The sun was low. Despite the waning sunshine, it was muggy out. I was sweating more by the minute.

I was at the second cross country practice of the summer season, and we were running up the biggest hill known to mankind. Each step that hit the concrete took immense effort, and my breath got heavier with each inhale. "Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Step, step, step," I thought to myself. "This is the where. You can't slow down."

I wasn't alone, though. I was surrounded by friends. In front of me was a girl I had run with for two years; To my left was a new girl on the team; Coming up behind me was a boy who had been on the team last year. We were all in this together.

I pumped my arms to encourage the girl next to me. I was determined help people discover their love for running. I thought back to my first season on the team; What had gotten me through all the practices and meets was the atmosphere. The encouragement and positivity never ended, even though everyone was going through the same thing.

In the middle of a race, when I hurt the most, my race buddy would be there running with me and telling me to push through. She was in the middle of the race too, hurting just as much; I would return the grace by reassuring her of our strength. We would finish the race together.

Now, on this hill, I felt the same aura. As the old saying goes, "No man is an island." We all needed each other to push up this hill. And push together, we did. We slowly saw the other side of the hill rise up from the horizon as we inched closer and closer to the top. Finally, we reached a patch of flat road, and I let out a breath of relief. My teammates and I looked at each other; Our eyes - littered with beads of sweat - said the words we didn't have the breath for.

I could feel a newfound bond for the rest of the run. We had suffered together, we had survived together, and we had gotten stronger together.

This is what cross country is all about - the togetherness, the ubuntu, the "I am because we are." At the root of humanity was community, and community comes in many forms. The running community, though competitive, places more emphasis on togetherness. Within it is our cross country team, and I've never been in a more united atmosphere. My teammates are as close as family.

I fall more in love with running every time I finish a run, and this was no exception. That practice, I finished the run teeming with excitement for this cross country season. Endorphins pumping through my veins, I smiled from ear to ear. This feeling had come to me on the very first day that I joined the team, and I was eternally grateful that it never left me.