What it Takes to Run a 5K: An inside look at the forgotten sport
WOHS cross-country runners offer insight into what it means and what it takes to be a runner.
Violet Kohlenstein
Every year as fall rolls around the school floods with pep and team spirit. Senior banners celebrating soccer stars and cheer captains are proudly hung outside each athletic field and football games under the “Friday night lights” draw crowds like no other, each student flaunting their bright blue “WO Pride.” It’s exhilarating. Then, if you look past the crowded football field you might see a group of about 30 running in circles around the track, up impossibly steep hills, or through surrounding streets. It’s the cross-country team.
Many may see the team and think it’s simply an extension of the well-known and decorated WOHS track team, and while many athletes- especially those who compete as sprinters and throwers spend the season conditioning for indoor track and field which takes place during the winter months- many athletes also compete solely as cross-country runners. While track and field include throwing, jumping, sprinting (50m-200m), hurdling, mid-distance (400m-800m), and long-distance (1500m-3200m) events cross-country is a little different. At the high school level in which WOHS competes there are just two options: a 2-mile race (often run by newcomers, JV, and freshmen athletes) and a 5k race (3.1 miles). Often winding through parks and woods, race courses cover everything from rocky, hilly terrain to large, grassy fields. And the one goal? Run faster than the people next to you.
While “just running” may seem simple as it lacks the same flare offered by the complex plays, set pieces, and coordination brought by other sports the strategy, and unwavering mental toughness required to race a 5K is undeniable.
“I planned on doing cross country in the fall and continuing softball in the spring,” says Junior Ava Neretic, a varsity cross country, and track and field runner, “But as I did cross country, I recognized how much I enjoyed [and] I realized how…I didn’t enjoy softball as much. And that’s okay. People change [and] evolve,” Neretic says, addressing the common pipeline of many cross-country runners coming to stay in shape for another sport and then staying for a newfound love of running. For others like senior captain Sahli Negassi, who recalls his brothers and parents forcing him to join the team, his love for the sport came a bit later. “It was in the middle of my first season that I was like if I’m gonna be here, I may as well put effort into it. And that’s when I actually…started locking in.” With the effort came enjoyment, “I’m happy” says Negassi, explaining how rewarding the sport has become.
Of course, like every sport one can only be as successful as the work they put in. “You’ve got to have something or some environment that pushes you to your limit,” says Negassi, “and I truly and utterly despised that when I started [running cross-country]… I needed someone to force me [at the beginning],” he says with a smile. Yet, with cross-country “pushing yourself [is]… a very tangible thing…when [it] means running harder on that course,” he says, which makes goals on paper look simple. In reality, this simplicity is what makes racing a 5k so challenging.
“The hardest part is when you feel like your body’s gonna give out, and you have to recognize that your body isn’t going to give out, even though it wants to,” explains Neretic, “you have to mentally override what your body’s telling you to do [which] takes a lot of discipline and a lot of control, and it’s hard, and you’re gonna be sad, but it ends up being so worth it.” Mental toughness is something that Head Track and Cross-Country Coach Jason Lamont Jackson drills into athletes, reminding them for every negative thought two positive ones must immediately replace it. A junior on the cross country team, however, jokes that by the end of his race the only thing keeping him going is repeating, “Oh, crud, Oh, crud, Oh, crud, Oh, crud, over and over again.”
During her races Neretic also “count[s] in sets of four or sets of two,” and focuses on breathing patterns, sometimes repeating words of affirmation in her head, “I think, in the moment,” she says, the feeling of post-race pride keeping her motivated.
Cross-country coaches at WOHS often tell their athletes that it is a gift to be able to train. Rather than a task you “have” to do they emphasize instead that runners “get” to train and compete. Hard work is a choice. So is success. Coaches emphasize focusing on opportunity and experience even when the results are upsetting.
“Progress isn’t linear,” Neretic says, quoting a special moment between herself and “one of [her] favorite seniors,” back in her freshman year. Neretic has carried this message with her since then, allowing herself grace to grow even if that growth isn’t always moving in one direction.
While growth measured by success may not be linear, there are other ways to quantify progress. “If you’re doing things right….[you’re] practic[ing] right, you’re sleeping right, eating right, take[ing] care of your body. You should be reaching higher and higher,” Negassi offers. “To not come close [to a PR (personal record)]…is a sign that something wrong is happening,” he says. But that is not to be classified as “failure”, rather a sign that some adjustment has to be made. “It’s a learning process… It’s your job to take it seriously…so make sure- double check- triple check you’re doing what you have to do…Am I giving this the right effort?”
Negassi thinks back to his Junior year cross-country season, recalling that not once did he PR, nor did he run his “target times.” Then championship day he hit a huge PR, breaking 19 minutes in the 5k to run 18:26. “It’s a matter of just trusting yourself… trusting in this process, trusting what you’re familiar with and this and the work that you’re putting in day to day to day. Because if you put in the work you’re getting stronger regardless.”
Ironically, in an individual sport where athletes compete by themselves, the cross-country team dynamic is special. “We come out here every day, we do the same thing. We’re in the same struggle,” says Negassi, recognizing how comradery builds team relationships. “I’m happy to challenge [my teammates], we are all in the same boat, we are all here for the same reason.”
Despite unwavering team support, in the end, everyone’s race comes down to just one person. Themselves. “There’s nobody else to [thank] but you when you do good. Nobody else to blame but you when you do bad,” says Neretic, a teammate adding on, “There’s no element of chance…it’s just how much effort you put in translates directly to your time.”
As a captain this year Negassi wants to create a space on the team for athletes who take the sport and their potential to succeed with sincerity but he also wants to acknowledge the importance of leaving “room for enjoying yourself.” He explains that maintaining a balance between being serious and allowing time to relax and embrace life is critical. “I think it’s really hard. [and]…it’s something I’m working on myself after four years of being here.”
Outward perceptions of cross-country runners have caused many misconceptions to form around the sport. Sometimes it is dismissed for its simplicity. “It might seem different,” says Neretic, “[But] it’s just like anything else where, if you realize you enjoy it, and you enjoy the reward that you get from putting in your time and effort, it’s worth doing.” Other times people gawk at athletes’ willingness to commit time to a sport that is essentially every other sport’s “punishment.” Some stereotypes even make it seem as if cross-country is exclusive to a single demographic. “My biggest misconception was you had to look a certain way to be a good runner,” admits Negassi, “you see all these preppy white boys from Millburn and you think damn it’s one of ‘those’ sports. But I’ve met a lot of people who looked and walked and sounded completely different and they were all goated.”
“It doesn’t matter how tall you are or what shoes you wear, everything you need to succeed always comes from your character,” Negassi explains, “you don’t have to be tough as nails or whatever, all you have to do is be dumb enough to keep going.”
