To my cross country family,
Where do I begin?
The friendships that were formed, the memories made, the races we ran, the supportive friends and family, or the coaches that taught us more than just running.
Cross Country is a sport that requires dedication on both the team and the individual. It may be only you and your head during the races, but during practices, team meals, and warmups- you're never alone. And I want to thank my team for that.
Knowing that I was never alone throughout the whole season made it easier to run the races where I felt alone. But then I would hear my teammates cheering me on and encouraging me to continue the race. During practices, whether we were doing repeats or long runs, I always had a teammate by my side, pushing me. My coaches would be pushing us to be our best. I formed friendships I never could have imagined through the love of running. Each day, I would look forward to practices and whatever that would entail. I had never talked to some of the teammates until I began cross country. So to my teammates I would say this: thank you for being the best teammates I could have ever had. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else running by my side for my last year of Cross Country. Through everything; the bumps in our racing, the awful weather, the pain in our legs, and the mental break downs during our runs, I have learned more about what friendship means and just how much you guys mean to me. Your voices cheering me on is what kept me moving more times than I can count, in life and in running. I write this through tears as I realize that I will not have a next cross country season with you. I will miss laughing at the dumb burns. I will miss laughing so hard that I almost pee my pants. I will miss listening to the deep debates that took place. I will miss the duets in the car. I will miss the prayers before races. I will miss the long run talks. I will miss getting lost on the trails. But most of all, I will miss you guys.
To my coaches;
I want to say thank you. Your sacrifice of time and money to be with the team means a lot. Giving up your own time to coach a bunch of sweaty high schoolers would not be a fun way to spend your time if you ask me. But you guys did it day after day. You would share your advice when it came to life, college, running, and friends. You listened when we vented about teachers, homework, boys, friendships, how much running sucks, and how much we hated hills and repeats. Thanks for encouraging us and yelling at us to go faster. Thank you for everything you have done for us. After all, somewhere in the pain that you put us through, we realized that you may have only wanted us to be our best. Thank you for believing in us when we did not. It was a great season and I will miss having coaches like you.
To the parents;
First off, thank you for the delicious pasta. Team meals are the best part of the whole season and every cross country runner knows this to be true, and we could not have it without the parents opening their homes and ovens for pasta parties. But your support goes deeper than the wonderful food that was provided. I want to say thank you on behalf of all the runners because a parent’s support is the one of the most essential things to succeeding in Cross Country. The stress we feel could not have been handled well if we did not have great parents to hug at the end of awful races. I can not count how many times I had cried and my parents reminded me that no matter how I do, no one will love me less. Thank you parents for the time and encouragement that you provided for the team and your kids. You all took us on as one big family and supported us through it all. Thank you for being wonderful cheerleaders (even the dads) for the Cross Country team. We could not have done it without you.
It has only been a couple days since I ran my last race and I am already having withdrawals from Cross Country. I miss it, and I can’t believe that I complained about it that much. It may not have been the ending I had wanted, but I know that there are lessons that were learned deeper than what was said. The whole season was a blessing and so were all of you. I am reminded why I love running when I look at my team. Normally the legs are what carry a runner, but my team and God were what carried me. Thank you for everything.
Sincerely,
A grateful teammate.
