The future of running is in good hands with cross country teams
I am a little out of touch with the race schedule since I have semi-retired from being a race director but it seems that the number of races in the area are not as frequent compared to a few years ago. The fall season is when runners are starting to get ready for marathons and half marathons and use local 10K races to become part of their training program. There have been a few races the past few weekends and the number of runners entering these races has been about average. There are two in-person races scheduled for San Marcos in the near future. One is the Kiwanis Pumpkin Dash 5K on Oct. 9 out at the Country Estates course. This is a race that is an out and back course in a scenic area and well-organized since the Kiwanis Club has been putting on races for over a decade. The other race is the Sights and Sounds 5K (Jingle Bell Run 5K) on Dec. 11. This race is the largest race in San Marcos and will have a very good turnout. Watching the runners in this race makes it one of the most fun and happy races around with the costumes, bells, and colorful running uniforms on many of the entrants. The Thankful Turkey 5K in November will be a virtual race this year. I am not sure how this will work since in the past many of the faster runners used this race to provide Thanksgiving dinner with the turkey or ham they won.
With the number of races down and the number of runners also down a little, I started to think about the future of running. This last weekend, the San Marcos High School Cross Country team held a home meet out at Travis High School with what they call the ‘River Run’. My grandson is on the Rattler team so I thought I would go watch the event. Cross Country is not necessarily a spectator sport as it is often watching the runners start and then 20 minutes later you watch them come back to the finish line. Was I ever in for a surprise. If you think parking is crowded at a football game it is the same for a cross country meet. And the crowd would have filled most of the seats in any football stadium. Parents for cross country athletes are as active and supportive as any sport in high school.
The best thing about the Rattler Cross Country Meet is that it is a large loop and parents and spectators can walk 100 yards and see the runners pass by on the course. The course from my viewpoint was mostly fresh grass and smooth paths to run on. The runners pass by between two and three times and after a short walk to the finish line you are able to cheer for your favorite athlete. Runners crossing the finish line from about 50 yards out have a line of screaming parents and teammates encouraging to “step it up” and “catch that runner in front of you” and “finish hard.” It gets exciting at the finish of a cross country meet.
The most impressive part of the meet was the number of athletes that were there. I am not sure how many teams were entered in the meet. Going by the number of buses in the parking lot I think there were about eight teams that had varsity boys, varsity girls, junior varsity boys, junior varsity girls, and on down to junior high teams for boys and girls. The team spirit for their team mates was about as encouraging as a team mate can be. Even the team members that were near the back of the pack were encouraged as much as the front runners. What amazed me was while only the top five finishers count for a team score some teams had 20+ athletes toe the starting line. I asked one parent if their school had an A, a B and a C team as I counted almost 20 athletes from their school crossing the finish line. She said, “No, we just have a varsity and junior varsity teams but they all get to run in the meet.” The number of athletes running cross country with varsity and junior varsity and boys and girls teams will equal the number of many football and soccer teams. All I could think was the future of running is in good hands if these youngsters keep running. Many will get scholarships to a college. Those that were on the team but may not go on running at another level but keep running will ensure that the local 5K and 10K races will always have enough runners to have a good turnout.
Next time you have the opportunity to watch a cross country meet try to get out and support the local team. It gets pretty exciting watching cross country runners and parents.
