Why We Run

In this section, current Hinsdale Central cross country and track athletes explain what our program has meant to them.

Ankit Aggarwal - Class of 2013

Why do I run? If I was asked the same question a little under three years ago, I couldn’t tell you why I went out for the cross country team. I ran cross country in middle school, but only because my friends did it. I came out for cross country again freshman year because I thought it would be fun since my friends were doing it. The first day, Coach Westphal introduced himself and told us that all new guys were going to the tracks and back. I did it, mostly walking, and I went home in pain. The reason I continued was because I thought it would help me become faster and better for tennis, the sport I originally wanted to play at Hinsdale Central. After getting rejected from the tennis team during the spring, I put my racquet down and instead went and bought a pair of spikes. I improved my times in track, but freshman and even sophomore year running seem almost like a blur to me because I didn’t really know why I was running. As I reflect back and think of what running has really meant to me, I realize, as weird as it may sound to others, the foremost reason I run is because I love it. Running is a sport which anyone can compete in; there are no limitations, whether you run a 4 minute mile or a 10 minute mile. The teammates and friends, great coaching combination and experience of Coach Westphal, Coach Kupres, and Coach Lawrence, and the priceless things I have gained from running keeps me coming back every day whether it is at 7:00 in the morning for Summer Running, 3:30 for a second run, or 3:15 for after school practices. The Hinsdale Central Long Distance Running program has been very important to me through my high school career. As I enter my final seasons as a Red Devil, I wear my red singlet and hopefully this year will wear a white singlet with pride, and I am willing to put everything on the line, literally and figuratively, for my team.

Whenever faced with a choice between something else like tennis or mock trial and running, I always chose the latter. I didn’t know what it was, but something about this sport always brings me back to the team meetings in the health room. It isn’t the increasing pain I feel with every mile or interval that passes by and it isn’t the mental and physical weakness I feel going home hours after school every day. It, however, is the satisfaction I feel after working hard for weeks before being able to shave off a few seconds of my time. It is the great obstacles that I could overcome whether it is breaking 5:00 for the mile for the first time or staying consistent in a 4 x 1 mile workout or even continuing to run after sitting out a season with injury. The results in running are always true because the hard work, yearlong commitment, and grueling mileage will undoubtedly transform you into a stronger, faster runner. Besides the immense amount of discipline, sense of commitment, and strong work ethic I have learned from running, I have also gained some great friends. The strong bond we have built as teammates has caused strong friendships to also form. I don’t see many of my teammates throughout the school day in my classes, but still running has allowed us to become close friends and teammates.

Rajan Khanna-Class of 2013

If you asked me why I ran when I was a freshman, I would have told you that I wanted to stay in shape for volleyball in the spring, which was actually “my sport.”

If you had asked me the same question at the beginning of my sophomore year, I would have said that this was my last year—once I made varsity volleyball the following spring, I would never run another mile again. I had it all planned out—once I became a varsity volleyball player, I would reward myself by quitting the cross country team.

Luckily, our lives don’t always turn out exactly the way we plan them. After having a surprisingly solid cross country season in the fall of my sophomore year, I suffered a stress fracture that caused me to miss the majority of the club volleyball season, putting me far behind my peers. At the same time, I began to fall in love with the camaraderie of the sport, as well as the wonderful teammates and coaches in HCXC. After many weeks of contemplation, I ultimately decided to put down the kneepads and volleyball shoes and pick up a pair of Brooks Adrenalines and a Nike Dri-fit.

If we fast-forward two years, I am now a senior-to-be heading into his “season of dreams”, hoping to run in the state meet. I couldn’t be happier with the decision that I made. That isn’t to say I have avoided frustration and injury, which I have encountered multiple times.

But if you asked me why I run now, the honest answer would be “because volleyball didn’t pan out.” Because my life did not adhere to my original plan, because I was thrown a major curveball.

So, if you are courageous enough to give running a try, know that running may not go according to your plan. You will have bad races, injuries, and disappointments. It will throw you curveballs that you could not have even imagined. Hopefully, if you stick with it, you will find your own reason for doing it, and that will get you through the curveballs that come with the sport.

Aria Darbandi-Class of 2014

Through the eyes of the average person, running cross country has very little appeal, for the lack of social acceptance, high public appreciation, and glorification of the athlete in comparison to other sports could lead someone to reject the simple principles that myself and many others find significant. The average 16 year old does not value the importance of an attendance policy or commitment to excellence as my teammates and I do, for few can understand why someone would neglect their Friday nights for Saturday mornings. To truly understand the purpose and importance of running in my life, one must examine the two aspects that keep me motivated to run, the team and individual.

In simple terms, I run because I know that what I’m doing is not intended for myself but for my teammates as a unit, and the name in the front of the singlet is far more important than anything else. When first introduced to running, I viewed it as the ultimate individual sport where the sole purpose of the athlete was to ensure their own success which ultimately meant the downfall for others. Despite this ideology’s strong influence on myself, I find that the reason why I run is not to benefit myself but instead to ensure the loyalty and responsibility I have to my teammates. Even though it is hard to admit, there is very few things I would rather do than be in the health room at seven preparing to get a run in. I cannot explain this, for the few moments I have spent in there bare heavy on me. As I look back on my already half-finished career, ironically, I find the worst of times to be the best of times; the Sophomore Outdoor and Cross Country Conference seem to draw myself most into running than anything else. In both of the races, I had, to kindly put it, forgettable races, but the joy of winning something with my teammates seemed to ease some of the pain. It appears that anytime someone needs support, one of their teammates is there to help them up; this cannot be bought or sold because it’s genuine, it’s why I run.

On a different but important note, I run because running has always put me in right mindset. To better explain my theory, I will allude to an experience that not only changed who I am as a runner but also as a person. As an incoming freshman driven by pure ego, I felt that I was the greatest thing ever before even running a race, and to my defense, I had every right to believe so due to the self-proclaimed title as “the fastest freshman on the team”. I thought that everything was made, for I was too fast to run with the other freshman and destined to be faster than them all year. I put so much unnecessary pressure on myself that I could not think straight, and consequently, I failed. The night before my first race, the Hornet-Red Devil, I could not and did not sleep, and as a result, I ran the hardest and most painful race of my life. Running had given me the hardest pill anyone can ever swallow, having to acknowledge that you are not as good as you think you are. Time after time, expectations did not match results, and disappointment and frustration grew faster after each mile. I was ready to quit but the same thing that brought me failure ultimately brought me success, my ego. I’m proud to say that running has giving me more failures than success, more pain than joy because I realize now that nothing worth working for is easy. In retrospect, I needed to learn the cruel lesson that running has given me, and today, I’m working my hardest prove to myself that I can be as good as I think I am. That is what drives me, that is why I run.

Emmett Scully - Class of 2014

I first signed up for summer running and cross country because my brother did. I had played soccer and football my whole life, both of which i was certain that given a nice summer of work I would have succeeded in, but for some reason I felt it was time to move on. Ever since I was in middle school and my brother had been running I just knew that that's what I wanted to do, even though I knew absolutely nothing about the sport, or what I was about to get myself into. The answer to why I run now though, is pretty simple, the feelings. To exemplify this, the day before JV Track Conference this past May, Zach and I were doing a workout on the track while our teammates were winning Sophomore Conference. We were discussing our goal of breaking 5 in the mile tomorrow, which neither of us did. He told me "I want it though, ya know. Those 4 minutes and 50 seconds of pain will lead to an infinite amount of ecstasy when I think back about the race" You can replace "4 minutes and 50 seconds" with any goal time or distance, and the quote will work well with running. It's true, and I love running because of that fact. To be honest I haven't accomplished nearly as much as I think I deserve, and definitely not as much as I had hoped I would by my junior year. But even still, our monster victory at the DGS invite this past fall, my freshman all-conference spot, my race at the eagle invite, all stand out in my mind and just reflecting about those races now, I am elated. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't running, and I truly don't think I would be making good choices. My grades are better while I'm in season, (3rd quarter this past year was the worst quarter grade wise of my high school career, and I didn't go to practice once that quarter because I was hurt) I accomplish something by 9:30 every summer morning that's greater than what most kids my age do all summer, I'm around the greatest guys in the world and who make me a better person just by being near them, but most of all I'm part of a journey that will always hold a place in my heart, and the accomplishments on the way will always make me proud to be a runner.

Matt McBrien-Class of 2015

Why do I run? Well, when you ask it that way, it would seem to be a question of why would I start running. And the simple answer to that is one that is very common among novice runners, to stay in shape. But over the seasons, running has evolved into something much, much more important than that. I don't run for the trophies, or the awards, or the ribbons, or the praise that sometimes accompanies this sport. And I especially don't run because it is easy. (I'd be lying if I told you it was.) I run because the act of running is one of the purest and demanding activities the body and mind can engage in together, and the pain that comes with running is satisfying and rewarding. I run because running has given me some of the greatest friendships ever. I run because HCXC, I believe, is the best team and family I've ever been on. And lastly, I run because watching your friend pass that other kid from York, DGN, Lyons, or OPRF is a superior feeling than that of wearing the NBA Finals Ring or of hoisting up a World Cup Trophy.

Josh Feldman-Class of 2015

Why do I run? When I first started running it was only because my brother pressured me into it and I needed something to stay in shape. I had no idea what it would be like, what we would do, how we would do it. I had no idea the kind of pursuit of improvement that we would all have. But the real reason that I chose to run instead of any other sport, was the lack of precision and skill involved. In other sports, giving 100% sometimes isn’t enough; you have to do it perfectly, meticulously practice everylittle precise movement, form, strategy, and skill or else you won’t improve. If you practice it the wrong way, you could even get worse. But with running, the only thing you have to do to improve, is try your hardest. Just work hard and you will do well. It replaces skill with hard work; the only mental work you have to do is to push through your pain.

As I said, hard work brings improvement, which why running is one of the only sports where you have a real improvement goal to work towards, something that tells you in your head day after day to push through your pain. Whether it’s to run a 5-minute mile, to move up a group, or even just to finish a race, that goal will always motivate you. Not only this, but that goal is visible; you can see your improvement, even feel it. I never would have thought that I would be a top freshman by the end of freshmen cross country when I first walked through the doors of the health room, but with hard work, I moved up in the team. This doesn’t just come for the top runners, it’s for everyone. Everyone can compete, everyone can improve, and everyone has a chance. If the coaches had done a cut-time trial on the first week of cross country, I guarantee you I would not have made it, and I would have no idea what it feels like to improve as a runner, I would have never made some of my best friends, and I never would do all the things that would come over the next 4 years.

Lastly, and the most important reason why I run, is the great feeling of accomplishment that comes with this sport. Every day, I can walk home and tell myself, I did something that most Americans could never do; I did something today that makes me tougher than most people; I pushed through my pain, and ran. The satisfaction of knowing you did the best you could is far superior than getting a great time or a great place. As Coach Lawrence once said “runners are the only people who know what it feels like to feel horrible and amazing at the same time.” The feeling of crossing that line, gasping for breath, completely out of energy, strange as it may seem, is a wonderful feeling. Of course I’m not talking about the pain, but the knowledge that you were able to give 100%, to do your absolute best. There have been some races and workouts that I have not done well in, was disappointed, and really missed my goals. But I couldn’t help feeling a little good about myself, because I knew that I had done it, I had pushed myself to the limit.

Matt Tobia-Class of 2015

Why do I run? That is a pretty simple question that frankly I’ve never asked myself. Most of the time for me it’s just something that I go out and do. But if I truly think about it it’s to make the impossible possible. As Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until its done.” This quote fits perfectly with my reason. I remember one moment in particular very sharply in my head. It was a during the summer before 7th grade xc and I had just finished my first run. It was only a probably a two mile run and we had stopped a lot during the run, but me I was feeling so confident like, yeah, I’m so good, I was up in the front the whole time, this seasons going to be easy. To sum it up pretty cocky. Not like Tour De France biker style cocky, but pretty still pretty confident. Anyway though, he said that you're all going to be shocked at how good you get between now in June compared to October. I agreed, but I really don’t think I grasped it until October when I could run 2/3 mile without stopping. That feeling of seeing how far I can go and how fast I can do drives me on. Back to 7th grade it was the last track meet of the season I was running the 1600, and the 800. My coach in the beginning of the season had given me the goal of getting down to 5:48 on the mile I was only at around 5:56 and I hadn’t improved much for the last couple of meets, and the goal of 2:37 for the half and I was only at 2:52. It was an invite and I was placed in around last for each race. But I wanted to finish the season right even if those goals were pretty far out of reach. I just remember running like my life depended on it. Every single muscle in my body was screaming as I stayed with the second place man (the first place man was on my team and to be fair he had a beard in 7th grade), and when I finished I had broken both of my coaches goals by two seconds. And that is the reason why I run.

Why do you run? E-mail your response to nlawrenc@hinsdale86.org