Cross Country: Senior Season

Adam has been running competitively for seven years, and it's hard to believe that his high school cross country career is winding down.  Really hard.  Cross country has long been one of my favorite sports to watch, a revelation that may surprise some people.  I find the purity of the sport simply exhilarating. It's really just the runner and the clock.  No one's jockeying for playing time or trying to schmooze the coach.  Run fast, run varsity. Everyone runs; no one sits on the bench.  Very cool.

Overall, Adam has had a good season.  The highlights of the year, so far (at least to me), have been the Trask Mountain Assault in Oregon, the Athlete's Foothill Race in Eagle, and Centipede. He ran strongly and confidently and managed to awe me.

Trask Mountain Assault

Trask was a true cross country race--up and down a mountain, across streams multiple times, and four trips through deep mud pits.  It seemed grueling to me, but Adam loved it. He called it epic. Yes, this makes him a true runner.

This is fun?

Check out those quads!  Are you kidding me?!

I bet he had delightfully soft skin after this.

Second overall in the boys' race.  He won a rock.

Great weekend!  And, no, I never did manage to
get his clothes all the way clean.  Worth it!

Athlete's Foothill Race

This race was held in the Eagle Foothills, not far from where Adam helped rescue the downed runner last year.  It was a fun race for the runners but a little frustrating for the spectators.  I only got to see Adam as he was coming around the bend to the finish line because it was a point-to-point race.  Yup, just a 5K up and down the high desert hills. Adam finished second overall, so that was kind of cool.  Not too many pictures, however.

He'll be comin' round the mountain when he comes. . .

Now those are some serious runner's legs!

First place team.  Very cool trophy.

Centipede

Centipede is a part-collaborative, part-individual race.  Seven runners race the first two plus miles holding on to a rope.  With three-quarters of a mile to go, the runners drop the rope and finish on their own.  It's interesting to watch.

Last year Adam had to run the "pull" spot where he was responsible for pacing the group. He was completely gassed at the drop zone and struggled a bit over the last portion of the race.  This year he took off like a rocket when they dropped the rope, and it was a powerful thing to watch.

Pre-race focus

Almost there. . .

 

More hardware--nice!

Running has taught Adam a lot about discipline, hard work, confidence, and friendship. We're looking forward to a good finish to the season.  Go, Adam, go!!