The Woodberry Harrier 2010: Volume 8

Bravery Shows When the Fun Stops

           

            When running on those sunburnt country roads of Madison County, the problems circulating in my head deteriorate into ancient artifacts. Stress evaporates with the wind. Agony and bliss take turns reigning over my gullible mind, and all other emotions evaporate with my sweat. I’m sure my teammates feel the same.  It takes a certain mental tenacity to thrive off the intense pain of running. For some, it’s too great, too magnificent, too overwhelming. They try to fight it, and their bodies simply surrender.  Others flourish off the hard work, riding the waves of their pain until they reach the sunlit shores. And then dive right back into those shark infested waters.

            My non-runner friends often ask, “Why do you like running?" and I don’t have an easy answer.  Maybe it’s the thrill of the competition. Maybe it's the loyalty my teammates express to one another. Maybe it's the nervous courage that seeps from our pores before every run. No one knows why we do it, not even ourselves. Yet the sweat-drenched shirts and throbbing legs become a part of our character.

            Races are even more of a mystery. In that quiet stampede, when the adrenaline mellows and my legs catch fire, I listen for the strides and heavy breaths of my teammates. As they throw their bodies to the wolves, my passion is reignited. There’s no need for a crowd or an announcer or cheerleaders. We do it for ourselves, for the team, and for the commitment. Sitting around this fall's campfire, I realized how quickly time passes. It felt as if just yesterday I was the freshman, sitting in the exact same spot, learning from the almighty seniors about the importance of our team and its tradition. Now I am one of those seniors, attempting to teach my younger teammates that running is not merely a sport, but rather a grueling test of one’s character and will to succeed and devotion to teammates -- on and off the trail.  


-Josh Trudgeon '11

New to This

            When Coach Hoyt first mentioned the idea of me running cross country last spring, I laughed at the thought since I was a 400 runner. However, as I continued the routine that is Woodberry, I couldn’t help but return to the idea. Most of my good friends were on the team, and the tight relationships between these guys really attracted me to the team. After wrestling the previous winter, I came to understand how pushing through hard workouts can bring you close to your teammates -- I became good friends with a senior I had never talked to before. So when Coach Hale asked, I did not hesitate to tell him I’d love to join the team. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

            Over the summer I began my training in Spain on some morning runs with Conor, but when it fell on me to run alone on bright summer mornings back at home, my training didn’t go too well. At the time, I had no idea my summer laziness would eventually cause me to be behind everyone else for the majority of the season. It wasn’t until mid October on a long run through the windy hills of who-knows-where Virginia that I felt in shape. Something inside me clicked as Matt’s footsteps neared, and we ran the last mile of  eight (nine  for Matt) together in 6:15,  which at the time was faster than my 5K race pace. My times and workouts have both improved drastically since that chilly afternoon run, and although I still pull up the rear in races, I’m nearing the pack. Since I’ve begun to run with the rest of the team in races, I’ve realized that seeing the white and black of a fellow harrier ahead as you round a turn inexplicably gives you the boost you need to pass the man in front of you. The relationships that develop on our cross country team are just as inexplicable as this boost. While I was good friends with the other five seniors before the season started, they've become my best friends through the past ten weeks of harder work and better laughs than I expected when I said “Yes” six months ago on a relaxing spring day in Hale’s classroom.

-Eli Exum '11

          
           Good words, Josh and Eli. Both of these meditations seem to capture the spirit of the team as we move from the Prep league Meet to the VISAA State Meet. Everyone who has seen the results knows that last week was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Scanning the faces of the runners at the finish I saw everything from smiles to tears. Losing by twenty points is hard, but it's really painful to fight so hard and do everything right and fall short by a mere point (the mathematical equivalent of half a place). But I also understood the smiles. We had come within less than a centimeter (in other words, a line judge's call) of beating a team which was so far beyond our scope in the beginning of the season that we just shook our heads and laughed when we saw their early results. We dutifully talked about eventually racing with them, but that often felt more like a pipe dream than a realistic goal, and here we were making them squeak out a victory which had seemed theirs for easy taking just weeks ago. This told the whole story:  After the meet the runner who tied Addison said, "I have never run that hard in my life!" This is even more impressive when you note that he was chasing Addison---not the other way around. He did not even know who Addison was for most of the season, but he surely does now. I have told the guys all year that there are losses which carry the honor of victories, and this was one of them. I was so very proud of them.

Here are the results:

Prep League Meet
Collegiate School - Goochland
November 5th,  2010
2nd place out of 6 teams Top-five spread: 0:32 Top-seven spread: 1:00
Runner	Time	Place out of  73
Bennert	16:49	3rd	All-Prep honors
Garrison	16:51	4th	All-Prep honors
Winston	17:02	7th	All-Prep honors
Trudgeon	17:04	8th	All-Prep honors
Laws	17:21	11th	All-Prep honors
Rafield	17:47	16th	A 19-sec. lifetime PR!!! (missing all-prep by one place)
Shelton	17:49	18th
Evans	18:09*	24th
Grantham	18:17*	28th
Flynn	18:21	29th
Exum	18:45*	39th
Gimbert	DNR	DNR

  *  = approximate time (The timing system failed and we got no official times.)