Some would classify runners as a rare breed of being that continues to push the human body beyond the capacity for which it was designed. Cross Country runners are no exception and are in fact the very essence of what competitive running is all about.  

Cross Country running has come a long way since the days that I attended high school. Back then poor coaching, god awful equipment, lousy nutrition and training schedules were the staple of most high school cross country programs throughout the United States. In many cases, or at least at my high school, the cross country team always seemed to have problems fielding a full team. They trained hard and were known throughout my high school as “Squirrel Chasers”. They were a tough hard core group that wore that nickname as a badge of honor. Many of those runners ran in what most would consider today as nothing more than modified basketball shoes. That probably accounts for their constant suffering of shin splints, ankle problems and pulled muscles. But they persevered and continued to run because they loved it, pure and simple.

Let’s fast forward 25 years later and take a look at high school cross country running today. Thanks to great runners like the late Steve Prefontaine, cross country running has become more popular than ever. Today the shoes are better, the training programs are superior and the nutrition is based on sound scientific evidence.  Now there are thousands of young men and women across the country that train using the training techniques of those runners and coaches that have come before them.

The new science of running has created an elite group of runners that continue to push the boundaries of running at the high school level. Winning times for Cross Country running events continue to drop locally, regionally and nationally every year.  So to those runners we thank you for being the best that you can possibly be.

I had the honor of covering the Delaware State High School Cross Country Championships in November 2006 for OSX Fitness. Yes, there were some great winning times and some great races were run for the top positions for team scoring. But there was an underlying factor that I saw over and over again that I just had to write about. A story that very infrequently gets told.

As a coach you pray for kids like this. Kids that will give you everything they have and then some. You know the ones. They have that thing they carry inside them every day called heart. As a parent you stand there and gaze in wonder as one of your own has the guts and sheer determination that would rival any world class athlete. You realize that no record times are going to be broken on this day, team scoring has already been decided and the winners are beginning their media interviews. No, this isn’t about winning or setting any records. Today is about perseverance, adaptability, training and the attitude that conquering this god forsaken course is more important than life itself.  

To all of you that run for the sake of running and compete for the love the sport The Bald Man and OSX Fitness sends out a resounding salute to you. Train Hard, Train Strong and never ever give up.

Below are just a few of the images that I captured at this years Delaware State Cross Country Championships. Think these kids gave it everything they had????