Paige Romanowski stares at the end of the track while running, contemplating how far she can push herself. She made it this far without giving up, unlike many of her opponents. As she runs the last length of her two mile at Elk Mound High School’s track meet, her mind is scattered, but one thought keeps coming up over and over, “I can’t stop now.”
“I started Cross country in 7th grade, I wasn’t athletic, I didn’t fit in, I just thought it was a good place to make friends and get some exercise,” Paige stated.
Paige Romanowski is a two-season athlete who competes in both Cross Country and Track. She started Cross Country three years ago in 7th grade, and became a varsity Cross Country runner this season as a sophomore. Because she made varsity Cross Country this year, Coach Fred, coach for Elk Mound High School’s Track team, pushed her into running for Track for the first time.
“I didn’t really have a choice, Coach Fred told me to do it because I ran Varsity Cross Country,” Paige said.
To prepare for a meet for either Cross Country or Track, Paige eats lots of spaghetti, drinks lots of water, and gets lots of rest. She said that the reason a lot of Cross Country and Track athletes eat spaghetti is that pasta holds a lot of carbs and it gives athletes the energy to power through. Preparing is the easy part; the running part of Track and Cross Country, even for a seasoned athlete like Paige, is the hard part.
“During the first mile I’m thinking ‘wow I’m out of shape’, in the middle of the race I’m thinking ‘why do I do this to myself’, and at the end of it I think ‘I can’t stop now’,” Paige says.
In track, Paige is a distance runner. Although her favorite event is the mile, she runs both the two mile and the four by eight relay, mostly as a tool to help for her next Cross Country season. Paige’s sport is really Cross Country, and she only runs Track to mostly to prepare for Cross Country and get her body in shape for the upcoming season. To her, the most challenging thing about Track is having people watch every step she takes and having to run on the actual track. Another reason why Cross Country is one of her favorite sports is that she gets to run in the woods, where on the track you don’t actually go anywhere.
“The best thing about Cross Country is seeing yourself improve over the season, and getting to eat whatever you want,” Paige said. She added, “It’s a stress reliever, it keeps me in shape, and it’s a social thing, that’s why I like it so much.”
For her, competing in Cross Country and Track, balancing a healthy home life, and going to school everyday is all worth it. It can get somewhat chaotic during both seasons near the beginning and the end of the year, but to her, being able to do all of that makes her life what it is. Although a big part of her life is Cross Country and track, she doesn’t plan on pursuing it as a career.
“It’s a hobby realistically speaking, it would take so much time, and you couldn’t really have a life outside of that,” said Paige.
Paige, though she likes both the sports, doesn’t plan to continue on after school. She may be continuing into college, though. If she gets accepted into an athletic program in college, she plans to continue Cross Country running, not Track.
Even if it turns from being a big part of her life to being a hobby for Paige Romanowski, she will always have those memories from Cross Country and Track, eating spaghetti and making friends.