What is Cross Country?

Cross Country running is a sport in which athletes race long distances over natural terrain. In high school, you primarily race the five kilometer distance (3.1 miles), and the 3 kilometer distance (1.9 miles). The different courses for our conference are not exact 5ks, but are usually around 3 miles in length. For example, our home course is 2.95 miles in length.  So, at dual meets, you are unable to get an exact 5k time, however, there will be plenty of chances at inviationals. Invitiationals are larger scale meets that many teams attend at once. They are ran on official 5k, or 3k courses, so you can get an exact PR there. PR's differ wildly from course to course however, depending on the terrain. For exmaple,  during my junior year of cross country I ran a 5k PR  (personal record) early season of 16:18 on a very flat course. Later that season, I ran 17:10 at "Northfield Mountain," (The name speaks for itself), while being in better shape than I was during my PR. This is why it is important to take times on hilly courses with a grain of salt, and just focus on giving it your best effort. Cross Country is a tough sport, dont get me wrong, but it can also be very fun with the right people, and the right mentality. Like golf, the team with the lowest score wins in Cross Country. For example, 1st place gets one point, 2nd two points, and so on, meaning the better your place, the less points you score. 

The evening of every race, the team gets together and has a pasta party. Pasta Parties are meant to fuel you before your race, but they are so much more than that. During Pasta parties, we play different games like spike ball, corn hole, manhunt etc, eat as much food as we want, and hangout with one another. Pasta Parties are one of my favorite parts of the sport because the fun we have really brings the team closer by building genuine friendships beyond the sport itself. Those connections help push you during race day. Being able to call teammates your best friends is a privilege that the cross country is able to provide through the shared experience of hard work, perseverance, and accomplishment, in which you push each other to be the best version of yourselves.