The weekend of September 26, the Boys and Girls Cross Country team took a trip to Bellevue, WA, for an overnight race. The weekend began with the boys’ and girls’ teams taking a bus ride to Lake Sammamish State Park to preview the course. While on the bus ride up, the team bonded by chatting, hanging out, and planning their evening activities. After being asked, “How does the team bond during an overnight meet?”
A Varsity Junior Dax Allred says, “Usually, our drive up is pretty long, we usually spend time together for a while on that. We get to the course, and we do a shakeout jog just to help understand what the course looks like and spend a lot of time there, basically just spending a lot of time and hanging out together.”
After the team previews the course and understands how to run it, they head back to the hotel on the bus. After a quick team meeting, the bus drives the team to downtown Bellevue for food and fun activities. In the downtown mall, many activities arise for the team, such as visiting the Lego store, enjoying cuisine, and strolling around the beautiful city of Bellevue. The big race day is filled with excitement, anxiety, and a wanting to be done with the race.
After being asked, “How do you prepare the team for the specific course and competition at an overnight meet?” Coach Neeway said, “That’s a good question. I don’t think I have to prepare an athlete for a specific meat. I think it’s a mentality that transfers from one meat to another. So, the work goes in before the meet happens.”
Most athletes don’t run until mid-afternoon, so most of them do an early morning run to get the wiggles out. After being asked, “What are your pre-race rituals or routines on the morning of the big race?” A Varsity Senior, Alex Yin said, “Definitely a shakeout, run. So, something put in this year that’s probably been pretty helpful so far, just eating good, eating something with a lot of carbs, and stretching.”
Mentality plays a big part in running and racing when it comes to cross country. Athletes need to be able to have a good one so that they perform well. Neeway goes into that saying, “I think that’s a delicate balance, and it depends on the athlete because some athletes like to be pushed, and others like to be pulled. So, you just have to find out what works for the athlete, and then hopefully you can figure that out and then have them perform at their best.”
Throughout the day, races go on, and though the chaos of people yelling at racers, bells being rung, and guns going off, individuals find time to “lock in” or get into a race mentality. Yin says how he prepares to race, “I would say nothing much. I just cleared my mind. Yes, clear my mind. Try to get some good night’s sleep. That’s about it.”
Athletes put on music, take naps, stretch out, and pray in order to get ready for their race. When it gets time to warm up for their race (around 45 minutes before it starts), athletes go run for about 10 minutes, come back to do dynamic stretches, use the bathroom, use resistance bands, and do strides on the line. After the runner races, they are met with cheers from teammates who congratulate them for pushing through the pain of a race. All in all, the athletes did amazing, looking to be a great season, by far the best we have ever had.
