Sitting quietly bundled up, sipping ramen in a Tacoma strip mall, it was time for me to reminisce after a full morning and afternoon of scrambling around. All of the soggy, muddy, disorganized cross country running gear and team equipment had already been jammed back into our Mazda 3, with no urgency to be unraveled.
I could begin by describing the atrocious weather we were presented with, or the fierce competition that we faced, but that would be premature and miss a major component of the story.
Cross country often bears the perception that it’s only for the serious type-A. While there most certainly is no shortage of exceedingly fast runners attending these races, many folks are often surprised to hear there are also no performance pre-reqs or merits needed in order to race XC. It is true. No matter how slow, inexperienced, or old you are, you have the same right to a bib as anyone fitter and or younger, and you will get an official time given that you finish within the generous course time limits.
USA Track & Field (USATF) puts on club XC events for our region each fall, but 2011 was the last time the National Club event had traveled to Western Washington. No other affiliations put on races like this. Needless to say, we had a unique opportunity at hand.
For LSRC, it only took a few enthusiastic runners to start growing a team base earlier in the season. Traditional Cross Country is in fact a team sport, where a minimum number of team members finishing the race is required for the team to score. The lowest combined placement of the top 3-5 (depending on the age/gender division) finishers on each team determines the team’s ranking. Once we knew we were only one or two short of making a team for each of our divisions, more of our club members stepped up to the challenge, and friends of our club members became club members to help out. It became more about supporting the team, and less about running for personal sake, making the experience a hundred times more meaningful, and it meant you would be supported just the same. Pretty soon we had 25 runners across all the divisions stepping up to the challenge.
Some of us had a preview of the venue and course during the NW Region Championships a few weeks prior, but none of that had prepared us or anyone for what everyone would be up against for the National Championships on the day of the race. The reported “hay bales” – an unfamiliar obstacle for most – caught a lot of us off guard, but really only caused reactions of disgust at best.
At 8:30am, shortly after the gates opened, we arrived at a scene of mangled tents and teams scrambling to find shelter from brutal wind and rain showers. With the help of our highly devoted Masters runner, Mike Williamson, who is also a dependable source of any length XC spike you’d ever need, we managed to find a spot to set up our tent, taking advantage of a sturdy fence and strapping our tents down to it, in time to support our five Masters Women runners (women aged 40+) set to start their 6k at 9:30am.
Through the chaos, the runners convened at the start line at the last possible minute and the gun went off miraculously on time when 15 minutes prior, it didn’t look like any real event could even start. But they were off, just as if the next gust of wind had shoved them out of their corrals at once and swallowed them up into a jetstream. The 6k course comprised of two 3k loops, and as the runners appeared toward my point of observation, about to finish their first loop, it became clear these women were not only fighting for placement, but several other battles: staying upright in pools of mud being one of them, while being teased by the sights of rainbows every now and then. One by one, all of our team members did finish in one piece.
Next, after a bit of a break (the Men’s Masters 60+ race had no LSRC runners), the 40s & 50s Masters men stepped up to the line for their 10k. Two 3k loops plus two 2k loops. The weather slot machine returned none other than heavy rain, wind, and more wind. If there were any blades of grass on the course still intact after the first two races, it seemed as if many of the men had set out to find them for better traction as the only other explanation beside being tossed around in the wind as to why they weren’t running in otherwise logical trajectories. I later perched myself at the finish line, where here finally there was no divergence in their paths. Only after all nine of our men finished did a rainbow pop out to greet them.
The Women’s Open 6k followed shortly after, with happenings much the same as in the previous races. It was time for me to warm up, so I didn’t witness as much of this race as I had for the other races, but it was obvious that those who were out by themselves were more exposed and affected by the elements. Only was I relieved when I found all three of our women in good spirits after the race ended, as if their ship had finally landed after crossing rough seas.
Before I knew it, my race, the Men’s Open 10k, loomed ahead as I frantically rummaged for my spikes in my wreckage of gear that I brought and churned throughout the day. Once I made it to the start line, splitting decisions still laid ahead. Should I do another stride or retie my shoes? I envisioned what it must have been like for the poor fellows who had lost their shoes in mud during earlier races, so I retied my shoes with extra determination. Whatever happens, happens, but I am not going to lose my shoes! As it turned out, that was the correct mentality. All the training I had done this season could not have prepared me for what was about to come anyway.
The starting gun fired and I fled with my five other teammates and four hundred other strangers, like minnows, being chased by a shark. Turning the corner back toward the start revealed the unfavorable consequences of making any solitary moves. The rain had ceased, but the effects of the wind were absolutely ludicrous. Imagine sucking in helium balloons every breath. Then came the mud. By itself, mud is mud. It slows you down and seeps into your shoes, but when each runner ahead determines their own path to combat it, they are no longer a reliable wind blocker. Whatever, I thought. I’m just going to make it through this race, and embrace the moment. This is what cross country is about. Chasing PRs and running an even race without blowing up is merely one aspect. Strategy and being able to make decisions on the fly is also a large part of it as proven today. Regardless of how it ended, I knew I had an awesome story to tell, and when I found my teammates after the race, I couldn’t wait to hear from them all.
Although I could have never imagined how everything would unfold on this very day, I’m extremely grateful for the overall outcome and how everyone supported each other. Also, special props to the event host, Club Northwest for their incredible job setting everything up and keeping the event running smoothly. We may not have placed high in the rankings, but we did come prepared. After all, a friend from Club Northwest saying we deserve the “Best Tent Award” is something I can proudly write home about!
Full Results: https://www.rtspt.com/events/usatf/clubxc24/
Check out photos here!
