Cross country is a running sport that is run by different schools throughout the country. Grades from 6th all the way up to seniors in high school can run cross country and there are different distances for the cross-country meets depending on your age. In middle school, the distance is between 1.5-1.8 miles. 

I am in 7th grade so this is my 2nd year running cross country and let’s just say it is quite the experience. During this time of the year it is exciting to do the races and create a community together. Mrs. Thompson, the cross-country coach, has led us to do our best at every cross-country meet, and pushes us to work hard every second. Cross-country practices happen every Monday through Wednesday, then we have our meets on Thursdays. Depending on the day, we will do different things such as running, core workouts, dynamics, yoga, and different stations. We do this because it works our body to get stronger and it teaches us good techniques for running. 

There are 4 different groups. One is the red boy team and the red girl team and then there’s the girl’s gray team and the boy’s gray team. If you are on the red team, that means you are on varsity so the red team does different exercises and runs around the school 3-5 times so they can get the expected time they need at a meet. However, the gray team means you are a regular pace runner, so you will just do regular exercises and 2-4 laps around the school. Every time before a meet and practice, the team does the same stretches so nobody injures themselves while running. 

Each group will run at a different time, typically the varsity will run before the open groups but if there is a delay due to the weather the open girls and varsity girls will run together, and the open boys and varsity boys will run together. At every meeting, there are about 10 different middle schools, so in the varsity race, there are about 150 people in each varsity group running. In the open group, there are about 360 people in each open group running. During my time in cross-country, I built strong relationships with my peers and it was a great experience to have. I loved my coaches and would highly recommend to anyone who is looking for a fun sport to do.