“I threw up three times after the race today.”
“And I know you’ll run tomorrow. What’ll make you put in the miles tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll run tomorrow. Definitely. I have to push harder and not let it happen again.”
Nos. 78 & 80, Revisited [Runners]
hooray run
No. 80 [Runners]
“This was about the time I started getting into cross-country. One morning, I was in Ohio staying at this hotel. And my mom gets up, and she’s been dieting and stuff, and she’s like, ‘I’m gonna go to the weight room, and I’m gonna walk on the treadmill. If you need me, I’ll be in there. I’ll just let you keep sleeping.’ Then I was like, ‘Wait, I’ll come with you.’ So I got up and ate breakfast at six in the morning. Right after I ate breakfast, I went to the workout room. And I thought there was going to be squats there, and I enjoy doing squats. … I get down there, it’s one of those corner machines—those things are confusing. I see a treadmill. I’m like, All right, whatever. My mom gets on a treadmill, she’s walking, I get on one, I start walking a bit. Mind you, my breakfast was 400 calories. I turned it up, I started running. Next thing I know it’s 10 minutes. Keep running, OK, now it’s 16 minutes. It’s 6:20 in the morning, and I’ve run two miles already. I keep running, and I run like five miles that morning, and it’s not even 6:40 yet. And I burned off 1,000 calories, and my breakfast was 400. So I went and had a second breakfast, and it tasted delicious.”
No. 79 [Runners]
“I’ve started around 800 races and meets—cross-country and track. This is my 18th year. … When the meet is over, I don’t have to run to the locker room or my car. I’ve only had a few people tell me that my start was bad.”
“If you could give one piece of advice to high school cross-country runners, what would it be?”
“One? Ah, well, it’s important to know the course. And for the coaches, it’s important to know the rules.”
In the Shoes of an Assistant Coach
By Will Hewitt
I grew up a coach’s son, and ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be one when my playing days were over.
I have been an assistant cross-country coach for two years now at two different high schools. I’ve learned so much from each of the head coaches I have worked with and from my runners.
It is such a different experience from the coaching perspective. As the assistant coach, my primary responsibility is talking one-on-one with the runners and gauging how they are doing.
I really enjoy catering workouts to each specific runner’s needs and watching them improve over the course of a season. Nothing beats seeing a runner get his or her first big PR.
In cross-country, victories can be found throughout the roster. This year, one of our runners dropped from 35:00 to 30:00 in subsequent races. A five-minute PR! He is aiming for 28 minutes next race.
We have a freshman who has already run a 16:29 and is aiming for the 15s by the end of the season.
Our two captains this year are such exemplary young men, and I’m so proud of the way they have been leading the team. I am excited to see where this season takes us. For the most part, I get to do the teaching, but man, have I learned some things along the way.
I have learned quite a bit over the last two years. Knowing how to run and train is one thing; knowing how to coach is quite another. You want to create a positive atmosphere that cultivates hard work, success and fun.
I have learned that small issues need to be addressed immediately to prevent them from becoming big issues. I have learned that great coaches are cheerleaders.
Just because you know what’s best for runners physically and strategically does not mean they have to respect you. You need to earn their respect by being first and foremost an encourager.
The first thing your runners need to know is that you care for them individually and that you will do everything in your power to help them achieve their goals. Therein lies the reward for a coach: to see your runners grow.
To see someone realize the fruits of hard work, of doing things the right way and of never giving up is an incredible thing to witness.
Will is one of the best leaf-catchers in the Midwest. That is, catching leaves on runs. He loves dogs, too.
No. 78 [Runners]
“This summer in July, in Charlevoix, Michigan, I ran the Jeff Drenth 10K. I had been suffering from an IT band problem, and it was giving me knee pains in my right leg. I was doing great, and I was making goal pace, until the fifth mile. Then I got knee pain, and I struggled through it for another quarter-mile. And then I was just completely frustrated, and I had to walk for about 30 seconds. So I just decided to take my shoes off because I felt that they were the reason why I was having the problem. I ran the last mile with no shoes. It was great, too, because it was wet, and they were pretty much water-logged anyhow. I was just running in long, shin-high socks. Just basketball socks. … I came in, and my mom was like, ‘What’s he carrying?’ I had a shoe in each hand. I came across the finish line like that. And I still won in my age group.”
Hooray Run 