Today I attended my first big cross-country meet. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. I was nervous, excited, anxious, and eager all at the same time. I was eager because I am an athletic training student and I was excited to get to work and begin helping people as best as I can. As I meandered across the field towards the meet to meet up with my preceptor, I couldn't help but notice how colorful it was. There were tents in nice and neat lines with teams underneath them preparing for their big race. There were people everywhere adorned in their team's colors ready to root them on to victory. Also the weather was cool enough that I felt confident that nothing serious would transpire. So I listened to my preceptor intently as he explained the course, the way these meets are scored, and the basic strategy involved. It was all so knew to me that I was just focused on taking it all in.
As the men began to head to the starting line, I could feel the mood start to change. The crowd were holding their collective breath waiting for the starting gun to go off. As the men took off I could hear the crowd yelling, cheering their team on, and I could tell that the runners felt that same sort of energy. We watched as they made the loop twice, and started heading towards the finish line. I walked behind my preceptor as we headed towards the finish line waiting to pick people up as they finished. The crowd was egging the runners on and before you knew it, chaos had ensued. People were falling over, gasping for breath, yelling "I can't breath." It felt like I had literally stepped into hell. I was picking up runners, ushering them to the side so they wouldn't get trampled, and getting them water if they needed.
As I was doing this, I couldn't help but think "why do they do this to themselves?" "How is this fun?" And then it hit me. These individuals had trained day after day only to push themselves to the brink for about 20 minutes or so. Their starvation for victory and improving themselves both physically, mentally, and also spiritually is what it is all about. Because in the end, although you are apart of a team, you only really have yourself to rely on. And that takes physical prowess, but also mental fortitude to finish the race, even without anyone familiar around you. So although I was there to learn more about my duties as a future athletic trainer, I ended up learning so much more. And I wouldn't trade that for the world.
