because my parents and I had been discussing seriously the possibly of my going to Marshall instead of East for high school. I didn't want to mess up my eligibility so I quit.
At the end of the summer of 1998 I decided to try cross-country running for Marshall. This wasn't my first time though. I had tried it for about two days the summer before, once again for East. This time was different. I didn't quit despite things like getting lost by myself on a run at Chester Bowl because I was so far behind. I also had to run with the Middle Schoolers because I was so slow. I wasn't the only one who had to do this though. Meredith Brockman also ran with the Middle Schoolers so I got to know her quite well throughout the season. The most fun thing about cross-country would have to be the meets. We got out of a little bit of school, which is always a little fun. The bus rides weren't too long (unless you were sitting on the floor of the bus) so you could have fun or do whatever you needed to do. The meets weren't too long because there were usually only 4 events or sometimes 6 compared to track where there are about 24. The four events would be Junior Varsity Girls, Junior Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls, and Varsity Boys. The meets were usually about 2 hours long, which isn't bad even if it's cold out. But we still had tons of fun.
One of the most fun cross-country meets was Princeton. Even being at school by 6:00 AM on a Saturday was slightly fun. We got a coach bus and despite the fact that I had to sit with a seventh grader I was very comfy. I fell asleep even though I had promised myself I wouldn't. It was probably for the better though because being tired and then running a couple miles wouldn't have been a smart thing to do. When we got there I immediately started to realize this was nothing like the meets that I had been too before. It was a huge meet. There were like 30 or 40 teams there mostly from the cities. It was quite easy to lose your teams "camp" among the hundreds of people scattered upon the golf course. You didn't dare go anywhere without a group of teammates. Before cross-country races it's always smart to walk the course so you don't make a mistake and get disqualified. So all the girls decided to do that together. All of a sudden when we were about halfway through the course when we realized that it was like 15 minutes to the start of the freshman girls race. We literally sprinted back to "camp" and threw on our racing shoes and other items that we hadn't put on before. We then proceeded to sprint to the starting line. We got there with enough time to whine and worry. Some whined about not getting a warm-up in, others worried about getting dehydrated. When the gun went off though we all forgot everything and concentrated only on our running. Except for when I thought I saw people I knew. I swear I saw a girl I went to camp with one summer and I also think I saw a girl who I sang in a choir once. Not walking the full course was not something that made me happy. I had no idea what was up ahead and that made me a little nervous. I didn't know when to hold back and when to just let loose. Every minute brought a new surprise. I also had no idea how close we were to being done. So when there was a big straight away I couldn't see where we ended because there were so many other runners plus a ton of spectators. I thought we would just go around that corner and then there we'll be at the finish line. So I started sprinting as hard as I could. As my coach Ms. Moline calls it I "dug" for every last bit energy I had I was close but wrong. We did go around that corner but then there was an even bigger straightaway. I thought I was about to die. And the crowd could tell everyone was saying, "Come on Marshall your almost there" or "You can do it Marshall". I was quite embarrassed and eventually I did make it. The rest of the meet was all fun. We pigged out on food, everything from bananas to brownies. Some of us even drank pop when the coach was around which was a big no-no during the season. I don't remember anything about the ride home but I'm sure we were all exhausted and probably slept a lot.
The second most fun meet would definitely be Swain. Swain is held right here in Duluth at Enger Golf Course. It's not quite as big as Princeton but it's just as much fun if not more. I got there about 9:30, too late for an infamous Swain T-shirt that I have always wanted. Well actually I hear an announcement "Only x-tra large left". Note to self: get here way earlier next year just to get a shirt. I struggle to find our camp which is hidden behind a huge metal garage. I dump my bag down underneath the shade of a tree and scope out what's going on. I hang out at camp for quite awhile forgetting that I'm at a meet. All of a sudden my coach comes by and asks if I'm ready to run. Since I had been paying no attention to the events I didn't realize that my event was coming up next. I threw on my spikes and headed over to the starting line with my fellow JV (Junior Varsity) runners. On the way I was stopped by my parents to take a picture with my dad. (Shown Here) This was another race where I wasn't quite sure where it ended. But this time I hadn't even walked any of the course. When the gun went off I started running way too fast. I wasn't prepared for the hill that came not more then a minute or so into the race. Nor wasn't I prepared to run it two more times. But I took my time going up it and eventually I made it through. Like Princeton we chilled out afterwards. But this time after the meet the girls didn't go home. We went to a hot tub party and sleep-over. I went even though I wasn't incredibly close to any of the girls and I ended up having a lot of fun.
This year I ran track for Marshall. But due to my recent illness however I've missed quite a few meets but it's still been a fun experience. From my experience running is a fun sport. I will run for the rest of my life.
Explanation of the title: Roadrunner is the title of a BNL song. It fits me because I do most of my training on the road. My school doesn't have a real track (we have gravel around our football field). And so we are forced to train on the roads. It's hard on your joints but we have no-other choice. Therefore I am a Roadrunner.
