Cross country running

thumb|Crosscountry is a team sport, too, and many a meet has been won by what the English call "packing," whereby one team sticks together and the good runners encourage the poorer ones, until the final dash home. ~ Harold Keith Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method. thumb|Team runs are what sharpens the point of the spear. ~ Chuck Hunsaker thumb|Life is a long-distance race. ~ Michael J. Daly thumb|It is the worst spectator sport of all. One sees the runners for a minute; they disappear; are seen again, hurtling in a foggy distance, their singlet colors suddenly flashing brokenly between stands of trees; then nothing for ten or twelve minutes; finally, in a long, ragged stream, gasping and lunging, heads bobbing on narrow shoulders, they appear again, straining to finish at the original starting line- usually in a desperate and disjointed sprint, each trying to gain a place or two at the finish. ~ Josiah Bunting III Quotes Amanda ran like an adolescent American athlete of ordinary gifts. She had started three years earlier, under a new policy that required every Lawrence sophomore to compete in an interscholastic sport. Cross-country running seemed less threatening to her, less competitive, than the only other fall option- field hockey. The high school running coach had said, "You're tall for your age, and pretty thin. You oughta run." She competed with a modest success that was the product of tenacious training. The transformation of an offhand avocation into a serious staple of Amanda's daily routine came quickly and unremarked. Josiah Bunting III, All Loves Excelling (2001), hardcover, Ch. 10, p. 53-54 Amanda understood that what the coach called serious running also offered serious benefits- a message her mother reinforced. It made you lean and fit. And while you were doing it, it somehow lifted you out of your troubles and worries. You could measure your progress. Your success was a function of how you trained- you by yourself, but how you trained was soon transmuted to how long you trained, how many miles you ran- and how many miles everyone else ran. She heard coaches gabbing away at meets about runner's highs and endorphins, but the closest she came to them was a feeling of dull exhileration that seemed to blot out other anxieties for a few hours. Inevitably a new consideration was imposed- opportunity and liability both: Amanda understood that she might attain "times" that would aid her chances to get into an Ivy League college. That was, Amanda began to learn, a kind of system at work; students who were good athletes would be given certain advantages in the admissions process. Coaches were said to have unstated quotas, slots they could fill with the athletes they wanted, provided these athletes were smart enough to do the work after they got in. So Amanda no longer ran to feel free or feel good: she began to run for a purpose- for success in running, and, a year later, success in getting into Dartmouth. By now this had become her mother's goal for her. Josiah Bunting III, All Loves Excelling (2001), Bridgehampton: Bridge Works Publishing, first edition hardcover, Ch. 10, p. 54 It is the worst spectator sport of all. One sees the runners for a minute; they disappear; are seen again, hurtling in a foggy distance, their singlet colors suddenly flashing brokenly between stands of trees; then nothing for ten or twelve minutes; finally, in a long, ragged stream, gasping and lunging, heads bobbing on narrow shoulders, they appear again, straining to finish at the original starting line- usually in a desperate and disjointed sprint, each trying to gain a place or two at the finish. Josiah Bunting III, All Loves Excelling (2001), hardcover, Ch. 18, p. 105 Life is a long-distance race. Michael J. Daly, as quoted by Stephen J. Ochs, A Cause Greater Than Self: The Journey of Captain Michael J. Daly, World War II Medal of Honor Recipient (2012), College Station: Texas A&M University Press, hardcover first edition, p. 175 Team runs are what sharpens the point of the spear. Chuck Hunsaker, Angels In Combat Boots (2021), p. 55 Cross country is the ultimate team sport. In many "team" sports you could easily cover for a weak player. In cross country your top five runners score. You can have four very good runners, but if your fifth runner is weak and finishes far behind, you will generally lose the meet. Running together in a pack with the strngest runners leading, and everyone working to keep the pack together is the surest way to score well and win. I always felt these team runs were the key to success in cross country. Chuck Hunsaker, Angels In Combat Boots (2021), p. 56 A runner's value to the team varies inversely to her distance from the first runner. Chuck Hunsaker, Angels In Combat Boots (2021), p. 56 This sport originated in England where it flourishes unabated from September to April and where a whiff of nippy autumn air is a challenge to thousands of Britishers of all ages who run simply for pleasure and exercise during the cooler months. In America, where the colleges and clubs run from four miles to 10,000 meters, the sport is newer. Especially it is new in our high schools, where two-mile crosscountry runs in October and November have become popular in the East and some of the midwestern states. The charm of this race lies in the fact that the runners get away, for at least one season in the year, from the monotony of cinder track running, for the crosscountry courses are routed out in the country over hills, grass, roads and stone fences where contestants constantly encounter different running surfaces and changing autumnal scenery that helps them forget the mental and physical fatigue of the race. The sport is also a prime conditioner for track men. Distance men who run crosscountry in the fall will beat the other half-milers and milers in the spring. A thorough physical examination followed by a moderate but intelligent training program of from six to eight weeks, should be a required precaution. Runners should gain back the following day all weight lost during practice. Sleep and an occasional after-lunch nap are marvelous stamina-builders for this race. Harold Keith, Sports and Games (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1941), p. 255 It is wise to know the course thoroughly before running it. If possible, go over it in an automobile or walk it the day before the race, studying it carefully. Try to keep a map of it in the head and have the short cuts figured out. Always run in as straight a line as possible and you will save as high as 40 or 50 years in a single race. If you are to race on a foreign course, adapt your training to it. If it is a hilly course, do a lot of hill running in your own country. If there are no hills there, run up and down your stadium. The same thing applies to flat running, or to races held on grass or asphalt. You should practice running on the flat the week before the race. Harold Keith, Sports and Games (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1941), p. 256-257 In a race, the ambitious contestant will want to stay fairly close to the leaders. He should be careful not to kill himself off at the start. He should let somebody else lead if the course is wet or the wind is blowing against him, and should watch the ground for good footing and keep a wary eye on his opponents to prevent being spiked or boxed. However, if the pace is too slow, he will want to take the lead. When fatigue strikes, the runner will want to call upon all his pluck. He must forget weariness by thinking of form and concentrating upon running as effortlessly and relaxed as possible. When the pace whips up at the start of the last half-mile, he remembers that he can always go a little farther and faster than he thinks he can. Mental fatigue comes before physical fatigue; in fact more races are lost through inability to resist mental fatigue than for any other reason. How many times have you heard a defeated runner ruefully exclaim after a race; "I could have run faster. I just didn't put out. I didn't know I had so much strength left." Harold Keith, Sports and Games (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1941), p. 257 Crosscountry is a team sport, too, and many a meet has been won by what the English call "packing," whereby one team sticks together and the good runners encourage the poorer ones, until the final dash home. Harold Keith, Sports and Games (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1941), p. 257 Injuries in Cross Country Running Many cross-country runners suffer from running-related injuries, momentarily restricting their movements and pursuit in racing. Around 53% of collegiate runners suffer from either a second RRI or their first RRI.https://www.proquest.com/docview/2811153737?accountid=27372&parentSessionId=YuR2b%2Fg8tqKJp1iX3XLf7iyuQrllXz2tyJG0mHy6MM8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses Identification of Risk Factors for Running-Related Injuries Among High School and Collegiate Cross Country Runners: A Multi-Factorial Analysis of Running Biomechanics, Training Patterns, and Psychosocial Variables Mikel R. Joachim 2025-05-30 Proquest Dissertation & Theses This is largely due to various of reasons, but the common one is due to the fact that running involves repetitive, high-impact movements of the legs, which affects the bone mineral density.https://www.proquest.com/docview/2811153737?accountid=27372&parentSessionId=YuR2b%2Fg8tqKJp1iX3XLf7iyuQrllXz2tyJG0mHy6MM8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses Identification of Risk Factors for Running-Related Injuries Among High School and Collegiate Cross Country Runners: A Multi-Factorial Analysis of Running Biomechanics, Training Patterns, and Psychosocial Variables Mikel R. Joachim 2025-05-30 Proquest Dissertation & Theses As such, when bone density is at risk, this leads to a greater chance of developing a BSI (bone stress injury). BSI is one of the most common RRI injuries young runners face.https://www.proquest.com/docview/2811153737?accountid=27372&parentSessionId=YuR2b%2Fg8tqKJp1iX3XLf7iyuQrllXz2tyJG0mHy6MM8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses Risk Factors of Running-Related Injuries Among High School and Collegiate Cross Country Runners ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 31 May 2025 A simple definition of BSI injury is that it is caused by the bone's sudden inability to endure repetitive movements.https://www.proquest.com/docview/2811153737?accountid=27372&parentSessionId=YuR2b%2Fg8tqKJp1iX3XLf7iyuQrllXz2tyJG0mHy6MM8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses Risk Factors of Running-Related Injuries Among High School and Collegiate Cross Country Runners ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 31 May 2025 BSIs can take a while to heal, averaging around 27 weeks or more to fully heal. And while healed runners can safely start running again, precautionary measures and physical therapy is recommended as BSIs can occur again.https://www.proquest.com/docview/2811153737?accountid=27372&parentSessionId=YuR2b%2Fg8tqKJp1iX3XLf7iyuQrllXz2tyJG0mHy6MM8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses Risk Factors of Running-Related Injuries Among High School and Collegiate Cross Country Runners ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 31 May 2025 References External links Category:Running