If I had a dollar for every time you told me that running wasn't a sport, I'd be a millionaire. I've only been running for eight years, but in that time, I've learned more about being a good human than I did playing any other sport. In the grand scheme of things eight years of running is nothing compared to some people. There are runners who have been running their entire lives.
When you run, it is so much different than any other sport. There are no timeouts. There are no minutes out. You run the entire time. Nonstop. When you're tired, you can't say, "Coach I need a break". Because in reality, you can't take a break and you probably won't be able to see the coach. It's you, the course, and your team.
I've tried to explain running to people for so long, but they don't get it. There's something about it being about you, but also about your team that is so different from any other sport that draws me in every time. When I want to quit, I think about my team, and how they are counting on me to give my best effort. In other sports, you can get subbed out and take a breather while someone else does your job for you. Not in cross country. You work for you and your team.
But even more than the team, runners are the most genuine people you will ever meet. I have played soccer, basketball, and softball, and out of all of those sports, the people that mean the most to me are my running friends. There is something about going out for 10 or so miles with a group of people that is so amazing. To all be talking and running and experiencing the same thing is the unique thing about running. One of my best friends is a runner. I met her four years ago at a cross country camp. We live over an hour apart, and go to school almost 13 hours apart, but I know that she will always be there for me no matter what. I may need someone to vent about over a tough workout or something more personal, but she will always be there for me.
The real crazy thing about cross country running is that everyone who runs is crazy. Each person brings something unique to the team. I can't imagine my team without the people who are on it being on it. We wouldn't be complete. Every team can say that, but with XC, you spend so many hours running, rolling, stretching, and icing, that it feels like you practically live with them. You begin to notice the small things about them, and that is what makes you a unit.
I've discovered throughout my eight years of running that most people thing XC, or distance running in general, is a joke. The soccer guys in high school would say, "I do cross country, I'm a runna'". I, to this day, still have no idea how that is supposed to offend me, because I run. Cool. I love to run. People who haven't ever run distance will never understand the way it feels to be running through the woods in the fall with the leaves falling as you run by. They will never know what it's like to PR or win a meet as a team. Those are the things that can't be felt doing any other sport.
So to all of you who said running wasn't a sport, I challenge you to run everyday for a month. It doesn't matter where or how long, just get out there. Because I promise you, just like the rest of us, you will fall in love. You will meet great people. And after you start, you probably won't ever want to stop running.
