The Woodberry Harrier 2015: Volume 6

We will be better after…

People always ask me why I run cross-country. Why do something that looks so painful?  Why choose something that consumes so many hours?  Wouldn’t I rather do a “team sport”?  Why do I want to be outside running through scorching heat, pouring rain, and even snow?   The answer to this last one is easy:  During the worst of times and the best of times, we are together. No matter how far someone is ahead or behind, we are a team through it all.

During the Moormont workout three weeks ago, I found myself losing focus as I toed the line for the third rep. I just wanted to get the last one over and be done with that workout forever.  A few minutes later as I crested the first hill and rolled onto the flat, I started to drift in and out of reality. I saw the ghosts of runners before me flying up the hill while I dragged myself like a tired dog. I drifted off the road onto the shoulder, and then I suddenly snapped back to reality.  James was now right behind me. I could hear him breathing like a freight train. He was thundering up the mountain, and I began to draw on his energy. We rounded the last corner, leaving the womb of the autumn trees as the sky exploded into view, wispy clouds painted on the blue sky. We settled into the final push.

Mr. Bennert was pushing us. He has run this many times and he knows the pain, but he knows the reward too. The silhouette of Mr. Hale loomed in the distance. This was the hardest thing I have ever done in cross-country, but it was also in the most beautiful setting. We were running into the “vault of heaven” Mr. Hale talks about when we are out on long country roads or up high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is why Moormont exemplifies the spirit of cross-country:  it is challenges all your limits, but there is true grace in the struggle. The beautiful landscapes remind us of the beauty of what we are doing together:  we are pushing each other to be the best that we can be. Our mantra:  This will hurt now, but we will be better after. 

As we stand on the mountain, the Shenandoah Valley sprawls below us. As I look out on Cedar Mountain Battlefield, short of breath and still shaking, it hits me that I have run the mountain the last time. The team begins to assemble in the field and we all take a moment to realize how fortunate we are to be alive here together at this moment. We have just pushed our minds and bodies to the limit, and we have the best imaginable reward for it. A favorite Bible verse resonates with me as I look out on the mountains: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”  I realize that we as a team were destined for that moment underneath the vault of heaven.

Cross-country runners don’t just appear in places like that. It feels almost as if we have been sent there to face the pain and fear that rise from the depths of the body when your legs start to burn and scream.   And you learn there that it takes something much greater than you yourself to fight that battle.  It also takes more than you yourself to appreciate what you have won when it’s over.  That verse continues, “In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other, nothing is deprived of its warmth.”  And I fully believe that is how we ran this season:  rejoicing to run our course—together—and no one else’s. 

   

-- Robert Singleton ‘16

I tell the guys every year at early camp that the season is not about the trophy we do or do not end up with at the end of the season, and Robert’s meditation reminds me how very true that is.

We had a very respectable finish Friday, especially given our ranking throughout the season, but we were disappointed that we didn’t finish 2nd because we knew we could have had it if we'd run our very best race.  Of course no single contest can mar the meaning and beauty of all that we accomplished together through this season.  Indeed I rather think the loss enriches our shared experience, which has been formed around the enduring of discomfort with fortitude. 

Whenever you decide to declare for something and go for it, you risk loss.  And even worse than that, you risk real disappointment when you don’t manage to perform at your best.  But if you can face that disappointment without making excuses or putting on rose-colored glasses, you will grow.  In fact, that’s when all profound growth happens. Of course it would have been great fun to have that sports-movie ending Friday, but we had that the week before.  Maybe we needed to go home with something a lot more valuable: a good dose of humility and reality. Sure it hurts, but we will be better after.  

Here are the results:

V.I.S.A.A. State Championships (D1)
Fork Union
13 November 2015
3rd out of 19 teams 1-5 spread: 1:27
Runner	Time	Place	Comments
Singleton	17:05	10th out of 204	All-State
Carrington	17:09	11th	All-State
Rich	18:03	26th
Jacobs	18:23	33rd
Tydings	18:32	38th
Hernandez	18:47	54th
Kacur	19:15	74th
Wall	19:32	90th
Gussler	19:39	93rd
Pittman	19:40	94th
Duke	21:37	172nd