Cross Country
Cross Country- One of the most difficult sports. There are no time outs, substitutions, halftimes, or other breaks. Because of this, the sport requires extreme amounts of stamina and talent to play, and to be successful, it requires even more effort. Cross Country consists of long races (minimum 5k or 3.1 miles for High School, 2.0 miles for Middle School) over varied terrains, including hills, roads mud puddles, grassy fields, rocky paths, and sometimes even shallow streams. To complete the race, the runners must not only have enough strength to finish, but must also be aware of their surroundings at all times. Stop paying attention to your surroundings, and you could fall, costing you valuable seconds, knocking you out of the race, or even sending you to the hospital. Cross Country is not to be confused with indoor/outdoor track. Although they both have long-distance events, their longest usually is 5k, cross country's shortest. Also, they have no hills or other obstacles; they just run around a track many times. Road races aren't technically true cross country races, but usually get grouped together with grouped together with cross country races because of their distance and hills. A true cross country race stays away from pavement as much as possible. To succeed in cross country, a couple of things are necessary. For one, you have to have a strong heart and put in many hours of practice. Secondly, a good pair of racing and training shoes are a must. For racing, lightweight flats or spikes work well. Training shoes should be sturdy and durable; training shoes should not be your everyday sneakers. Also before a race starts, always make sure your shoes are double-knotted. You don't want to run with untied shoes or have to tie them during a race. Also, always make sure your uniform/ shirt is tucked in. Make sure your shorts are not sagging, are not too long, and are made of light weight material. This will also shave seconds off your final time.
Cross Country is fun in that it can be both an individual and a team sport. Individuals compete against other runners and their own PRs (personal records) over the distance. The individual runners' scores are added up for the team score; the lower the score the better.
